Neither Devin Booker nor Kevin Durant are TOP 10 at the moment

Boujack · Post #1 » by **Boujack** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 12:00 pm

Unsorted, at least these 12 players are currently above them:

Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton.

Saberestar · Post #2 » by **Saberestar** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 12:41 pm

LOL, if you say it...

Both are Top 10 players. Debatable? Of course, every great player is debatable in any list.

Lillard? Butler?? Yeah... why not Tim Hardaway JR?

SunsRback4Good · Post #3 » by **SunsRback4Good** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 2:00 pm

Boujack wrote:Unsorted, at least these 12 players are currently above them:

Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton.

I like your list but I’d take away Curry, Butler, Lillard and Edwards as only players not better than Booker & KD.. but everyone else are definitely looking better at the moment. Most here probably thinking why is Haliburton ahead of KD? Well, both are great scorers but Hali dishes 12+ assists a game something KD wish he could achieve.

Calvin Klein · Post #4 » by **Calvin Klein** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 2:35 pm

Well, Booker is definitely top 10 for me. But he is playing out of position which is incredibly stupid.

Durant is a top 10 player like half the time, which is understandable because he is 35!! Superstars can still play at superstar level at 35, just not consistently. And obviously he has a terrible injury history. Nothing new but hey...I'm sure they sold a few jerseys

Saberestar · Post #5 » by **Saberestar** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 2:52 pm

Calvin Klein wrote:Well, Booker is definitely top 10 for me. But he is playing out of position which is incredibly stupid.

Durant is a top 10 player like half the time, which is understandable because he is 35!! Superstars can still play at superstar level at 35, just not consistently. And obviously he has a terrible injury history. Nothing new but hey...I'm sure they sold a few jerseys

KD has played great on every single game except the first one of the season, no one has been more reliable and consistent than him this season.

He is Top 5, every other player on that list has had more "bad games" than him.

If you want to talk about the future OK, but for now he is THAT great.

Post #6 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 8:13 pm

They were both top 10 in the last Kia MVP ladder that came out yesterday (KD 8 and Book 10). I agree that at least 6 of those players are better though (Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, Shai, Haliburton and Luka). Some are more close to even, like Tatum, Curry, and LeBron. Also AD. I am not sure about Edwards. He is up and down, and they are MUCH better with him on the court AND they have the best record even though he has missed a game or two....all while playing one of the toughest schedules until their last few games. And he will only get better.

I don't think Lillard or Butler are better at this time.

https://www.nba.com/news/kia-mvp-ladder-dec-8-2023-edition

There are also some really impactful players, like Gobert, making them the #1 defense, Town is playing well, Sengun is playing great, Sabonis, Fox, etc. Ja is coming back too. Trae is also playing pretty well this year. Bam too. None of those are better but all good. Chet having a great rookie season too. Bane also playing really well.

Oh, and George and Kawhi are right there with our guys. They have been up and down but they are as talented and both great 2 way players.

I am not a huge fan of PER, but it is still a decent catch all stat the captures overall impact....top 20...

garrick · Post #7 » by **garrick** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 10:26 pm

Watch on YouTube

I know Bill Simmons is not popular here but he says he puts Haliburton ahead of Booker right now. With the way he's been playing I have to agree although it still is early in the season and Book could overtake him at the end of the season.

As for the list I don't think Curry, Lillard or Edwards are better than KD or Booker right now.

Post #8 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 9, 2023 11:38 pm

I read that Haliburton's ast/to ratio (something like 5.83) is the highest with someone averaging over 10 apg since Mugsy Bogues in 83-84.

He's averaging 27 and 12 with 2 turnovers, shooting over 44% from 3 with a 67.4% TS%. That's absurd. I mean, of course he is playing better than Book this season. Is he overall better? Will he maintain it? We will see but he is playing out of this world. If they finish better than Denver, Philly and OKC I think he should be MVP (based on what we have seen so far). He has by far the worst supporting cast of those teams and makes everyone so much better.

pj0tr · Post #9 » by **pj0tr** » Sun Dec 10, 2023 1:10 am

Right now, Booker is barely a top 5 guard:

1) Haliburton
2) Shai
3) Curry
4) Fox
5) Dame/Book

Just being honest - Book had a hot start, but teams have now adjusted to him playing PG, and his impact as of late has been minimized.

