NBA Player Ranks

[Sundog]

Turns out it's:
Ant 25 (up from 52 last year)
Rudy 18 (25 last year)
Karl 13 (24 last year)

https://abc7.com/sports/nbarank-2022-ranking-the-best-players-for-2022-23-from-25-to-11/12246367/

[Q-is-here]

Turns out it's:
Ant 25 (up from 52 last year)
Rudy 18 (25 last year)
Karl 13 (24 last year)

https://abc7.com/sports/nbarank-2022-ranking-the-best-players-for-2022-23-from-25-to-11/12246367/

Interesting. So a few reactions....

- Pelton clearly admits that putting Ant at #25 is a bet on him taking a leap of improvement vs. where he stood last season. Let's hope that ends up being the case. While Ant's ascent has been very linear so far, it doesn't mean it will continue that way.

- Again, how does Minnesota get shit on for the Rudy trade and Cleveland is lauded so much for the Mitchell trade when Rudy is ranked six spots higher (which no other ranking system would disagree with by the way)????

- As I mentioned in my prior post in this thread, how does ESPN reconcile having the Wolves at #12 in their power rankings while also designating three guys as top 25 players!? The supporting cast is pretty damn good so it's not like it's three stars with a bunch of rookies and journeymen. So where is the disconnect?

- Lip, you must be livid that ESPN has KAT in the top 15 and not the top 10. ;-)

[FNG]

Q, there's no question that Ant at 25 is based on an expected big leap. They don't have the same expectation for Jaden, as he doesn't make the top 100.

I still find it exciting that we are the only team with 3 in the top 25. I think the disconnect between this and not having our team ranked in the top 10 reflects the importance ESPN puts on the PG position. The PG generally is the player with the ball in his hands most, and if he ranks 93 (and they probably don't value little JMac very highly either.

The reason many of us here rank our team easily in the top 10 is that we value our PGs higher than the national media do and also see Jaden making a leap. Time will tell who is correct.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Well, we could [wrongly] make this yet another thread about Minnesota's point guard, or we could consider that ESPN ranked only four Timberwolves in the top-100, which tells me that either they're not high on the supporting cast in place or they're in wait-and-see mode given that Minnesota is relying on several young players to step up into bigger roles -- specifically, Jaden McDaniels, Jaylen Nowell, and Jordan McLaughlin. Nationally, I don't think those guys are as appreciated or well-known as they are to Timberwolves fans. They also might be skeptical of Minnesota's depth in the frontcourt after Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. Naz Reid is probably more of a situational player at this point and did himself no favors with his inability to produce late in the season and into the playoffs. Kyle Anderson was a notable addition, but he's not capable of playing minutes at the five in any capacity. So, that's a potential problem area. I don't agree with it, but I'd find that to be a more sensible take than what's been offered above.

[Q-is-here]

Q, there's no question that Ant at 25 is based on an expected big leap. They don't have the same expectation for Jaden, as he doesn't make the top 100.

I still find it exciting that we are the only team with 3 in the top 25. I think the disconnect between this and not having our team ranked in the top 10 reflects the importance ESPN puts on the PG position. The PG generally is the player with the ball in his hands most, and if he ranks 93 (and they probably don't value little JMac very highly either.

The reason many of us here rank our team easily in the top 10 is that we value our PGs higher than the national media do and also see Jaden making a leap. Time will tell who is correct.

The Clippers are #6 in the power rankings yet Reggie Jackson is nowhere to be found among the top 100 players (unless I missed him somehow). Last time I checked, he was their starting PG. So we have three guys in the top 25 AND our starting PG is among the top 100 where as the Clippers have two guys in the top 25 and no PG in the top 100, so explain the disconnect to me again???

[Q-is-here]

Here is my take on the Power Rankings/Player Rankings disconnect....the answer is somewhere in between for the reasons Cam cites. Anthony Edwards at #25 is speculative - there is no guarantee he is as good as Donovan Mitchell in his 3rd year. Sometimes guys stagnate early in their careers for a season or two before reaching another tier. Improvement is not always linear.

So if you are hedging against Edwards taking another leap and also believe the remaining upside of McDaniels, Nowell, and Reid is somewhat limited over the course of one offseason, then I can see the logic in may be ranking us at around #10 at worst. But if Ant truly becomes the 25th best player and these other guys make baby steps of improvement, it would be really hard not to put us in the top 8. Some shit needs to go pretty wrong for us to be #12 or worse.

[FNG]

Q, most sources have the clippers starting John wall at PG with Jackson backing him up. Wall is a crap shoot with his injury history, but I suspect ESPN is factoring in upside (just like they are with Ant). A healthy wall is certainly an upgrade over Jackson. I suspect espn ranks the clippers over us because they like their PG tandem better than ours (I don't know that I do) and they don't value Jaden as much as we do. Again, time will tell. I pretty much agree with their individual rankings, but I would have the wolves as a team ranked higher than espn does.

[Monster]

Speaking of DLO, I did a little digging and found a couple of nuggets. DLO currently has the 33rd highest salary in the league. The #93 salary in the league makes about half of what DLO makes, between $15-$16 million. That's a big gap to bridge when you sit down to negotiate an extension.

Ironically the 93rd salaried player is Malik Beasley.

[kekgeek]

Here is my take on the Power Rankings/Player Rankings disconnect....the answer is somewhere in between for the reasons Cam cites. Anthony Edwards at #25 is speculative - there is no guarantee he is as good as Donovan Mitchell in his 3rd year. Sometimes guys stagnate early in their careers for a season or two before reaching another tier. Improvement is not always linear.

So if you are hedging against Edwards taking another leap and also believe the remaining upside of McDaniels, Nowell, and Reid is somewhat limited over the course of one offseason, then I can see the logic in may be ranking us at around #10 at worst. But if Ant truly becomes the 25th best player and these other guys make baby steps of improvement, it would be really hard not to put us in the top 8. Some shit needs to go pretty wrong for us to be #12 or worse.

Ya I don't get the disconnect. Like if based in there rankings and everyone team is the same our #1 player (1-30) is slightly above average, our #2 player 31-60) is one of the best in 2nd best players (would be a slightly below #1 player), our #3 player (61-90) is considered by these rankings the best in the league (would be a below average #1 guy) and our #4 option (91-120) is considered an elite #4 option if every team was equal.

The disconnect is each of our players have massive negative narratives that go with them. Also at the end of the day the league is won with top 10 guys

[kekgeek]

Here is my take on the Power Rankings/Player Rankings disconnect....the answer is somewhere in between for the reasons Cam cites. Anthony Edwards at #25 is speculative - there is no guarantee he is as good as Donovan Mitchell in his 3rd year. Sometimes guys stagnate early in their careers for a season or two before reaching another tier. Improvement is not always linear.

So if you are hedging against Edwards taking another leap and also believe the remaining upside of McDaniels, Nowell, and Reid is somewhat limited over the course of one offseason, then I can see the logic in may be ranking us at around #10 at worst. But if Ant truly becomes the 25th best player and these other guys make baby steps of improvement, it would be really hard not to put us in the top 8. Some shit needs to go pretty wrong for us to be #12 or worse.

Ya I don't get the disconnect. Like if based in there rankings and everyone team is the same our #1 player (1-30) is slightly above average, our #2 player 31-60) is one of the best in 2nd best players (would be a slightly below #1 player), our #3 player (61-90) is considered by these rankings the best in the league (would be a below average #1 guy) and our #4 option (91-120) is considered an elite #4 option if every team was equal.

The disconnect is each of our players have massive negative narratives that go with them. Also at the end of the day the league is won with top 10 guys