The 50 Best NBA Players Post All-Star Break
* All stats are based off of March 1st, when this article was finished *
The 2019/20 NBA season is coming to it’s end and the Playoff race in the West is getting more intense day by day.
With only 6 weeks left in the season
Most award winners already seem decided. On a Twitter poll, that received 683 votes (21st Feb.), 65% of voters voted for Giannis to win the MVP award. Even though I would love to see LeBron win another MVP before he retires, Giannis does deserve to be the unanimous MVP this season.
Notes before the article:
Both team record and individual performances / stats will be considered in my rankings
If I round to a full number I will round down to the worse stat from .1 to .6 and round up from .7 to .9, meaning if someone averages 19.6 PPG it will say 19 PPG but if someone averages 19.7 it will say 20 PPG
There will be no players on this list who haven’t played at least 35 games, so no Zion Williamson, DeAndre Ayton or Jonathan Isaac
Next to each player you will either find a (-), + or a -. This shows if the player rose or fell on the rankings, since my January Edition of this list (Jan. 29th)
The top 10 players will get a in-depth explanation on why they landed where they landed
Don’t forget to check in next month for the March edition!
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (-)
30 Points (3rd), 14 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1 Steal and 1.1 Blocks on 55-31-62 shooting.
Bucks: 52-8 (1st in EC)
There is no debate around the league about who should be the MVP this season. Every writer, every expert and near to every casual fan fully expects Giannis to become the 12th player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVPs. The Bucks have lost only 8 of 60 and Giannis is leading the team averaging 30/14/6. He's doing all that playing only 31 minutes each game.
He’s playing some of the best and most historic basketball of modern basketball and it’s impossible to put in words how dominant he's been and how promising this season has looked for the Greek Freak. He's breaking all types of personal and team records and should be the second unanimous MVP.
Fun fact: He’s only the second player in NBA history to average 35/15 per 36 minutes. The other player? None other than Mr. 100 himself, Wilt Chamberlain. He’s the first player to ever average 35/15/5 per 36. Giannis also has the highest PER season of all time with a PER of 32.28!
and he’s only 25…
2. LeBron James (-)
25 Points (12th), 8 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 1.2 Steals on 49-34-69 shooting.
Lakers: 46-13 (1st in WC)
LeBron Raymone James Sr. is not human.
There is no way someone can be this explosive and dominant on the court at age 35, especially if that someone has been playing basketball professionally for 17 years. 1254 games in 5978 days.
I can't express how much I would want LeBron to win another MVP before he retires, but unfortunately Giannis has improved AGAIN this season. I don’t think the MVP race was ever even close, Giannis beats everyone in every category.
LeBron has been an incredible leader for Anthony Davis and the rest of this abysmal Lakers team, but that's not enough to take over Giannis on my list.
Sorry, King.
3. Kawhi Leonard (+2)
27 Points (8th), 7 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1.8 Steals on 46-36-90 shooting.
Clippers: 41-19 (3rd in WC)
Now onto tier 2. Every player that isn’t called LeBron or Giannis has a „flaw“ that can be used against them to say they shouldn’t be the MVP. Kawhi Leonard's "flaw" is load management. How can the MVP be someone who probably won't even play 60-65 games this season.
Leonard's individual stats look phenomenal and MVP-like, though. He's averaged 27/7/5 in the 48 games that he's played this season, while looking great on defense and being very efficient.
He's not the flashiest player in the league but he gets the job done.
4. James Harden (-)
35 Points (1st), 6 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1.7 Steals on 44-36-86 shooting.
Rockets: 39-20 (4th in WC)
The small-ball Rockets have actually been good. Since the Capela trade they have gone 8-2 and one of the losses was a 1-point loss to Bojan Bogdanovic and the Utah Jazz. They are now the 4th seed in the West, moving up from the 6th seed. They are only two games back of the 2nd seed.
Something that has flown under the radar this season is Harden’s great defense:
He’s averaging 1.7 steals and he’s leading the Guards in Blocks this season with 0.9 blocks. I recently saw a tweet of someone saying Harden is borderline All-Defensive. And I fully agree. Of course Harden is also averaging his typical 35 Points, 6 Rebounds and 7 Assists on 62% TS.
