#5 Luka Doncic – PG/SG/SF – Dallas Mavericks
2020-21 Stats: 27.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 8.6 APG, 1.0 STL, 47.9 FG%, 35.0 3P%, 73.0 FT%
Luka Doncic is the favorite to win the MVP award this season and rightfully so. The 22-year-old is coming off a terrific, triple-double-like season last year and this season, he has a couple of new guys to play around with on the court. Reggie Bullock and Sterling Brown are two perimeter threats Luka will be able to hit for open three-pointers and with Jason Kidd now being the head coach, we should expect to see Doncic be even more of a dynamic playmaker for others.
Continuing to find ways to increase his three-point shooting percentage and free-throw percentage will be key for Doncic, but overall, he is the complete package. At a young age, Luka Doncic is one of the faces of the NBA and he is not going anywhere anytime soon.
The next big thing for Doncic to do in his career though is to find a way to achieve in the playoffs. Since entering the league in 2018, Doncic has been to the playoffs twice and has yet to help Dallas win a playoff series, despite being up 3-2 on the Clippers in the first round this past year. Obviously, losing in the postseason is not Doncic’s fault, as he has averaged 33.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in the postseason for his career, but getting others involved and not trying to play “hero ball” could really make the Mavericks a more well-rounded team late in the season.
Only Russell Westbrook (4 times) and Oscar Robertson have averaged triple-doubles over the course of a season, but given his abilities to do everything for Dallas, we could see Luka Doncic add his name to this list this year.
#4 Stephen Curry – PG – Golden State Warriors
2020-21 Stats: 32.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.2 STL, 48.2 FG%, 42.1 3P%, 91.6 FT%
Without Stephen Curry last season, the Golden State Warriors may not have won more than 15 games during the regular season. Curry was undoubtedly the “Most Valuable Player” to his team in the league last season and quite honestly, he put together a better season than when he won the league-MVP award unanimously in 2015-16.
At 33-years-old now, it is quite remarkable to see what Curry is doing and last season, he had one of the most impressive months any player in NBA history has ever had. During the month of April, Steph Curry averaged 37.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.6 APG, and shot 46.6% from three-point range on 206 total attempts in the month.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: NBA Top 75 Player Rankings For 2021-22 Season: From 50 to 26
The most impressive thing about the month of April for Curry though was the fact that he scored less than 30 points just twice in 15 games and he had a five-game-span in which he scored 53 points, 42 points, 33 points, 47 points, and 49 points while making 10-plus threes in four of these five games.
What Curry did last season was video-game-like and this is just a friendly reminder from him that while he is getting older, Steph is also getting better. There is no doubt that if Stephen Curry plays like this again during the 2021-22 season, he will most definitely be in the running for his third MVP award and with Klay Thompson set to return at some point this season, Curry could have the Warriors on-track to make it back to the NBA Finals for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.
#3 LeBron James – “Positionless” – Los Angeles Lakers
2020-21 Stats: 25.0 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 7.8 APG, 1.1 STL, 51.3 FG%, 36.5 3P%, 69.8 FT%
He may be turning 37-years-old this season, but LeBron James is still going strong and will be in the hunt for championship No. 5 this season with the Lakers. Injuries cost James and the Lakers a chance to repeat as champions last season, but losing in the first round of the playoffs may have been the best thing to happen to this team not only so they could get some much-needed rest, but so they have some fire in them for this year.
If he can stay healthy and “Father Time” does not catch up to him this year, LeBron James and Co. are going to be the best team in the Western Conference once again. This is a completely new Los Angeles Lakers team that only has three players from last year’s roster on the roster this year, James included, but Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, DeAndre Jordan, and Russell Westbrook are just some of the new faces on this roster.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: NBA Top 75 Player Rankings For 2021-22 Season: From 50 to 26
With plenty of All-Star talent and some of his good friends from around the league on this Lakers’ roster, LeBron James is going to have a field day playing this season. Being one of the best facilitators and passers of all time, we should expect nothing less than greatness from James, but we could see him tone things back a bit during the regular season and let not only Anthony Davis, but Russell Westbrook really take charge.
