ESPN Player ratings

[Charcoal Filtered]

Have not seen this posted. Here is the list of Blazers that have been ranked as well as those that have not been yet. They are currently at 201.

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
X. Damian Lillard
X. Mason Plumlee
X. Ed Davis
X. C.J. McCollum
X. Al-Farouq Aminu
X. Meyers Leonard
X. Gerald Henderson
X. Noah Vonleh
269. Maurice Harkless
280. Chris Kaman
326. Allen Crabbe
365. Phil Pressey
393. Pat Connaughton

I can see alot of the rest landing 150-200 with the exception of Lillard.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13720487/nba-nbarank-players-rankings-nos-201-250

 

[Reep]

Interesting. Hasn't Crabbe had a better start than Harkless? And has Kaman really been that bad?

 

[tester551]

Interesting. Hasn't Crabbe had a better start than Harkless? And has Kaman really been that bad?

Nope. Not even close.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Kaman's basically an assistant coach anyway; it's nice that he got ranked among the players, but he's not on our team to play basketball anymore.

 

[Natebishop3]

Kaman's basically an assistant coach anyway; it's nice that he got ranked among the players, but he's not on our team to play basketball anymore.

How does he feel about that though? That's what I'm curious about.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

How does he feel about that though? That's what I'm curious about.

I'm vaguely curious too, but not enough to care too much if he's not hunky-dory with it.

 

[PDXFonz]

I look forward to these, even though I hate ESPN. I expect Lamarcus Aldridge to jump from what ever he was (10?) to 3. I also expect Dame to fall from where he was last year, they will say its because he lost in the first round of the playoffs or some shit. But we all know its because they don't expect us to be any good next year, and want to look like Nostradamus.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I look forward to these, even though I hate ESPN. I expect Lamarcus Aldridge to jump from what ever he was (10?) to 3. I also expect Dame to fall from where he was last year, they will say its because he lost in the first round of the playoffs or some shit. But we all know its because they don't expect us to be any good next year, and want to look like Nostradamus.

Looks like they will actually have Aldridge behind Kawhi Leonard.

 

[Reep]

Nope. Not even close.

Not even close? I would say close, but different.

Per 36:
Hark: 10.8 pts; 5.5 reb; 1 asst 31%-3pt
Crabbe 9.2 pts; 3.8 reb; 2 asst; 36%-3pt

Considering Harkless is really a 3 and Crabbe really a two, Crabbe looks pretty good there. The biggest advantage Harkless seems to have is his defensive win shares.

 

[riverman]

Looks like they will actually have Aldridge behind Kawhi Leonard.

Aldridge won't be anywhere near Leonard...the young star likes to run

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Vonleh is #194.

 

[THE HCP]

Damn..... I can't believe LA went to San Antonio! This shit is just now sinking in. They added him AND David West! DAMN!

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

Damn..... I can't believe LA went to San Antonio! This shit is just now sinking in. They added him AND David West! DAMN!

Dude, you need to stop getting so mentally locked into the lawn mowing and start really paying attention. Good thing you don't work for the Blazers or anything....BTW, Matthews, Lopez and Batum aren't coming back either.....

 

[jlprk]

Here's how I mow around a tree in the center of my back lawn.

 

[jlprk]

But HCP is a true mastermind.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Henderson at #176.

 

[HailBlazers]

Leonard at #11.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Leonard at #11.

Kawhi? Perhaps a bit high for him...

 

[HailBlazers]

Kawhi? Perhaps a bit high for him...

Meyers

 

[Boob-No-More]

How does he feel about that though? That's what I'm curious about.

I think he'll play when he feels healthy, but probably only about 15 or 16 MPG with lots of nights off to rest. An honestly, given his specific injury history (lots if back issues), I think he'd be happy with that. I doubt he'd want starter minutes at this point in hos career even if he ends up being the best big man we have on the roster (if he is, we're in real trouble WRT our young bigs). Plus, I think having a coach on the floor at times will help the young guys learn how to adapt to different game situations.

