The Sports Illustrated website has put together a list of the top 100 players in the NBA as the start of the season gets closer and the countdown has moved along from 100 all the way down to 31 and the rest of the list will come out this week, including the top 10 on Friday which will come after unveiling numbers 30 to 21.
List of players can often be an arbitrary thing and while it has a lot of opinion involved, SI has put together a very solid list, based on a number of ratings, including PER, which helps to show off how efficient a player is and the site also used win shares as a metric to measure who is best and how they rank.
At number 30 for the countdown is Brook Lopez and he is coming into a big season for the Brooklyn Nets, as the team acquired Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in the offseason to join Deron Williams. The team thinks it's the best in New York over the Knicks and Lopez will play a big part of it moving forward, especially after averaging nearly 20 points and seven rebounds last season. Lopez is an above average defensive player and he averaged over two blocks per game and adding someone like Garnett will only help Lopez develop into a top tier center.
Next on the list for SI is Serge Ibaka of the OKC Thunder at number 29 and he is a very important player for the Thunder this season, as OKC got to see what life is like without James Harden and it was not very pretty. Ibaka has a nice set of skills, but he is not a scorer like Harden and last season he averaged over 13 points and seven rebounds and he also was huge coming up with three blocks per game and that is the type of defensive intensity that OKC wants from their players.
Ibaka was beaten out for Defensive player of the year by Marc Gasol, but after having a great season on the boards and with blocking shots, he ended up coming in third place. Ibaka is not Harden, but he is a valuable piece for Kevin Durant and if the team wins a championship over the next few years, chances are he will play a big part in it. When Russell Westbrook went down in the playoffs last season, it opened up some weaknesses for the Thunder, but if the team remains healthy they will be a force in the West.
Down the list at number 28 is Lopez's teammate Garnett, who is coming into his first season in Brooklyn after being traded from the Celtics after averaging 14 points and nearly eight rebounds per game. While Garnett is getting older, he brings a veteran presence to the team and also gives a mentor for some of the younger players like Lopez, who should only grow under one of the best and most intense defensive players in the league.
Tyson Chandler was by far the best defensive player for the Knicks last season and he averaged a double-double of just over 10 points and 10 rebounds per game and he could be a major force this season as the Knicks try to make a championship run. Chandler broke down a bit at the end of the season, but if he can remain healthy into the playoffs, he should be able to help the Knicks advance at least one round, if not to the conference finals.
Some other players that made the list at 30 to 21 in the league include Rajon Rondo, Paul George, Deron Williams, Roy Hibbert, Al Horford and Joakim Noah. All these players are quality stars in this league and there are plenty of connections between the players on this part of the list. Garnett is now Lopez and Williams' teammate, while he also used to play with Rondo. George and Hibbert are both on the Pacers and they defeated Chandler and the Knicks last season in the playoffs. On top of that, both Horford and Noah went to college together at Florida.
Click here for the top 100 players list for the rankings of numbers 21-30.