Sports
Giannis, LeBron And The Top 100 Players Of The 2019-2020 NBA Season – Forbes
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 06: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers backs in on Giannis … [+]
There is no official word on whether the 2019-20 NBA regular season is wrapped, but the further we get into this Coronavirus-induced hiatus, the more difficult it is to imagine any games happening before the playoffs.
If the season is in the books, numbers are locked in. Standings in a lot of catch-all metrics are final, assuming there are no tweaks to the formula coming (something that happened with both ESPN’s real plus-minus and Basketball Reference’s box plus/minus this season).
Given the various biases and emphases of each catch-all, it’s difficult to pick just one to represent the league.
If you’re partial to RPM, BPM or Basketball Index’s player impact plus-minus, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the best player this season. FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR, however, has both James Harden and Kawhi Leonard ahead of him.
In an effort to level off the various emphases, you can sort every player in the league by the average of their ranks (not the numbers themselves) in the following catch-alls (as well as their cumulative variants):
The top 100 based on that methodology reads as follows:
1-Giannis Antetokounmpo
2-James Harden
3-LeBron James
4-Kawhi Leonard
5-Luka Doncic
6-Anthony Davis
7-Nikola Jokic
8-Damian Lillard
9-Chris Paul/Jimmy Butler
11-Rudy Gobert
12-Jayson Tatum
13-Khris Middleton
14-Joel Embiid
15-Trae Young
16-Hassan Whiteside
17-Ben Simmons
18-Karl-Anthony Towns
19-Bam Adebayo
20-Christian Wood
21-Kyle Lowry
22-Montrezl Harrell
23-Kemba Walker
24-Paul George
25-Nikola Vucevic
Some names that people might consider outliers in the top 25 include Hassan Whiteside, Christian Wood and Montrezl Harrell. Some have wondered if a lot of the catch-alls favor bigs over wings and guards. Box plus/minus was certainly this way, until a midseason overhaul. But of course, here we are with those three in the top 25. When you look at their basic numbers, though, including raw plus/minus, it’s a little easier to understand.
26-Pascal Siakam
27-Danilo Gallinari
28-Eric Bledsoe
29-Jonas Valanciunas/Jrue Holiday
31-Devin Booker
32-Domantas Sabonis
33-Kristaps Porzingis
34-Ivica Zubac
35-Bradley Beal
36-Steven Adams
37-Russell Westbrook/Spencer Dinwiddie
39-Brandon Ingram
40-Mitchell Robinson
41-Jarrett Allen
42-Donte DiVincenzo
43-CJ McCollum
44-Ricky Rubio
45-Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
46-Fred VanVleet
47-George Hill
48-Gordon Hayward
49-Jamal Murray
50-Devonte’ Graham
This crop includes plenty of up-and-comers. Pascal Siakam, Devin Booker, Domantas Sabonis, Kristaps Porzingis, Brandon Ingram, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and several others here are still a few years shy of their primes. The league’s future seems about as bright as it has ever been.
51-Brandon Clarke
52-Will Barton
53-Dennis Schroöder
54-Tobias Harris
55-Zach LaVine
56-John Collins
57-Jordan Clarkson
58-Tim Hardaway
59-Donovan Mitchell
60-Clint Capela
61-Derrick Favors
62-Daniel Theis
63-De’Aaron Fox
64-Kyrie Irving
65-Al Horford
66-Malcolm Brogdon/Nerlens Noel
68-Jaylen Brown
69-Buddy Hield
70-Davis Bertans
71-Derrick Rose
72-Jakob Poeltl
73-Bojan Bogdanovic/Norman Powell
75-Enes Kanter
This is another section of the list that seems to be artificially boosting big men, including Enes Kanter and Nerlens Noel. Jordan Clarkson finishing ahead of teammate Donovan Mitchell catches the eye, as well.
76-Duncan Robinson
77-JaVale McGee
78-Kevin Love
79-Robert Covington
80-Marcus Smart
81-DeAndre Jordan
82-Brook Lopez
83-Lonzo Ball
84-Larry Nance
85-Patrick Beverley
86-Terence Davis
87-Joe Ingles
88-Richaun Holmes
89-Evan Fournier
90-Ja Morant
91-Derrick White
92-Patty Mills
93-LaMarcus Aldridge
94-D’Angelo Russell
95-Andre Drummond
96-Lou Williams
97-Mikal Bridges
98-Paul Millsap
99-Zion Williamson
100-Chris Boucher
The Toronto Raptors have assumed the San Antonio Spurs’ spot as the team that is best at identifying and developing talent that comes from outside the lottery. Terence Davis and Chris Boucher, both in this final group, went undrafted before making key contributions to the 2019-20 Raptors.
Another placement of note in this section is Zion Williamson’s. The fact that he got in when half of this is based on cumulative numbers is remarkable. He only appeared in 19 games and logged 565 minutes this season. If you sort everyone by the average of their ranks in only the rate numbers, Zion comes in at No. 22.
Of course, this shouldn’t be considered dispositive. It’s just one way to look at how individual players performed this season. As far as a baseline goes, though, it does pass the smell test. The top 15 feels especially accurate.
Again, the chances of any of this shifting again appear to be getting slimmer by the day. Chances are, the 2019-20 season is over. If it is, consider this your rough guide to which individual players were best.