NBA Player Rankings: The top 25 players for 2014-15
By Seth Partnow
Point Guard Pileup
By a good margin, the deepest position in the league, spots 25-21 are all high-end point guards. Night after night, the most consistently excellent match-up on the floor is between the point guards as twenty teams, give or take, are solid or better in this slot. These guys are among the best:
25. Kyle Lowry – Somewhat unheralded due to some early career chemistry issues and the fact that his best years have come in relative obscurity in Toronto, Lowry is an absolute bulldog. Though teammate DeMar DeRozan wa the Raptor selected to the Eastern Conference All-Star roster last year, Lowry was more deserving of the honor as his scoring, playmaking, defense and, above all else, toughness carried Toronto to the third seed in the East. Now, re-signed to an extremely reasonable contract long-term contract, Lowry can focus on securing both the individual (All-Star) and team (playoff success) plaudits which have eluded him thus far.
24. Damian Lillard – Perhaps a touch overrated by the general public who focus on his clutch shotmaking while ignoring his (very real) defensive shortcomings, Lillard is still among the tougher covers in the league. With his capability of shooting from seemingly anywhere combined with the ability to explode to the basket off the dribble, Lillard was one of the keys to the Portland offense which was not only one of the best, but one of the most entertaining in the league. Lillard also has a clear path towards improving on his rookie and sophomore performances. His main weaknesses has been substandard finishing at the rim. In year two, he already showed an improvement in his ability to draw fouls on drives, he just needs to convert a slightly higher percentage when no foul is given.
23. Goran Dragic – Dragic might deserve to be a little bit higher, but last year’s performance has many of the hallmarks of a career year. If he can repeat, he might be worthy of a spot five or ten places higher on this list. He fully deserved his 3rd team All-NBA and Most Improved Player award last season as he was the heartbeat of the Suns being the biggest surprise in the league. Coming of a strong showing in the World Cup, Dragic will be without one of his favored accomplices last year with Channing Frye signing in Orlando. The duo was one of the most deadly pick-and-roll (really, pick-and-pop) combos in the NBA, and it’s unlikely Dragic will develop that same chemistry with either Markieff Morris or Anthony Tolliver.
22. Mike Conley – One of the more consistently underrated performers in the league for years, Conley never seems to get mentioned in discussions of All-Star teams or Team USA selections or the like. Still, a fantastic two-way player great at both protecting the ball and collecting steals on the defensive end, Conley deserves better. Certainly, his quiet demeanor and that he flies under the radar for the Grizzlies doesn’t help his cause nor does the fact that his contributions are on the defensive end more than most top point guards. But on this list of “best” not “most popular,” he finally gets his due.
21. Tony Parker – “Spurs not named Tim Duncan” have always been among the most difficult players to accurately assess. Gregg Popovich is a demonstrated master of putting players in positions to succeed and not using them in any other way. That said, the Spurs re-emergence as genuine title contenders over the past few seasons has coincided with Pop putting the ball in Parker’s hands more, transitioning from an offense relying on heavy doses of Duncan post ups to a system of whirling motion and seemingly endless pick-and-rolls coming from all angles of the floor. The key to that system is Parker. The Frenchman has a unique knack for finishing in traffic despite playing below the rim. When combined with his just-good-enough pull-up jumper and his ability to make the correct pass if the defense rotates to him, Parker becomes almost impossible to keep out of the lane. If the Spurs weren’t such a deep team or Pop believed in extending his starters’ minutes, Parker might be even higher on this list – he averaged under 30 minutes per game in 2013-14 resulting in less impressive top-line numbers than he might otherwise have had. His per/36 stats of 20 and 7 tell the full story.