I think it was just an outstanding compliment to say Lillard is Curry with worse PR. Curry is one of the top MVP candidates this season and a top five player in the NBA. He has the edge on Lillard, but in his third year to be,thought of as belonging on this list is just awesome. Same for Anthony Davis, he and Lillard have risen to the top eschelon of the NBA many years before entering their prime. These two players will one day be the best in the NBA if they continue their growth and stay healthy.
I don't think you will get a lot of opposition about Curry being the better player right now. He's even more clutch, if you can actually believe that. What I can tell you is that Dame at year 3 is much much better than Curry at year 3. I think there will be a time where Dame is actually better than Curry because he has that "killer drive" to always be the best in the league. The same drive that drove Jordan and Kobe. I hate mentioning Kobe, but the dude kept getting better each year until the last 3 seasons... That's pretty insane!
What's funny about that draft class was it was considered mediocre by many draft experts, claiming only AD being the franchise player. Look at the players that came out of it!!! AD, MKG, Beal, Waiters, Lillard, Ross, Drummond, Barnes, Jones, and Draymond Green. That's a solid group of players!
It feels like Curry carries his team more, so I looked up per-36 minute FG shooting. Curry's not as far ahead as I thought. Lillard shoots 7.5-16.3, with 6.4 assists. Curry shoots 8.8-17.9, with 8.4 assists.
Thats the thing for me. Curry is pretty complete with his game right now. Im not sure he has a lot more to add, improve but not really add. Dame on the other hand by simply adding a floater can drastically change his game. His defense will get better. I think he will push for an all defense team or two simply because of all the crap that he got about to prove a point. I could even see Dame working on a post game at some point. He still has more room than you would think to grow. How great is that???
This one area I think Curry will always be better and part of that may be because we need Lillard scoring more. I dont think he would be quite as effective overall if he averaged 10 assists a game. BUT he is Dame and it wouldnt shock me at all to see him do it at some point and still be every bit as effective. Please, someone tell him he CANT do it
No it wasn't. It was said that AD would be the only franchise player, then the rest would be solid rotation players.
Ah Draymond Green, now that was a great pick. I watched him in college and thought he just might be a great role player but I would have never have guess liked this.
Other than Lillard being a franchise player, it seems like he was pretty spot on. All the other guys you list are solid role players. One, or two, may eventually becomes borderline all stars, but right now, Davis (23.4), Lillard (21.7) and Drummond (17.3) are the only three players from that draft class with more than 10 WS. Drummond is a great rebounder and a decent, but not elite, shot blocker, but I have a hard time labeling anyone who averages 13 ppg and can't make a FT to save his life as a franchise player. He's young and may get there, but right now, he's a great role player, not a franchise player. Maybe that will be the legacy of that draft - Lillard surprising everyone, plus a lot of REALLY good role players. The draft before was MUCH better, the draft after, which was supposed to be the good one, isn't looking so great so far. BNM
Wiggins looks like he can be really good, but I think you have to say that with 3 of the top 7 (and #12, if you count Saric) have played less than 15 games or so before being injured for the year, the returns are still out, right? Or, conversely, I guess you could say that since 3 of the top 7 are injured already, that doesn't bode well?
