69. JUSUF NURKIC, BLAZERS Following a midseason trade, it took Nurkic (10.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.9 APG) just a few weeks to go from a disgruntled, underachieving cast-off in Denver to a beloved, full-fledged phenomenon in Portland. Unfortunately for the Blazers, the good times and monster stat lines were cut short by a leg injury that cost the 23-year-old Bosnian center the final seven games of the regular season and limited him to one brief postseason appearance. Still, the pre-injury flashes of excitement and dominant play were very real, as the monster 7-footer provided badly-needed frontcourt scoring, space-eating interior defense, and mega doses of swagger to an otherwise listless Blazers campaign. With the possibility of a monster payday on the horizon, Nurkic approaches the final year of his rookie contract in “prove it” mode on numerous fronts: He must prove that he can stay healthy after missing 87 combined games over his first three seasons, he must prove that immaturity issues a thing of the past, he must prove that his late-season scoring surge is sustainable once he’s targeted by rival game plans, he must prove that his improved conditioning can help ease his turnover problems and foul trouble, and he must prove that he can be the full-time backline stopper for a decent defense. If he succeeds on most or all of those fronts, the Blazers should be on track for their most successful season of the post-LaMarcus Aldridge era. — BG https://www.si.com/nba/2017/09/11/t...m&utm_medium=social&xid=socialflow_twitter_si
87 missed games in his first 3 years, and a 20 game, out-of-character, surge of awesome play create a ton of question marks about whether or not what we saw late last year is going to be sustainable. If he stays healthy and motivated then this meaningless ranking is going to change considerably, but he's gotta do it first.
Get your reasoned, rational, reserved response outta here!! I wanna be outraged over this perceived injustice, dangit! Justifiable Nurk skepticism aside, the fact that Thompson is somehow a top 60 NBA player (read: arguably the second-best player on a team given equitable talent distribution) is IMO patently absurd.
Sorry, you guys know I'm not a stat or numbers guy, so I couldn't tell you what he averages, but TT is one of the best offensive rebounding players in the league. I know before Love showed up he a beast out there chasing misses. Let's have Nurk prove this play over an extended amount of time please.
Actually, Thompson's rebounding percentages are higher the past 3 years with Love than before; but as a comparative, Ed Davis' offensive rebounding over the same span is right on par with Thompson (as are the rest of his advanced stats). Nobody's putting Davis on a tier anywhere close to where this list ludicrously put Thompson. I stand by my statement. Putting Thompson in the 50's leaguewide, or anywhere near Nurkic (let alone several slots above him) is ridiculous.
Don't really have to look at the stats to know that TT is functionally equivalent to Ed Davis, and far below Nurk talent-wise. The stats simply back up what our eyes already tell us.
First, by Been Golliver. That explains a lot. Throw in the fact that Thompson shot less than .500 from the line need last season and it becomes even more ridiculous. Thompson is a top 5 offensive rebounder that plays with LeBron. These are the two things he does well, and if not for the latter, I doubt anyone would even be including him in any top 200 lists, let alone 52nd. His defensive rebounding numbers, both with, and without Love are below average, he's a terrible FT shooter who averages 8.2 ppg. His PER has always hovered just slightly above league average. He's a role player. CLE doesn't need him to score. Just rebound, set some picks and put forth some effort on defense. A good role player, but no way the 52nd best player in the league. BNM
I wasn't saying Thompson was better. Just mentioning his offensive rebounding and put back game is where he was probably getting recognized for.
Well, the good news is we have two players in the top 50 and three in the top 70. The bad news is, our 4th best player isn't in the top 125. Regardless of disputes over exact positions, I'd say that sums up things pretty accurately. If Nurk is healthy, we have our Big 3. It's 4 - 8 where we need to upgrade. In theory, since we are a young team, we can improve through internal growth. Mo is still only 24, but he's entering his 6th NBA season. His "growth" has mostly been via increased playing time. His advanced stats and per 36 numbers have barely crept up since his rookie year. I don't really expect him to ever breakout. I think he is who he is. I haven't totally given up on Vonleh, but like Harkless, his actual improvement has been largely non-existant and painstakingly slow. Hopefully, at least one of Collins and Swanigan can eventually crack the top 100. If only we had a big man coach to work with some of these young guys... BNM
Tristan Thompson was a scrub most of his career and was often a shining example of Cleveland's wasted high-lottery picks post-LeBron. He's only regarded so highly now because of his insane stretch of post-season play when LeBron first returned. He's been fairly average other than that.
The thing he really gets recognized for is playing with LeBron. His second year in the league he averaged 11.7 PTS, 3.7 ORB and shot .608 FT%, CLE won 24 games and no one gave a shit about Tristan Thompson. Last year, he averaged 8.1 PTS, 3.7 ORB and shot .498 FT% and suddenly Tristan Thompson is the 52nd best player in the entire league. His numbers actually got worse, but riding LeBron's coattails to the finals will get you hella recognition, deserved, or not. BNM
TT is just like JJ Hickson. Guy looks real good when he's playing with LBJ. Will look real awful when he is without LBJ. Nash had a similar ability. Make scrubs look better than they are because of his talent level.
