Fansided

Revisiting The Step Back’s 2018 NBA 25-under-25 list

By Jonathan Macri

DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 16: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings and Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks smile during a game on December 16, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - DECEMBER 16: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings and Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks smile during a game on December 16, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Make: The top four

If you pulled the average NBA fan off the street and asked them to name the four best under-25 players in the league heading into this season, wouldn’t they have said Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns? Would they even have given you the correct order? Is it cheating to give ourselves credit for this?

Probably, possibly, and definitely.

We’re still taking our victory lap, dammit. In a league where the center position has been so tremendously devalued, we didn’t get too cute and try to sneak a Donovan Mitchell or a Jayson Tatum in this grouping, instead realizing that an elite big man can make all the difference. And boy, have these guys ever made a difference.

All four players are in the top ten in the league in PER. Giannis is the MVP favorite, while Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic are going to battle it out for First Team All-NBA Center and will likely finish fourth and fifth in the MVP race themselves. And then there’s Towns, who is about to become only the sixth player ever to average 24 and 12 in a season where they post an effective field goal percentage above 58, joining Wilt Chamberlain (twice), Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Giannis this year. Unlike the Greek Freak, he’s shooting over 40 percent from downtown.

So yeah, we made out alright here, although you could argue one guy should have nudged his way into this grouping…

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