Those are just Harden things.
5. Anthony Davis (+1)
26 Points (10th), 9 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1.5 Steals and 2.5 Blocks on 51-32-84 shooting.
Lakers: 45-13 (1st in WC)
Don't get me wrong. Anthony Davis has been phenomenal this year. But there are 2 big reasons why he isn’t a top 4 MVP candidate:
1: When you have 2 MVP calibre players in Davis and LeBron on your team, you should be able to be the best team in the league. Which the Lakers aren't. I believe the Lakers would still be a top 2 seed in the West even if LeBron was alone.
The Lakers are 6-2 in the games Davis hasn’t played in including wins over Houston, Dallas and Indiana.
2: He hasn't been rebounding to his highest level this season. He's averaging career lows in ORB, ORB% and DRB%. The Lakers are "only" 8th in RPG, but if Davis would be averaging the same amount of rebounds as last season they'd be 2nd.
Before the season there was a debate about who would be leading this Lakers team but quite frankly... I think the Lakers wouldn't be off much worse without AD and would still be a 50-60 win team.
6. Luka Doncic (-3)
28 Points (6th), 9 Rebounds, 9 Assists, 4.3 Turnovers on 46-32-77 shooting.
Mavericks: 37-24 (7th in WC)
The Mavericks have fallen off a little. They were the 3rd seed and had a 17-7 record on December 12th but since then they have gone 20-17 and are now the 7th seed right behind the Thunder. Doncic is still averaging a near Triple-Double, but the reason I’m not putting him in my Top 5 anymore is because of his efficiency and him missing 13 games through injury.
His USG% of 37.2% this season ranks 8th all-time.
7. Pascal Siakam (+1)
23 Points (17th), 7 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Steal on 46-36-79 shooting.
Raptors: 42-18 (2nd in EC)
Five Forwards are getting heavily compared to each other this season. Siakam to Butler to Ingram to Tatum to Middleton. You could make a case for any of those five to be the best, but in my opinion Siakam and Butler are levels above the other 3.
Siakam is averaging a solid 23 points and 7 rebounds. That statline might not look MVP-like, but the Kawhi-less Raptors have the 3rd best record with the league with a record of 42-18. Who would have thought they would be better without Kawhi?
The Raptors have a great all-round team and Siakam has been good enough for them to get his first All-Star appearance as a starter. He has been inconsistent with his performances recently, not always performing to the highest level. The Raptors are currently riding on a 3-game losing streak.
8. Nikola Jokic (+8)
21 Points, 10 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1.2 Steals on 53-33-81 shooting.
Nuggets: 41-19 (2nd in WC)
On my January edition of this list the Nuggets were 4th in the WC and Jokic was 16th on my list. Since then the Nuggets have gone 10-5 and Jokic has been averaging 24.7 Points, 10.5 Rebounds and 7.9 Assists and he is a great leader for this young Nuggets team to get them to that valuable 2nd seed.
Since then the last list, the Wolves made a trade with the Nuggets to acquire for Juancho Hernangomez and Malik Beasley. That trade might not have been the best the Nuggets could have done.
Beasley and Hernangomez have been averaging a combined 32.1 Points, 12.0 Rebounds and 3.4 Assists for the Wolves. For the Nuggets they were averaging a combined 11.0 Points, 4.7 Rebounds and 1.8 assists.
9. Damian Lillard (+3)
29 Points (5th), 4 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1 Steal on 46-39-89 shooting.
Blazers: 26-35 (12th in WC)
We all want to see Damian Lillard win a ring before he retires but if the Blazers front office doesn't make any big moves while Dame is still in his prime he might have to leave the team that drafted him to win a championship.
Lillard is averaging 29/4/8 and I'd probably have him ahead of Siakam and Jokic if he wouldn't be injured right now. While he's been injured CJ McCollum has been showing off averaging 32 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists in the last 5 games.
on average, but the Blazers have dropped from 9th to 12th in the West. I think this makes it evident that Lillard and McCollum don't fit together and one of them has to be moved. If Portland would be a top 5 seed in the stacked West, Dame would be higher on these lists, but they're sitting in 12th with a 26-35 record.
