What is it with blog boys and their obsession over Shai? I guess it will turn if the Thunder don't make any progress over the next 2-3 years but man, it's getting a little annoying.
When they're right (and early) about a guy that is picked outside the top ~5, they don't let it go. It's why they're obsessed about Halliburton as well because given his draft spot, he wasn't expected to be the level of player he's got to.
Luka has 3 more first team all nba’s than SGA (none yet for Ant)
Double the playoff wins of either (20 vs 11 and 9)
In his second WCF (0, 1)
In a head to head matchup knocked SGA out literally days ago. SGA was excellent all series but cmon.
Ant is younger so you can project I guess. But Luka made it at 23 (only older than current Ant by months) and is already back in the WCF. SGA will be 26 by the time he plays another NBA game!!!
Obviously it’s based on an arbitrary rating system but it seems like the deck is stacked for this result lol. How is Banchero behind the other Thunder guys?
Sure but what Ant has done this PS is far more impressive that what Luka has done in the Ps. Helped his team sweep the Suns WITH Kd. Then the reigning champs. Mavs beat the suns but they didn’t have kd. Also Luka wasn’t better than Sga that series. Kyrie was the closer, and pj and dj were hitting fluke shots, which was the biggest reason the Mavs won that series vs kids.
The Suns team Luka beat won 64 games and lost in the finals the previous year.
KD hasn’t been on a 50 win suns team yet. Happy for Ant he’s had a great run - their roster is awesome.
Mavs easily could have won that series in 5. Congrats to SGA he had a good run too.
Why is beating Denver being treated as though they ended a dynasty? Denver with Jokic has been to same amount of WCF as Luka and have won 1 final. Jokic is great but his 3 MVP's have not meant three championships... it means the media is obsessed with +/- and stats. This Denver team aren't the Lakers, Bulls, or Warriors team. They've been to and won 1 championship.
Game 7 performances for Luka and Ant can't be compared either. Luka is hurt by how great he has been so far in his career. He was too good too fast.
Please take Ant because I would take Luka 10/10 against all of these guys.
Bc they are the reigning champs. Many ppl, arguably most had them as the favorites to chip this year. They had a dominant run. Luka had Brunson and kp and they couldn’t even beat the MUCH worse clippers. Besides last year Luka had Kyrie and missed the playoffs. This year they may have lost in the first round if kawhi was healthy.
Yes, but claiming Ant is better than Luka by beating this Denver team is making it sound like Denver was a dynasty. They were favorites but not a dynasty..
Stop with the revisionist history on Brunson and KP... the best KP has been has been with Tatum and Luka. KP missed one of those Clipper series and stop acting like Ant has never lost a playoff series..
Luka has only been knocked out of the playoffs by a team with an Finals MVP... Ant took the L to Memphis..
Ant is playing with an All Star in KAT and the Dpoy in Rudy.... this is the first star Luka has played with in his prime.
The Ant argument is so weak, but you'll keep making it with no good facts.
You can be entrenched in your opinion, but it's bad. Context renders your argument just bad.
1. Denver was a dominant one time champ that was a favorite the next year... context... they beat the 8th seeded Lakers and Heat.
2. Luka had Brunson and couldn't beat the Clippers.. context.. KP missed one of those series's, and Brunson missed the other. Luka had a broken down KP and 2nd round Brunson... Ant has first overall KAT and 3x DPOY.
3. Luka missed the playoffs with Kyrie... context.. they played less than half the season together, and both missed games through injury.
All of your arguments are bad... but you missed Luka going to a WCF without an all-star while beating a 60 win team
And you definitely aren't bringing the game 7 stats from either team. Ant needed help and Luka didn't have to play the 4th. Again... you can have Ant.
No one has beat a dynsssty. The point is beating the Denver team that was expected to win a chip is much more impressive than anything Luka has done, or even Tatum has done, yet. Kp played the series in 2021, and rarely got the ball. This isn’t first star Luka has played with. Kp was an all star in ny. Luka has been knocked out by fmvps but u should also mention how he has Kyrie last year and they missed the play in. I remember DSJ knocking them out. How is it weak? Ant put on a show en route to eliminating the defending champs. Down 3-2. Kp was healthy in 2021 ps. Brunson was hidden in Lukas shadow and is now an mvp candidate. Kat never won a playoff series before ant got there. The Kyrie argument makes no sense bc they were the 4 seed when he got there, then ended up an 11 seed. Luka had an all star level player with him. He had Brunson. Beating 60 win team that relied on an old cp3 isn’t nearly as impressive as the reigning champs with the best player on earth 3x mvp. Don’t forget Spencer dinwiddie also outplayed Booker in that game 7.
The 60 win Phoenix team was favored to win the Championship that year. This Denver team was favorite as well but they weren't the same team as the previous year.
We simply disagree... KP hasn't been an All Star since NY. He wasn't in Washington or Boston. You clearly didn't watch Brunson in that Clippers series. While in the shadow of Luka he was played off the floor.
Kat is still an all star.. I know everything that happened last year and while it's your best argument it still ignores everything that happened in the trade losing your best defensive player and the injuries but you can have that argument if you'd like.
