http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...rry-chris-broussard-player-power-rankings-nba 7. Damian Lillard Portland Trail Blazers RPM: 2.27 (No. 50) MVP odds: 150-1 Previous rank: No. 7 It was a tough week for the Blazers, who dropped the last three games of a six-game road trip, but that was not because of Lillard. He put 50 points on Toronto's Kyle Lowry, one of the league's grittiest defensive point guards, and then 41 points and 11 assists on John Wall, as he went for 30 or more points for the eighth time in 11 games since All-Star Weekend. Think about this: Wall hasn't been able to lead Washington to a playoff spot in the East. Without Durant for much of the past season, Westbrook failed to get OKC to the postseason. But Lillard has the post-LaMarcus Aldridge Blazers -- with guys named Vonleh, Aminu and Plumlee starting -- still firmly in the Western Conference playoffs, even with their recent skid.
This is a great point, though Lillard has the advantage of a front office that managed to completely re-tool the lineup to match Lillard's strengths; Westbrook had a Durant-focused team without Durant. Wall? I dunno about Wall; I don't follow the Junior Varsity NBA in the Eastern Conference.
Wall just isn't that good. He's All-Star material, sure, and I would love to have him if we didn't have Dame, but he's basically Mike Conley with all of the arrogance that goes with being a #1 pick. He is too full of himself. He thinks he should be considered a top 3 PG, but he just isn't. Maybe not even top 5. If I was picking today, my top 5 would be: Curry Paul Dame Westbrook Lowry
I am really liking that the media is admitting how much of a curry homer they have all been pretty sure it falls under that "they sleep" category
I'd say Allstar material is certainly "good". Wall isn't top3 but he's been very effective for years, carried a team to the second round, and doesn't have a teammate as good as CJ. He could improve the attitude. There are so many great PGs in the league today it's more about who they have as teammates than the small difference between them. The five you mention plus Wall, Irving, Conley, Bledsoe are studs too. Then you have Dragic, Isiah Thomas, Kemba Walker, Jeff Teague, Reggie Jackson who could lead a team deep in the playoffs with the right teammates. Half the teams in the league have PG's who I'd consider at least good, if not great.
In case it hasn't been posted recently...Dame's per game averages since the all-star break: 36 minutes 48% FG 42% 39 93% FT 33.5 pts 3.8 reb 5.3 ast 64% TS% PER 27.7
Please note that's an approximation based on a weighted linear calculation that I found, as opposed to a complete PER calc based on updated league average data. Still, it's in the neighborhood.
It would put him solidly fourth in the league for PER. For OKC, both Westbrook and Durant have 28.2, and Curry has over 9000. San Antonio doesn't have any one player that high, but their starting lineup has PERs of: 25.8, 21.6, 17.2, 16.9, and Danny Green.
His TS% would also put him second (among players playing over 15mpg)--right between Curry and Durant.
Amazing what getting free throws at a sane rate does for a player like Dame. Next year: CJ gets calls!
Oh crap, missed part of the calc--the part that factored in assists (a pretty significant part). He's actually putting up about a 33.8 PER since the all-star break.
HOLY SH-- Best player in the league.... Curry's got a 32.8 PER. And the thing is, I think he could play this well for an entire season, and WOULD HAVE if he'd gotten the whistles he deserved!
If CJ just got 1 more shooting foul per game than he does now, he'd be averaging 22.5 ppg with PER of about 21 and a TS% of 58.7% Just sayin'...
