NBA Player Rankings: The top 25 players for 2014-15

Gunners

Chuckers. Conscience free. Proving the hot hand theory is true. These two guys are among the players for whom #LeaguePassAlert was invented. Steph is heating up! Melo as 37 midway through the 3rd quarter! Any night can be that night for these two.

10. Carmelo Anthony – Lost in the dumpster fire of the 2013-14 Knicks season was Anthony having perhaps his best year as a pro. Still one of the most difficult covers in the NBA one-on-one with the strength to bully wings and the quickness to blow by power forwards, Melo deserves better than to play out the last few years of his prime for a team still paying for everyone of its managerial missteps. He led the NBA in minutes per game in 2013-14 while carrying the third highest usage in the league, finishing second to Kevin Durant in the scoring race. And he was efficient in getting those points, posting a well above average .561 True Shooting Percentage including a career high 40.2% accuracy from three-point range.  The Knicks might still not be in great shape, but look elsewhere as to why.

9. Stephen Curry – No player in the league is quite so terrifying with the ball at any point over half-court as Curry. If he ONLY took pull-up three pointers, the 39.5% he put up on those shots in 2013-14 would put him just outside the top 20 in the NBA. And those are on “bad” shots off the dribble. Overall he shot 42.4%, good for 8th in league, leading the NBA in both total threes taken and made for the second consecutive year. Even if run off the three point line, Curry is a great shooter from mid-range as well. Double team him and he makes the right pass, as shown by his career high 8.5 assists per game last season. Really, the only knocks against him are his defense (underwhelming, though less fatal to a point guard than to a big man) and his size which can occasionally see him get muscled out of games. He’s only a year or another injury to Chris Paul from being the best point guard in the game.