So, I need a summary from someone who has an Insider account. Where do they rank Dame? http://espn.go.com/nba/insider/stor...ard-anthony-davis-nba-senior-future-potential
About what I was expecting. No doubt that they're all great talents, but I think Lillard's will to win puts him on a different level.
I'm not so sure that Green deserves as much love as he's getting. Really solid pro, but build your team around? He's like Andre Iguodala on roids, of which whom you wouldn't want to build your team around. Would love him on the team, but if you're ranking players, you should take into account their roles. The defense doesn't concentrate on Green as it does Thompson or Curry (or Lillard). It's similar to why Batum had better all around #'s than Damian did (and no I'm not comparing Green to Batum). I would hope the 2nd best player would have a higher PER, esp if he's had 12 triple doubles, and almost averages one. And I'm not saying this as a knee jerk Damian defender. But you can't really go based on one year for this rankings. Although I guess you could put the two of their seasons up against each other, but I think the one who has been compared to all time greats should be ranked higher. Granted, they have different roles, but at the same time like I said earlier, they're comparing the guy who teams target vs the guy who can play off of Curry and Thompson. Is Green a better defender? Without a doubt. I'm not sure that taking Green off the Warriors has the same impact as taking Damian off the Blazers would.
That they're even debating Lillard vs. Drummond for No. 3 is ridiculous. Yes, Drummond is a great rebounder and a very good rim protector, but with a .354 FT%, when, exactly, is Drummond Time? It certainly isn't during the 4th quarter of a close game when his coach has to pull him from the game due to his poor FT shooting. Can you imagine Damian Lillard being benched in the 4th of a close game because his own coach considers him a liability? "Pelton: I'm going with the guard. Over the past month, Lillard has carried the Blazers in a way I'm not certain Drummond will ever be able to do for his team." Over the past month???? Seriously, try over their entire careers. When exactly has Drummond carried his team anywhere but right back into the lottery? With the Blazers currently the 6th seed in the Western Conference, Lillard is on his way to the playoffs for the 3rd time in his first 4 years. With the Pistons currently sitting at 9th in the Eastern Conference, Drummond may very well be sitting out the post season for the 4th time in 4 years. In today's NBA, Drummond is a role player, a very good role player, but he will never carry his team the way Lillard can, and does. In fact, Drummond would be the perfect complimentary player to Lillard, but he could NEVER replace Lillard - not even close. BNM
I'm not sure I ever heard that account of Lillard's pre-draft workout. That's pretty cool. Just playing devil's advocate here, but you could easily flip that statement and have a solid case, seeing as how the Blazers actually played better when Lillard was out of the lineup for a few games. (But have since played even better once readjusting to him.) Which would then beg the question of whether Lillard is a product of Stotts' system?
Hmmmmm Anthony Davis - this guy is SO amazing that he can't even get his team into the playoffs. LeBron carried the shitshow of a roster to the Finals in 2007, when his second best player was Ilgauskas. The Pelicans are currently 12th in the west. If Davis is such a revelation, why can't he elevate a roster of reasonably talented players into the top 8 in a down year in the western conference? Draymond - please, like this guy would be nearly the star without Curry. If defenses started gaming specifically to stop him, he wouldn't do shit. He's a really good role player on an amazing team. Drummond - he's a battleship in a time of aircraft carriers. It's really that simple. Big centers like Drummond are obsolete right now. I would still love to have him, but nobody is building their team around big centers right now.
No doubt Lillard is better in terms of being a teams primary scorer, selling season tickets or a vocal leader. He will provide far more entertainment for a team that isn't contending. But what player is more critical to building a contender? I can see a strong argument for Green because he's harder to replace. There are non allstar PGs such as Mike Conley who could give 90+% of what Dame brings. Some may rank Conley higher because of great defense. Even on the same team we have a replacement in CJ who has been 95% as effective as Lillard. The leagues deepest position is PG. But there is no 90% replacement for Draymond Green. He's somehow the statistical most effective center on defense; and offense! He has the ability to play SF and PF at the same high level on both ends.
I don't think Conley could replace 90% of what Lillard brings. I think the thing that you're forgetting is that Dame is the primary focus of every defense. They game their entire defensive scheme around stopping him. He has been putting our team on his back and carrying it into the playoffs. Could Conley carry the Grizzlies? I'm not so sure. To me, Draymond is a luxury on a really good team, but we have yet to really see if he could ever be "The Man."
I said the same thing early last season when Davis got off to a ridiculous start, had a PER = 39 about a month and a half into the season and everyone was proclaiming him as the second best player in the league after LeBron. He was supposed to be the next big thing. He is very talented, but in terms of team success, so far, he's the next big disappointment. He's still very young, and in the right situation, he'd be a great asset, but he's not the type of player who can carry, or will, his team to victory. EVERYONE had the Pelicans making the playoffs and finishing way ahead of the Blazers this season. As of today: POR = 34-31, 6th in the West NOP = 24-38, 12th in the West BNM
Yup. I think it's a personality thing. Davis seems like a quiet guy. Funny enough, if you put him in the Spurs system as the new Tim Duncan, I bet they just keep winning championships.
The even bigger difference to me is the intangibles, the leadership qualities, the drive to make everyone around him better, the way he encourages his team mates, etc. None of the players mentioned have that. This is what is going to be the difference in his career at the end of the day. I believe Dame is the kind of player who can will a team to a championship (or two). Davis and Conley don't have that and Draymond is only going to be usable on a good team because he's a loose cannon (see verbal altercation with Steve Kerr recently). You can't build a team around that!
Remember how high everyone was on Lance Stephenson when the Pacers were winning? He's trash now. He's in the recycle bin. He has bounced around to three teams in the last couple years. He was supposedly a really good defender. He was supposedly one of the most versatile guys in the league. He was a constant threat for a triple double. Take him off that Pacers team and he's garbage.
I've recently watch the Pels in the 4th quarter, and Detroit in the 4th. In neither game did those teams go to Davis or Drummond. In fact, in the Pels game I think Davis touched the ball all of 3 or 4 times in the last 5 minutes of the game! I think the ESPN guys are stuck in the past, when bigs played in the post and could get you buckets in the 4th a la Hakeem, Shaq, Barkley, ... As the league has shifted, it has definitely become a shooters league, and I'm VERY happy to have Lillard.