RaisingArizona · Post #10 » by **RaisingArizona** » Sun Dec 10, 2023 4:24 am

Ok and?

schnakenpopanz · Post #11 » by **schnakenpopanz** » Sun Dec 10, 2023 10:31 pm

Ah the daily thread of who hates Booker and who not has arrived

Boujack · Post #12 » by **Boujack** » Thu Dec 14, 2023 6:41 pm

Can we also add Mikal Bridges?

RaisingArizona · Post #13 » by **RaisingArizona** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 5:19 am

Boujack wrote:Can we also add Mikal Bridges?

You may not

AtheJ415 · Post #14 » by **AtheJ415** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 6:32 am

Depends how we are discussing it. Leadership matters and Book and KD have sucked in that area this season. They are a big part of our inexcusable turnover pandemic and they are not leading by example or otherwise on defense or rebounding. They are shooting and producing efficient offense at a rate deserving of being in here. In terms of ability, they are absolutely top 7 players. But I'd agree they can't be top 10 this season given the other stuff I just mentioned.

sunsbum · Post #15 » by **sunsbum** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 6:37 am

Boujack wrote:Unsorted, at least these 12 players are currently above them:

Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton.

Who the **** cares.

KdoubleDees23 · Post #16 » by **KdoubleDees23** » Sat Dec 16, 2023 1:34 pm

Boujack wrote:Unsorted, at least these 12 players are currently above them:

Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton.

I would put Booker or KD over Lebron, Lillard, Jimmy Butler right now

That would put him in top 10

Jstock12 · Post #17 » by **Jstock12** » Mon Dec 18, 2023 4:24 pm

It doesn't really matter. Neither Fox or Sabonis are top10 yet the Kings are doing great. Having top10 players doesn't guarantee the team will be a contender.

Boujack · Post #18 » by **Boujack** » Sat Dec 23, 2023 8:42 am

Jstock12 wrote:It doesn't really matter. Neither Fox or Sabonis are top10 yet the Kings are doing great. Having top10 players doesn't guarantee the team will be a contender.

Indeed they aren't top 10 but currently both are above KD and Booker. Or at least this is what they showed yesterday.

Jstock12 · Post #19 » by **Jstock12** » Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:29 am

Boujack wrote:
Jstock12 wrote:It doesn't really matter. Neither Fox or Sabonis are top10 yet the Kings are doing great. Having top10 players doesn't guarantee the team will be a contender.

Indeed they aren't top 10 but currently both are above KD and Booker. Or at least this is what they showed yesterday.

Having a system, players who are willing to buy into that system, great team chemistry and an overall winning culture is huge and often compensate for the lack of superstar talent.

Post #20 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Dec 23, 2023 7:03 pm

Jstock12 wrote:
Boujack wrote:
Jstock12 wrote:It doesn't really matter. Neither Fox or Sabonis are top10 yet the Kings are doing great. Having top10 players doesn't guarantee the team will be a contender.

Indeed they aren't top 10 but currently both are above KD and Booker. Or at least this is what they showed yesterday.

Having a system, players who are willing to buy into that system, great team chemistry and an overall winning culture is huge and often compensate for the lack of superstar talent.

KD and Booker are better individual talents than Fox/Sabonis for sure, but there is something to be said about who are the better team players....have impact on teammates.

Booker never could win before Paul and look at us now even with KD. Of course we didn't have too much talent before Paul and Bridges/Ayton growing by 2nd year as well as the addition of Cam. We finally became a good young team in 20-21 and 21-22 before deciding to blow it up after 2 years of great play with a young team..a year after setting a franchise record for wins. Sounds pretty ludicrous typing that out. How many times has a 64 win team been blown up? A team that made the playoffs for the first time in a decade, made a finals run and then won 64 games. Then fans get so impatient that after 10 years of being awful we should have won a title or two the first two years a young team got good (yes, I know Paul was the catalyst but we could have worked on a replacement there after missing out on Haliburton).