NBA Maven

The following are the top 15 rated players from 2019 2020 NBA season

1. LeBron James

2. Giannis Antetokounmpo

3. Jimmy Butler

4. Ben Simmons

5. Luca Doncik

6. Nikola Jokic

7. James Harden

8. Anthony Davis

9. Damian Lillard

10. Bam Adebayo

11. Kawhi Leonard

12. Ricky Rubio

13. Chris Paul

14. Rudy Gobert

15. Andre Drummond
It is no surprise that LeBron James tops our list this year. He had a hell of a year. He played outstanding and was the first big man to lead the league in assists since Wilt Chamberlain did it almost 50 years ago. Wilt is the only center to lead the league in assists. All the talk about the greatest player of all time either being Michael Jordan or LeBron James is misplaced. The greatest player of all time has been and will continue to be Wilt Chamberlain, period. LeBron is the greatest at something though and that is being a traitor to the United States of America and a sellout to the Chinese Communist Party. A year ago when the Chinese communist party cancelled the exhibition games that the NBA was supposed to play in China, LeBron had a chance to call out the communist party for what it really was, a brutal autocratic dictatorship that does not care about its people nor human rights. As you may recall the Chinese communist party took exception to the Houston Rockets’ GM tweeting in support of democratic cracy for Hong Kong. LeBron had an opportunity to speak out and say what should’ve been said to all of his fans in China. He failed to do so because he’s in bed with the Chinese Communist Party and he’s making millions of dollars with communists and he is part and parcel to the oppressive regime exploitation of their own people with the sweatshop labor that is being used to make his Nike shoes. Unfortunately  LeBron is not the only traitor in our country, numerous corporate execs have moved their operations and manufacturing plants to China to exploit the sweatshop labor over there.

The Chinese government had an outsized impact on the NBA this year by releasing the Covid 19 virus on the world. In spite of the maliscious actions by the Chinese goverment the NBA was able to complete the season and the LeBron James led LA Lakers to the NBA title by beating the Miami Heat in 6 games in the NBA bubble in Orlando, FL. Jimmy Butler finally  prov ed hisworth and finished as the third ranked player in the league this year after LeBron and Giannis in my proprietary grading system. Once again Ricky Rubio made the top 15 list to further prove that Tom Thibodeau was acoplete and total bust as the head of basketball operations and head coch of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Speaking of Thibodeau, he was just named the head coach of New York Knicks. God have mercy on the Knicks! LeBron and the Lakers should enjoy their title run for now because when the Golden State Warriors get healthy everyone else will be playing for second place. I predict that the NBA finals next year will feature the Golden State Warriors against the Miami Heat.

Speaking of the aforementioned Timberwolves the owner Glen Taylor, has decided to sell the team, with the condition that the new owner will not move the team out of Minnesota. I am of the opinion that the league has too many teams we should contract by 4 teams, New Orleans, Charlotte, Minnesota and Sacramento. Hopefully the league will have no further expansion as there are not enough good players to fill out the teams that the league has presently. I hope everyone enjoyed reading my blog and hopefully next year there will be no drama affecting the NBA season.

The following list comprises the top 12 players in the NBA for the first third of the 2019-2020 NBA season.