BNM

 

[Wizard Mentor]

An update to Charcoal's post:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13723434/team-team

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
X. Damian Lillard
X. Mason Plumlee
X. Ed Davis
X. C.J. McCollum
X. Al-Farouq Aminu
X. Meyers Leonard
176. Gerald Henderson
194. Noah Vonleh
269. Maurice Harkless
280. Chris Kaman
326. Allen Crabbe
365. Phil Pressey
393. Pat Connaughton

 

[Boob-No-More]

An update to Charcoal's post:
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13723434/team-team

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
X. Damian Lillard
X. Mason Plumlee
X. Ed Davis
X. C.J. McCollum
X. Al-Farouq Aminu
X. Meyers Leonard
176. Gerald Henderson
194. Noah Vonleh
269. Maurice Harkless
280. Chris Kaman
326. Allen Crabbe
365. Phil Pressey
393. Pat Connaughton

So, Henderson and Vonleh at 176 and 194. It will be interesting to see where Batum gets ranked. After his season long shooting slump last year, he should move way down, but is still, apparently the second best player n Charlotte's roster. Doesn't really matter, we didn't get Vonleh for the immediate impact he'll have this year. It will be interesting to see how far Vonleh moves up the list in 3 or 4 years when he's still only 22 - 23 years old.

BNM

 

[Wizard Mentor]

So, Henderson and Vonleh at 176 and 194. It will be interesting to see where Batum gets ranked. After his season long shooting slump last year, he should move way down, but is still, apparently the second best player n Charlotte's roster. Doesn't really matter, we didn't get Vonleh for the immediate impact he'll have this year. It will be interesting to see how far Vonleh moves up the list in 3 or 4 years when he's still only 22 - 23 years old.

BNM

Interesting note: 30 teams, 8-man rotation per team makes 240 players. So, how many "tight" 8-man rotation players do we have? Eight. So, in terms of top talent, the hundreds of people polled by ESPN thinks we have a legit team. Of course, we likely to be shy at the very top, but it is interesting nevertheless.

edit: 6 in the top 160 (or better), or 6 players in the top 5.3333 per team. Put another way, the conventional wisdom among a lot of people is that we have 6 starting quality players. Pretty damn good considering that all of the players haven't reached their potential.

 

[jlprk]

These rankings a year ago had their own thread. Someone should align last year vs. this year, line by line. In other words, what was the league rank of our 7th-best player, then vs. now, etc.

6 in the top 160 (or better), or 6 players in the top 5.3333 per team. Put another way, the conventional wisdom among a lot of people is that we have 6 starting quality players.

To say that, we'd need 6 in the top 150, not 160.

 

[Sinobas]

Ha! Look at some of the names that didn't even get into the top 400. JJ Hickson, Hedo Turkoglu, Kendrick Perkins...

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Leonard checks in at #159 up from #356.

Aminu checks in at #153. Kanter is at #152. Afflalo at #146.

 

[santeesioux]

Afflalo at #146.

Not that anyone was taking these rankings seriously before, but now we really shouldn't.

 

[Boob-No-More]

It will be interesting to see how the remaining rankings shake out, but I wouldn't put too much stock in the fact that we will have 8 players ranked in the top 200. Boston will also have 8 players ranked in the top 200. They play in the weakest division of the weakest conference and will probably still lose more games than they win.

This just illustrates how your top 2 or 3 players are WAY more important than your next 4 or 5. Depth is nice, but it's still a superstar driven league. GSW will only have 7 players in the top 200, but obviously be way better than POR or BOS. The key here is to see how many of our young players, currently ranked in the top 200 move into the top 100, or better, top 50 in the next 2 - 3 years.

BNM

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

CJ #144.

 

[Boob-No-More]

CJ #144.

Up from 222 last year

And, I didn't see anyone mention Meyers Leonard at 159 - up from 356 last year. That's a pretty healthy (perceived) improvement.

It's funny to go back and read this thread from this time last year and see how people thought Meyers was ranked too HIGH at 356 and were absolutely indignant that Thomas Robinson was ranked WAY TOO LOW at 241. Well, now Meyers is up to 159 and T-Rob (three teams later) is down to 271.

BNM