10. Russell Westbrook (+4)
27 Points (7th), 8 Rebounds, 7 Assists (4th), 1.7 Steals (1st) on 47-25-78 shooting
Rockets: 39-20 (4th in WC)
Since January 29th Russell Westbrook’s averages are 34 PPG, 7 RPG, 6 APG and 1.9 SPG. In comparison to him, James Harden’s averages are 31 PPG, 7 RPG, 7 APG, 1.9 SPG and 0.9 BPG. When both play well the Rockets are unstoppable. They went 10-3 in that time span.
I don’t think anybody can argue against me putting Westbrook at 10 now. Harden has been amazing, Westbrook has been amazing and the Rockets are thriving under their revolutionary small-ball playstyle going 8-2 since the Capela trade.
Westbrook did start off slowly this season, but he’s back and he’s here to stay!
Now: Top 11-50
11. Joel Embiid (-1)
23 Points (19th), 12 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1.3 Blocks on 47-34-81 shooting.
Sixers: 37-24 (5th in EC)
12. Jimmy Butler (-5)
20 Points, 7 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1.7 Steals on 45-24-83 shooting.
Heat: 38-22 (4th in EC)
13. Trae Young (-)
30 Points (4th), 4 Rebounds, 9 Assists (7th), 4.7 Turnovers on 44-36-86 shooting
Hawks: 19-43 (13th in EC)
14. Ben Simmons (+6)
17 Points (11th), 8 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 2.1 Steals on 58-33-63 shooting
Sixers: 37-24 (5th in EC)
15. Khris Middleton (+10)
21 Points, 6 Rebounds (2nd), 4 Assists, 2 Turnovers on 51-44-91 shooting
Bucks: 52-8 (1st in EC)
16. Kemba Walker (-5)
22 Points (11th), 4 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2.1 Turnovers on 43-39-86 shooting
Celtics: 41-18 (3rd in EC)
17. Jayson Tatum (+9)
23 Points (18th), 7 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1.3 Steals on 45-39-81 shooting
Celtics: 41-18 (3rd in EC)
18. Bradley Beal (-)
30 Points (2nd), 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists (11th), 1.2 Steals (4th) on 46-34-84 shooting
Wizards: 22-37 (9th in EC)
19. Rudy Gobert (+2)
15 Points (8th), 14 Rebounds, 1 Assist (20th), 1.9 Blocks (5th) on 69-00-61 shooting
Jazz: 37-22 (5th in WC)
20. Karl Anthony-Towns (-11)
26 Points (9th), 11 Rebounds, 4 Assists (18th), 1.2 Blocks on 51-41-79 shooting
Wolves: 17-42 (14th in WC)
21. Brandon Ingram (-6)
24 Points (15th), 6 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steal on 47–39-86 shooting
Pelicans: 26-34 (9th in WC)
22. Devin Booker (-5)
26 Points (11th), 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists (5th), 3.9 Turnovers on 49-36-92 shooting
Suns: 24-37 (13th in WC)
23. Donovan Mitchell (-4)
25 Points (14th), 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1 Steal on 46-37-85 shooting
Jazz: 37-22 (5th in WC)
24. Kyle Lowry (+3)
19 Points (14th), 5 Rebounds, 8 Assists, 1.2 Steals on 41-34-86 shooting
Raptors: 42-18 (2nd in EC)
25. DeMar DeRozan (-1)
22 Points (20th), 5 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steal on 53-27-84 shooting
Spurs: 25-33 (11th in WC)
26. Domantas Sabonis (+8)
18 Points, 12 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 2.6 Turnovers on 54-23-73 shooting
Pacers: 36-24 (6th in EC)
27. Bam Adebayo (+11)
16 Points, 10 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1.2 Steals and 1.3 Blocks on 57-08-69 shooting
Heat: 38-22 (4th in EC)
28. Chris Paul (+2)
17 Points, 5 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1.5 Steals on 48-36-89 shooting