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo

2. Luca Doncic

3. LeBron James

4. Jimmy Butler

5. Ben Simmons

6. Anthony Davis

7. Nicola Jokic

8. Bam Adebayo

9. James Harden

10. Ricky Rubio

11. Andre Drummond

12. Karl Anthony Towns

There are a few new faces on the Top 12 players list this first third of the season. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo at numbers 4 & 8 are new to the list this year and are making the Miami Heat a possible Eastern Conference finalist contender. The biggest move up the list is Luca Doncic who is making quite a name for himself down in the Big D. He is showing the Association that he is a real big time player and is following up his rookie year with an even better year so far this season. Another big surprise to the list, not in my eyes but in a lot of other peoples’ eyes, is Ricky Rubio. I still feel that Tom Thibadeau made a big error in getting rid of Ricky when he was playing so well with Karl Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach Lavine three years ago. Tom Thibadeau was a total disaster for the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise and I will be very surprised if he gets another head coaching job in the NBA. Speaking of the Timberwolves it is time for an ownership change. The present ownership is not going forward and improving the franchise’s chances of being a playoff team much less a title contender. Denver and Dallas get players like Nikola Jokic and Luca Doncic in the draft while the Timberwolves have not gotten any impact players since drafting Karl Anthony Towns. That is too many years without adding significant talent. In the NBA you are either going forward or you are falling behind and the Timberwolves are falling behind with no plan for getting the franchise on track to be competitive. The top teams this season appear to be the LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and the Miami Heat. The Heat are definitely the surprise team this year so far. They have made some excellent draft picks such as Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn that are making the Heat a much more formidable team this year. My pick for the NBA finals is going to be Boston Celtics vs the LA Lakers with the Celtics winning it in six games.

The following list comprises the top 12 players in the NBA for the 2018-2019 NBA season.

1. Giannis Antetokounmpo

2. Anthony Davis

3. Russell Westbrook

4. Nikola Jokic

5. LeBron James

6. Ben Simmons

7. Joel Embid

8. Rudy Gobert

9. Nicola Vucevic

10. James Harden

11. Kevin Durant

12. Kawhi Leonard

12. Clint Capela (tie)

Congratulations to the Toronto Raptors on winning their first NBA title. Their trading DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard got them over the top and delivered them the title. It didn’t hurt that Kevin Durant, Boogie Cousins and Klay Thompson got hurt and were not able to play in the NBA finals. That being said injuries are part of the game but it is doubtful that Toronto could have beaten the Warriors if the W’s were at full strength for the playoffs. A lot of moves made during the summer. Most notable were the Lakers trading for Anthony Davis and the Clippers signing Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as free agents. The Clippers were immediately listed as title favorites for next season but remember these are the Clippers. The Lakers should have a helluva of two man game with LeBron James and Anthony Davis pick and rolling their opponents to death. The Lakers also signed Boogie Cousins and if he gets back to full strength the Lakers have to be considered legitimate title contenders and a possible return to the glory days of past. I don’t see Kevin Durant playing at all next year for the Brooklyn Nets but we shall see how well his rehab from an Achilles tendon rupture goes. Klay Thompson will miss most of the next season recovering from the ACL tear from the cheap shot he took while going for the dunk in game 6 of the NBA finals against Toronto. Klay is a tough ballplayer and I expect him back in time for the playoffs next year. Anything sooner might be unrealistic and possibly a mistake for him to rush back to soon. Kyrie Irving signed with the Nets but I don’t see the Nets as a threat to win the title. The Philadelphia 76ers on the other hand are my early pre-season favorite to win it all now that they unloaded the malcontent with the hyperinflated opinion of his game Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat. If you look top players ratings you can see that they have two top ballplayers and without Butler causing problems for management they can make a serious run at the title next year. The Milwaukee Bucks should have won the title this past year but their Head Coach Mike Budenholzer choked big time at the end of the 3rd quarter of game six and basically blew the series against Toronto because he got a lump in his throat and didn’t call a timeout at the end of the 3rd quarter to prevent the Raptors from cutting their 15 point lead to 7 points at the end of the quarter. That is all for now but remember to follow me on Twitter at @NBAMaven1

The following list comprises the top 12 players in the NBA at the All-Star break.

