ESPN: NBA Player Rankings & Hawks Standings

[ATLSmith]

So, I've been casually watching the NBA Player Rankings because there's nothing else to do right now.

Just for fun, here's the the list of Hawks players so far. I'll update as they become available:

#43 Josh Smith

#76 Jamal Crawford (nice pic of him repping the Hawks uni... but for how long?)

#129 Kirk Hinrich

#165 Marvin Williams

#187 Jeff Teague

#218 Zaazaaa Paaaachuuuliiiiaaaa!!

#351 Damien Wilkins

#365 Josh Powell

#383 Jason Collins

#415 Etan Thomas

#474 Magnum Rolle (no idea why they are ranking a players that haven't even played yet...)

#483 Pape Sy

#495 Keith Benson

Discuss amongst yourselves...

[Supporter]

Are they basing the rankings off of career production or present value?

[AHF]

Are they basing the rankings off of career production or present value?

Supposedly present value.

[BrazilianHawk]

If present value... I don't like it.

Teague should be up.

Damien >>> Powell

Collins > Powell

Zaza > Marvin

[ATLSmith]

Joe Johnson comes in at #32.

Check out the comment from Hollinger: "Joe Johnson. The most anonymous five-time All-Star in history." Probably trying to light a fire under his *ss.

So, out of the starters, this leaves Al Horford.

#32 Jose Johnson

#43 Josh Smith

#76 Jamal Crawford (nice pic of him repping the Hawks uni... but for how long?)

#129 Kirk Hinrich

#165 Marvin Williams

#187 Jeff Teague

#218 Zaazaaa Paaaachuuuliiiiaaaa!!

#351 Damien Wilkins

#365 Josh Powell

#383 Jason Collins

#415 Etan Thomas

#474 Magnum Rolle (no idea why they are ranking a players that haven't even played yet...)

#483 Pape Sy

#495 Keith Benson

[ATLSmith]

Coming in at #25 is Mr. Al Horford.

Well there you have it folks. Looking for Teague to move up a number of positions next year. Would be nice to see Joe move into the 20's or teens. Now, lets get the season started already.

#25 Al Horford

#32 Joe Johnson

#43 Josh Smith

#76 Jamal Crawford (nice pic of him repping the Hawks uni... but for how long?)

#129 Kirk Hinrich

#165 Marvin Williams

#187 Jeff Teague

#218 Zaazaaa Paaaachuuuliiiiaaaa!!

#351 Damien Wilkins

#365 Josh Powell

#383 Jason Collins

#415 Etan Thomas

#474 Magnum Rolle (no idea why they are ranking a players that haven't even played yet...)

#483 Pape Sy

#495 Keith Benson

[TheNorthCydeRises]

A guy who isn't the #1 offensive option on the team, nor the best defender on the team, nor can create his own offense, can't be the 25th best player in the league.

It's just hard to put him ahead of JJ or Smith, because both JJ and Smith frequently can change a game with the skills they bring to the table. Al is solid and consistent on most nights with a B-grade caliber game, which he definitely deserves credit for. But he's normally not a threat to put up 25 points in a game . . nor get a 4 or 5 block game . . nor a 3 steal game . . He's a good rebounder though, but even that has been falling as of late.

And both JJ and Smith have had better playoff showings than Horford, even with Smith and JJ not having consistently good playoff performances.

Smith is too low at #43. He's definitely a top 40 player if not a borderline top 30 player.

JJ for his all-around skill, is slightly too low at #32. Both he and Iggy are top 30 players.

Horford is rated too high, and should be right around the #30 - #35 mark.

[Supporter]

Al Horford is rated high because of his position, consistency, and leadership. Horford is right where he belongs; ahead of both Joe and Josh.

[coachx]

Al Horford is rated high because of his position, consistency, and leadership. Horford is right where he belongs; ahead of both Joe and Josh.

I believe age is also a big factor in dertimining "present value." Horford is 5 years younger then JJ for instance. If JJ were 25 years old, rather then 30, his present value would be much higher.

[Diesel]

Al Horford is rated high because of his position, consistency, and leadership. Horford is right where he belongs; ahead of both Joe and Josh.

You got to be kidding.

Horford is consistent...sometimes. But #25 in the league? Above Smoove and Joe?

No.

If the Hawks had a legit C and Al played PF, would he still be 25th? Of course not. He'd be whereever they tucked Boozer.

[Supporter]

You got to be kidding.

Horford is consistent...sometimes. But #25 in the league? Above Smoove and Joe?

No.

If the Hawks had a legit C and Al played PF, would he still be 25th? Of course not. He'd be whereever they tucked Boozer.

No I'm not kidding. If there was a draft of the entire NBA, I would take Horford above Joe and Josh. He is young and still has time to grow. Centers are harder to come by than shooting guards and tweeners.

p.s. If Joe was able to take less shots and get to the freethrow line, I would put him ahead of Horf, and if Josh was able to not shoot so many jumpers and stick to the post I would put him ahead of Horf.

Edited October 15, 2011 by Supporter

[TheNorthCydeRises]

That list the compiled on ESPN is what they are ranked TODAY, not what they could be ranked in the future. That is a 'right now' list, which is why they got Nash at #14 and Westbrook at #15.

If Al could defend the low post better or score better down on the block or be counted on to provide "go-to" type offense, he'd easily be a top 25 player, if not a top 20 one.

As for the entire list of where each Hawk is ranked, it only validates what I've been saying on here for a while. The disparity in talent, especially from our starting frontline to our reserve frontline people, is dramatic. Too dramatic. We had 3 top 40 players in the league, with Jamal having the ability to play like a top 40 player about 40% - 50% of the time. After that, the dropoff was dramatic as hell.

Hopefully what Teague did in the playoffs wasn't a fluke, and he can continue to play like that. But whatever cheap reserves we pick up, have to start making nightly positive contributions. We just need solid frontline role players. Not a bunch of stiffs.