Around the League: Week 14 1/23-1/29

[Superbone]

Derrick Jones (11 NBA career minutes) is in the Slam Dunk Contest.

Really?

Really. And he'll probably win. It'll be a two person contest between him and Gordon.

[Split T]

Insider article on top 25 players under 25

http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_ ... players-25

Full Rankings for those who can't access Insider:

1. Anthony Davis
2. Giannis Antetekoumpo
3. Karl-Anthony Towns
4. Joel Embiid
5. Kristaps Porzingis
6. Nikola Jokic
7. Rudy Gobert
8. Kyrie Irving
9. Andre Drummond
10. Ben Simmons
11. Andrew Wiggins
12. Jabari Parker
13. Myles Turner
14. Bradley Beal
15. D'Angelo Russell
16. Steven Adams
17. Devin Booker
18. Aaron Gordon
19. Zach Lavine
20. Victor Oladipo
21. Brandon Ingram
22. Rodney Hood
23. Otto Porter
24. Thon Maker
25. Julius Randle

6 of the top 7, 7 of the top 10, and 10 of top 25 were born outside of the US and that's not including Kyrie who was born in Australia but plays for team USA.

Wow. This idiot does not watch Suns games. I agree with the first 5 being ahead of him as well as Irving. If starting a team, I would take him over Gobert in today's NBA. I would easily take him over Drummond, Parker, Turner, Beal, Russell and Adams. Wiggins is up for debate. What a s*** list.

I disagree with this statement a lot. But I also don't agree with the list so much. I get that this is an average rating over three "experts" so the final outcome might not be easily defensible, but still, I would probably bump AD to 3rd or 4th, after Greek Freak and Towns, if for nothing else, then for his injury history. Simmons is getting a lot of hype for a guy who has never seen the floor yet in the NBA, and I feel Wiggins is being ranked a bit too high. Maybe these guys are still looking at potential with him but he's not developed much on the defensive side despite his tantalizing physical attributes. Bit of a joke that Thon Maker is on this list at all at this point... Is Schroeder already over 25?

It's a little messed up because some were picked on potential and some were picked on current ability. Simmons was so high because David Thorpe had him 5th. Schroeder got ranked on at least one panel I believe. I feel like this should be a ranking of what they're actually doing right now. Simmons, Ingram, and Maker wouldn't make my list. The top 8 would stay about the same for me.

[Shabazz]

There is no was Booker is anywhere close to Gobert (33.6 min, 13.1 pts, 12.6 reb, 66% FG%, 2.5 blk)

Please. Maybe in the 80's that was the case. Fact is, big rumbling defensive big men aren't that important in today's NBA. Gobert will never be the best or second best player on a championship team.

You're way off on this one, Broseph.

[Shabazz]

https://twitter.com/ScottHoward42/status/827286003626889219
El Oh El.

[SDC]

15. D'Angelo Russell
16. Steven Adams
17. Devin Booker
18. Aaron Gordon
19. Zach Lavine

zach lavine should be higher than those five. should be higher than wiggins.

[pickle]

Is that because he shoots a high free throw percentage?

[Shabazz]

In one of the most inexplicable moves I've seen in a while the Hornets traded 2 expiring centers (Hibbert and Hawes) for a bottom-5 contract in the NBA (Miles Plumlee). Awful.

[pickle]

Plumlee might be kind of useful for them. That Milwaukee signed Plumlee to that deal was very strange as they already had Henson doing the 11 mil per year for the splinter in his ass role, but I think Plumlee might actually have some value on the Hornets. I kind of like that move.

[SDC]

Is that because he shoots a high free throw percentage?

have you seen any minnesota games? zach lavine is a better player than overrated wiggins.

as for booker, not only does lavine beat at him at shooting efficiency in every category, the guy has also better physical tools.

[carey]

So you're telling me the Plumdawg can get traded but Knight can't?

[pickle]

Is that because he shoots a high free throw percentage?

have you seen any minnesota games? zach lavine is a better player than overrated wiggins.

as for booker, not only does lavine beat at him at shooting efficiency in every category, the guy has also better physical tools.

The five you quoted included LaVine himself so ... I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that he should be higher than himself... I didn't say anything about Booker.

[pickle]

So you're telling me the Plumdawg can get traded but Knight can't?

I think we can probably trade Knight for Deron Williams and Devin Harris or something...

[JCSunsfan]

The fact is that Knight has played much better than this. He has regressed so much.

Kyrie is still under 25? Seems like he has been around for ages.

So, Suns fans, who would you trade Booker for on that list. Straight up trade, regardless of contract issues. I only see, maybe 4 players.

[ShelC]

I'd trade Booker for KAT, AD, Porzingis, Gobert, Kyrie...Embiid's health worries me but I'd prob add him to the list. In terms of other guards/swings, I'd probably only take The Freak. His jumper still worries me but he does everything and his size and athleticism are incredible. Jabari's grown on me but I don't think he's as disciplined or has as high an IQ as Booker. Beal doesn't do it for me, same with Wiggins.

[Split T]

Towns, Davis, Porzingis, Embiid, Jokic, Gobert, and Giannis are easy trades. I'd probably trade him for kyrie, but I would hesitate. Turner, Parker, Wiggins, Russell are all toss ups and I'd just keep Booker right now. Everyone else is a no.

[JCSunsfan]

For me its Davis, Prozingis, Embiid (even with the injury risk), Towns. Not Kyrie. I wouldn't probbly for Jokic, Gobert, or Giannis, but that might be because I am more unfamiliar with their overall games.

[Split T]

Giannis is a freak. He's 6'11, crazy long, got pg handles, crazy athlete, can defend anyone and he's 22. I'd take him over anyone on the list. Davis is a close 2ND. Jokic is also a stud, he's been averaging 20/10/5 since they moved him to C and stopped playing him with nurkic and is only 21. Gobert is the best defensive player in the game.

[carey]

Gobert is the proof that I never know what I'm talking about regarding draft prospects. I may have called a few of our picks over the last handful of years, but those were lucky guesses. I saw the pre-draft tape on Gobert and I didn't see any basketball skills. I used the cliche "2 years away from being 2 years away." He developed faster than I thought possible and is pretty definitively the best big man in that class.

[jonh]

Is Knights issue confidence? Its tough getting replaced by someone younger than you, if you are already considered pretty young for your position, but his regression is pretty intense.

[Mori Chu]

My guess is that you can hide Knight's deficiencies better on a good team. If you put better players next to him, particularly defensively, we don't get scored on so badly on the other end of the floor and Knight's +/- isn't so dreadful. And if he has great shooters and wings to pass to, he might actually pass more. And if the coach is actually yelling at him to do what he's supposed to do, he is more likely to do it. This org structure is a fail on many levels when it comes to fixing / correcting Knight's flaws in his game.