ESPN and True Hoop continues their count down on their annual NBA Player Rankings which started at player #500 and ultimately finishing with the top player in the league. No shocker here, but neither Stephen Curry nor Klay Thompson has been ranked yet.
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The criteria for ranking the players are explained here on ESPN’s webpage:
We asked our ESPN Forecast panel to predict the overall level of play for each player for the upcoming NBA season. This includes both the quality and the quantity of his expected contributions, combined in one overall rating.
An integral piece of the Warriors starting lineup is their power forward David Lee. Last year he placed as #51 in the rankings and has fell to #69 this year. It’s a tough call for Lee since he takes a back seat to the high octane back court, but he is more than capable of finishing each game with a double double. In 2013-14, Lee saw the floor in 69 games and averaged 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds. The rankings are decent as Lee is expected to produce the same numbers as Nikola Pekovic of the Timberwolves who ranks 3 players higher than him.
Unfortunately, on this same list (players 61-70), other big men such as Tyson Chandler, Nene, and Taj Gibson are ranked higher. Strange to see since Chandler and Nene higher since they were producing less stats,older in age, and have played less games than Lee due to injuries. Gibson’s ranking can be more understanding since he is younger and may have a breakout year with Derrick Rose back in the starting lineup.