NBA Player Rankings: The top 25 players for 2014-15
By Seth Partnow
The Inevitable Comparison
One is a player who’s “max-worthy” numbers took a big hit when he joined up with LeBron James in Miami. The other is likely to see some of the same effect having forced a trade to join LeBron in his return to Cleveland. It’s only natural the two will be linked by their proximity to James’ gravitational pull. It’s a very narrow call between them, but the guy who’s I think is likely to demonstrate his continued ability to shoulder a heavy burden gets the slight nod here.
8. Kevin Love – Over the long summer of Kevin Love On The Trading Block, his value got debated endlessly. Was he a guy putting up empty stats on a bad team or a truly great player saddled with some of the worst supporting casts in modern NBA history? How much does either interpretation matter, now that he joins the presumptive Eastern Conference favorite alongside James? Isn’t the better question “how will he fit in with the Cavs?” (The answer is ‘quite well’ even though his numbers might drop just a bit as he won’t be carrying the silly level of offense or expectation he was forced to in Minny.) Focusing just on his offensive production also ignores the downside of his mediocre-at-best defense. Unlike Steph Curry (see below), who can get away with being a bad defensive point guard, having a minus at power forward (which turns into a disaster when played at center) is harder to make up for.
7. Chris Bosh – Bosh is going to see a sharp spike in production as the new top dog in Miami. He’s going to see more shots, he’s going to rebound at a much higher rate. There are going to be approximately 2,937 pieces written about how everyone forgot Chris Bosh was a legitimate superstar. And he’ll do all those while playing VASTLY superior defense to Love. If Miami outperforms expectations, he’s even going to get some “borderline MVP candidate” buzz. It may be obvious, but I’m predicting an enormous year for Bosh.