Remaining healthy and fresh for the postseason is going to be the main goal of LeBron James heading into the 2021-22 season and if he can stay fresh, the Lakers will be the team to beat out west. Once again, a team’s quest to a potential championship will have to go through a LeBron James-led team.
#2 Kevin Durant – SF/PF – Brooklyn Nets
2020-21 Stats: 26.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 5.6 APG, 0.7 STL, 1.3 BLK, 53.7 FG%, 45.0 3P%
Almost every player in any sport to have suffered an Achilles injury usually never comes back as the same type of player, the late, great Kobe Bryant included, but Kevin Durant did not just come back as the same player post-Achilles injury… He came back even better! Durant did miss some time during the regular season last year with a thigh contusion and hamstring injury that was not related to one another, but he was something else in the postseason.
With Kyrie Irving and James Harden both dealing with injuries, Kevin Durant stepped up in a huge way for the Brooklyn Nets and was one inch away from sending the Nets to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The 11x All-Star hit a fadeaway, what would have been a game-winning three-point shot against the Bucks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year off of an inbounds pass, but Durant wears a Size 18 shoe and as a result, the top tip of his shoe was on the three-point line, meaning his shot was a two-pointer that sent the game to overtime.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: NBA Top 75 Player Rankings For 2021-22 Season: From 50 to 26
Even though the Nets lost this game and their championship hopes ended last season prematurely, scoring 49 points in a pivotal Game 5 victory for Brooklyn over Milwaukee in this series and then scoring 48 points in Game 7’s overtime loss proved one thing — Kevin Durant is back! To me, Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the NBA since Michael Jordan, and given the way that he played to end last season, it is not crazy to believe that Durant could wind up making a case for league-MVP this year.
Health is obviously a concern for him, but we all know what KD can do when he is on the court in a big game. Time and time again, he proves that he is one of the best players in the world, and after a disappointing end to last season, Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets are going to be on a revenge tour all year long.
#1 Giannis Antetokounmpo – PF/C – Milwaukee Bucks
2020-21 Stats: 28.1 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 5.9 APG, 1.2 STL, 1.2 BLK, 56.9 FG%, 30.3 3P%
After his performance in the 2021 NBA Finals versus the Phoenix Suns, there is no argument that can be made against Giannis Antetokonumpo being the best player in the world right now. Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry are all in this “Tier 1” with Giannis, but “The Greek Freak” was literally freakish in the NBA Finals last year, putting up video-game-like numbers just days after suffering what appeared to be a major knee injury.
When a 7-foot, 240 lbs man is driving down the lane at you full speed and he has “go-go gadget arms” that can reach from the free-throw line to the rim, what in the world are you supposed to do? This is what 29 head coaches in the league think about every time they have to play the Milwaukee Bucks because there is just no way to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo. Sure, you can foul him since he only shot 58.7% from the line in the postseason last year and you can “force” him to shoot three-pointers, but Antetokonumpo is getting better.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: NBA Top 75 Player Rankings For 2021-22 Season: From 50 to 26
Giannis is only 26-years-old and he may be the most accomplished player in NBA history before turning 27. He is a 5x All-Star, a 5x All-NBA performer, a 4x All-Defensive player, was named to the 2013-14 All-Rookie team, he was the 2016-17 NBA’s Most Improved Player, 2019-20 Defensive Player of the Year, 2018-19 and 2019-20 league-MVP, the 2020-21 All-Star Game MVP and he is not only now an NBA champion, but a Finals MVP.
If Giannis Antetokounmpo was to just up and quit playing basketball today, he would be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and go down as one of the best players of this generation. It is really scary to think that Giannis is only 26-years-old because he has yet to even reach the prime of his career! Averaging over 30 points per game is not out of question this season and if Antetokounmpo can start making three-point shots, it is game over for the rest of the league.
There is literally nothing teams can do to stop this man when he gets going and if they need a reminder of this, they can just simply rewatch the 2021 NBA Finals when Giannis single-handedly put the Bucks on his back and scored almost every single possession down the stretch. Until he is dethroned as the reigning Finals MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in the world.