1. Anthony Davis

2. Russell Westbrook

3. Giannis Antetokounmpo

4. Nikola Jokic

5. LeBron James

6. Ben Simmons

7. Rudy Gobert

8. Kevin Durant

9. Nicola Vucevic

10. James Harden

11. Joel Embid

12. Kawhi Leonard

12. Kyle Lowery (tie)

 

Anthony Davis continues to be in the number one spot at the NBA All-Star break. Although he’s at the top of my list I don’t think the Lakers should trade a whole team for him. The Lakers would be better off going for Kawhi Leonard instead of Anthony Davis because Anthony Davis has yet to play a full season, he’s been averaging about 60+ games a year that he has played in. Rudy Gobert is having an excellent season as evidenced by his three moves up the list. He should’ve been in the All-Star game. He is playing better than Karl Anthony Towns or LaMarcus Aldridge are playing this year. If Rudy stays healthy Utah could be a force out in the west. Russell Westbrook and James Harden have been on a record-setting tear this past two months. Let’s see if they can keep it up and how far they can take their teams this year. My pick to win it all is no surprise it’s the Golden State Warriors. My elite eight to make the conference semi finals is the same as it was in Christmas and we will see but it’s going to be really hard to bet against the Warriors once again this year.

 

The following list comprises the top 12 players in the NBA at Christmas time which this year is at about the 40+% of the season.

1. Anthony Davis
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo
3. Russell Westbrook
4. Ben Simmons
5. Nikola Jokic
6. LeBron James
7. Kevin Durant
8. Kyle Lowry
9. Nicola Vucevic
10. Rudy Gobert
11. James Harden
12. Joel Embid

The “Brow” is having an outstanding season so far and is head and shoulders above the rest of the top players in the NBA at this point in the season. James Harden’s play so far has been not up to his standards but we will have to wait and see as the season goes on to see if he is really falling off in production or just had a slow start. Most of the rest of the players on my list are pretty much the same as last season. If Anthony Davis can stay healthy for the whole season he is my MVP pick this year. A few new players are on the list this year that are playing at a high level this season. Nicola Vucevic, Rudy Gobert and Joel Embid are looking like All-Stars so far this year.

The elite eight teams that will be in the Eastern and Western Conferences semifinals are as follows:

Eastern Conference

Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics & Philadelphia 76ers

Western Conference

Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, LA Lakers & OKC Thunder

Once again I am picking the Warriors to win it all with Boston or Philly having an outside chance to beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals. It is apparent at this point in the season that the Warriors have too much firepower and there are no other teams in the league that can match their firepower.

I will be back with the next blog at the NBA All-Star break. Until then stay tuned to the NBA and enjoy watching these tremendous athletes on my list above!

Welcome back NBA fans! We are at the conclusion of the 2017 – 2018 season.

 

It is time for the player report card for the second third point of the season using my proprietary grading system. The following list is the ranking of the top 25 players for the 2017-2018 season. Please note that the players with asterisks next to their name are injured and won’t be back this season or won’t play the required 75% of the games to be graded for the season’s end list.

 

1. LeBron James – +25.1
2. Russell Westbrook – +23.6
3. Anthony Davis – +21.5
4. James Harden – +21.2
5. Ben Simmons – +20.9
6. Andre Drummond – +20.8
7. Nicola Jokic – +20.6
8. Giannis Antetokounmpo – +20.5
9. Jimmy Butler – +18.7
10. Draymond Green – +18.3
11. Kevin Durant – +17.9
12. Karl Anthony Towns – +17.6
13. DeAndre Jordan – +16.8
14. Damian Lillard – +16.6
15. Rajon Rondo John Wall – +15.9
16. Kyle Lowry – +15.2
17. Al Horford – +14.2
18. Jrue Holiday – +14.1
19. Clint Capela – +14.0
20. Jeff Teague – +13.9
21. LaMarcus Aldridge – +13.7
22. DeMar SeRozan – +13.5
23. Darren Collison – +13.4
24. Victor Oladipo – +13.2
25. Enes Kanter – 13.1

 