Thunder: 37-23 (6th in WC)
29. Paul George (-7)
21 Points (20th), 6 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 1.3 Steals on 43–40-89 shooting
Clippers: 41-19 (3rd in WC)
30. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (+6)
19 Points, 6 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1.1 Steals on 46-35-80
Thunder: 37-23 (6th in WC)
31. Zach LaVine (-8)
25 Points (13th), 5 Rebounds, 4 Assists (14th), 1.5 Steals (5th) on 45-38-80 shooting
Bulls: 20-40 (11th in EC)
32. Jaylen Brown (-3)
20 Points (19th), 6 Rebounds, 2 Assists (16th), 1.1 Steal (16th) on 49-38-74 shooting
Celtics: 41-18 (3rd in EC)
33. Fred VanVleet (-5)
17 Points, 4 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 1.9 Steals (8th) on 41-39-84 shooting
Raptors: 42-18 (2nd in EC)
34. Jrue Holiday (-2)
19 Points, 4 Rebounds (3rd), 7 Assists, 1.7 Steals (9th) on 44–35-70 shooting
Pelicans: 26-34 (9th in WC)
35. Ja Morant (+4)
18 Points, 3 Rebounds (1st), 7 Assists, 3.2 Turnovers on 49-35-77 shooting
Grizzlies: 29-31 (8th in WC)
36. D’Angelo Russell (-5)
23 Points (16th), 4 Rebounds (6th), 6 Assists, 3.2 Turnovers on 44-38-87 shooting
Wolves: 17-42 (14th in WC)
37. Jamal Murray (+12)
19 Points, 4 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1.2 Steals on 46-35-88 shooting
Nuggets: 41-19 (2nd in WC)
38. Lou Williams (-5)
19 Points, 3 Rebounds (3rd), 6 Assists, 3 Turnovers (9th) on 42–36-86 shooting
Clippers: 41-19 (3rd in WC)
39. Andrew Wiggins (+5)
22 Points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1 Block on 44-33-72 shooting
Warriors: 13-47 (15th in WC)
40. De’Aaron Fox (+1)
20 Points, 4 Rebounds (8th), 7 Assists, 1.4 Steals on 47-31-68 shooting
Kings: 26-34 (10th in WC)
41. Bojan Bogdanovic (+1)
20 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists (12th), 2.5 Turnovers (18th) on 44-41-90 shooting
Jazz: 37-22 (5th in WC)
42. LaMarcus Aldridge (+1)
19 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1.6 Blocks (8th) on 49-39-83 shooting
Spurs: 25-33 (11th in WC)
43. Montrezl Harrell (NR)
19 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1.2 Blocks on 58-00-65 shooting
Clippers: 41-19 (3rd in WC)
44. Clint Capela (-9)
14 Points, 14 Rebounds (10th), 1 Assist, 1.8 Blocks on 63-00-53 shooting
Hawks: 19-43 (13th in EC)
45. Andre Drummond (-8)
17 Points, 15 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 1.6 Blocks, 1.9 Steals (8th) on 53-15-58 shooting
Cavaliers: 17-43 (15th in EC)
46. Dennis Schroder (NR)
19 Points, 4 Rebounds, 4 Assists, 2.6 Turnovers on 47-38-85 shooting
Thunder: 37-23 (6th in WC)
47. Eric Bledsoe (NR)
15 Points, 5 Rebounds, 5 Assist, 2.4 Turnovers on 48-35-83 shooting
Bucks: 52-8 (1st in EC)
48. John Collins (NR)
21 Points, 10 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1.6 Blocks on 47-38-85 shooting
Hawks: 19-43 (13th in EC)
49. Malcolm Brogdon (NR)
16 Points, 5 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2.5 Turnovers on 44-32-90 shooting
Pacers: 36-24 (6th in EC)
50. Nikola Vucevic (-10)
19 Points, 11 Rebounds (4th), 4 Assists, 1.5 Turnovers on 46-34-77 shooting
Magic: 27-33 (7th in EC)
Honorable mentions (no specific order): Devonte Graham, Kristaps Porzingis, Danilo Gallinari, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Buddy Hield, Spencer Dinwiddie, Tobias Harris, CJ McCollum, Hassan Whiteside