The last third of the season has been interesting with all the player moves the Cleveland Cavaliers made to appease LeBron James. The Boston Celtics had a 16 game winning streak early in the year which was broken up by the Miami Heat. Cleveland followed that up with a nice winning streak and now the Warriors are having a nice winning streak closely out 2017. But no matter how much has changed in the season things still appear to be the same with LeBron James, THE DAWG, on top of my player grading chart. He is followed in 2^nd place by Russell Westbrook. Who is finally getting everybody on the same page down in OKC.  The 3^rd place on the list is Anthony Davis, 4^th place is James Harden and 5^th place is Ben Simmons. It appears to me that Ben Simmons is the Rookie of the Year in the NBA this year. The top ten are rounded out by, Andre Drummond, Nicola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo(The Greek Freak), Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. The Beard is having another MVP caliber season. Playing alongside Chris Paul has not been a problem and they are making Houston look like a serious title contender. Going into the playoffs Houston looks like the favorite but how they will fare in the playoffs will depend on the health of Stephen Curry who is recovering from a knee injury. If Stephen Curry is healthy I feel that Golden State will probably represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. I still like Cleveland to represent the East although there path to the NBA Finals will be a difficult one with the Philadelphia 76ers being their main threat to the Eastern Conference title.

1. At the end of the season it is becoming clear that the following teams are the only real contenders for the NBA title this year: Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors. I am not including the Boston Celtics because I don’t think they have the horses for a title run although their coaching staff does fine work with the talent that they have. The Cavs traded Kyrie Irving to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas Jr. because Kyrie no longer wanted to pay with LeBron. Now that the Cavs realize that Isaiah Thomas, Jr. is no replacement for Kyrie, the Cavs have basically totally revamped their team to keep LeBron happy and give them somewhat a chance at winning the NBA title. The Cavs had to do this because LeBron is having a tremendous season and needs more help without Kyrie providing offensive firepower. LeBron is having one of his best years ever, very similar to 2012. I am unwilling to bet against LeBron in the playoffs, but the Cavs still will need Kevin Love in full form and J.R. Smith to play better to get to the finals and challenge for the title. Toronto could finally get over the hump against Cleveland but that remains to be seen. Speaking of firepower I was at a martial arts seminar last January at the Minnesota Kali Group facility. The seminar was held by Guru Dan Ihnosanto. He was a partner of Bruce Lee and is carrying on in the martial arts tradition Bruce Lee established many years ago. He spoke about firepower as something impossible to defend against and having the need to sidestep or retreat. This made me think that even though I believe LeBron can beat his Eastern Conference rivals by himself he will not be able to do that against the Golden State Warriors. The Milwaukee Bucks may pull off a first round upset with Giannis Antetokounmpo playing at an All-Pro level this year. Out in the Western Conference, Houston added Chris Paul and that makes them a very formidable team having him play alongside James Harden. But that being said if the Warriors can stay healthy and keep Draymond Green in the game they will likely win it all this year. Draymond Green has been playing at an incredible level but has had some nagging injuries so far this season and really has to be in the lineup or Golden State will find it very difficult to repeat. But in the final analysis the Warriors have too much talent and firepower it is as simple as that.

    

   My hometown teams, the Miami Heat and Minnesota Timberwolves are still trying to build themselves into championship contenders. The Heat could probably go farther in the playoffs than the Timberwolves, even though the Wolves have more talent. The Heat’s coaching staff is superior to the Timberwolves. Unfortunately the Heat has the misfortune of playing the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1st round of the playoffs and are probably an early exit from the playoffs this year. Coach Thibs is wearing out his starters by not playing the bench players, like Jamal Crawford and Gorgui Dieng, enough. He wore out Derrick Rose in Chicago and last year burnt out Zach LaVine. Now he has a banged up Jeff Teague, who missed games earlier in the season due to injuries, and Jimmy Butler just went down with a torn meniscus in his knee. I called it in my most recent blog(see 1/3 season blog I state this: I expect one or two starters to breakdown this year if he doesn’t reduce the starter’s minutes). He should also bench Andrew Wiggins when he goes into his invisible man act. The Wolves are better off with Jamal Crawford or Gorgui in the game when Wiggins drifts off, which he does quite regularly. Unfortunately for my fellow Timberwolves fans this coaching staff, basketball operations management and talent scouting are not quite ready for the bright lights of the NBA Finals. Let’s hope for a better year next year.

   Speaking of next year I will be back in December 2018 with my blog for the first third of next season. In the meantime check me out on Twitter – @nbamaven1