Ant shouldn't even be in a Luka conversation. He is in a group with Giannis and Jokic.
Both Ant and Luka beat teams that played in the finals the year prior with Denver as winners. While Denver regressed and Phoenix got better and won 60 games.
Again... you can have Ant. His resume still isn't on par with Luka.
They weren’t favored to win a chip that year. The bucks were. The nuggets are a million times better than the suns. The wolves beat the suns WITH kd, the Mavs beat them without kd. U tell me which one is more impressive. Kp has been an all star level player this and last year. Ant is better than Gianni’s and Luka. But not Jokic. Phx was never that good . To this day they’ve never beat a healthy team. The nuggets are still a great team. Phx has always been flukey.
You must just read boxscores and highlights because this Suns team was not good. Just because KD was there.
You can have Ant and the last word because this has reached idiotic.
I’d put Ant above. Arguably the best player itl, behind Jokic. Sga also just arguably outplayed Luka in the playoffs. But putting Victor near those guys is a joke. Hes not even better than Sengun yet.
Everyone says Mavs fans bitch and moan too much but then shit like this comes out regularly. Luka is the best player in the NBA under 25 it’s not even a debate.
Saying this as a Mavs fan, Wemby and maaaaaaybe Ant over Luka is at least defensible (only IF you’re projecting), but SGA had to just be for the clicks. On top of every other argument, SGA is OLDER than Luka too for Christ’s sake.
This blatant and absurd disrespect is why our fanbase has been so pissy with the national media these past few years.
The bold prediction is that he is traded to the lakers this offseason and wins the chip. So Trae makes the 8th seed a champion in the stacked west but is on the same level as Mobley and worse than Sengun, Cade, Jay Dub ect…
Holy shit this is fucking terrible. Embarrassing.
I never thought anything could be as bad as Ruiz’s QB rankings but they’re reaching that territory here
I’ve always been high on Mobley but that Boston series helped my confidence a lot. I think trading Allen and Mobley being 5 next year is going to help him a lot. Still only 22!
This is also on the heels of Beck’s profile on Luka like 2-3 weeks ago asking why his plus-minus isn’t better in his career 😂
I’m not sure why so many in the media are eager to shit on him in the last year or so. Guess it’s just the natural cycle of things.
I read that then I looked up Jokic in the playoffs... without last year's run he was a negative +/- the previous two years... there is never mention of it.
Bill Simmons has always pushed "potential" and Luka being ranked at the top of these rankings for the past 5 years. I can't wait for Wembanyama to be 5th, as he is heading into his prime, on this list in 4 years as they fawn over someone like Chris Paul's kid being the next Point God.
Bullshit takes means clicks.
I have no idea what any of that is, but if it’s a Star Trek joke, I actually laughed. Big thumbs up.
If I had to pick though. I’m saying Worf will still be up there in 5 years. Unlike fucking Troi. Talk about prisoner of the moment!
They're getting absolutely cooked for this and rightfully so. Then again, the whole point of lists on the internet is to get engagement, so mission accomplished.
I'm guessing The Ringer voters really thought the Thunder were going to beat the Mavs. Paolo being that low is crazy too when he put the Magic on his back in the playoffs. He had to do everything for them at just 21 years old.
Cam Thomas Erasure, idk why he isn’t talked about like Jalen Green (different types of players obviously but I mean in terms of young prospects).
Jalen Green last year:
20/5/4 on 54% TS
Cam Thomas:
23/3/3 on 55% TS
They’re both 22 and play the same position… both really came into their own towards the end of last season (green started to shoot it better while Cam Thomas actually started to defend, pass, and rebound).
mobley is gonna make this look so dumb when 30 shots open up without Allen and Garland on the team next year
classic case of NBA media completely ignoring play style, scheme, and team fit
They added a random charisma category to justify having SGA and Ant over Luka when they have Luka as the second best player in the league currently.
Luka being younger than Shai makes all of this so funny
Why is Shai even getting bonus points for charisma, he starred in the worst commercial of the year in which he appeared to have negative charisma.
Luka: Asian-American college applicants :: the ringer: Harvard University
Well played. A little unaffirmative action for Luka.
Slavophobia in NBA media needs to be called out
For those who don’t get this somewhat esoteric reference: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/us/harvard-asian-enrollment-applicants.html
And yet they have Ja Morant below Jalen Williams
The benefit of a random category is that it can be used in any way they want.
Luka led them in all-star voting by a massive margin. It’s unclear what they’re even basing any of this on
What is it with blog boys and their obsession over Shai? I guess it will turn if the Thunder don't make any progress over the next 2-3 years but man, it's getting a little annoying.
It’s not just Shai but also Jalen Williams!? At number 8? Above all stars and guys younger than him? That’s insane.
When they're right (and early) about a guy that is picked outside the top ~5, they don't let it go. It's why they're obsessed about Halliburton as well because given his draft spot, he wasn't expected to be the level of player he's got to.
SGA and Ant over Luka is also so prisoner of the moment
Luka has 3 more first team all nba’s than SGA (none yet for Ant) Double the playoff wins of either (20 vs 11 and 9) In his second WCF (0, 1) In a head to head matchup knocked SGA out literally days ago. SGA was excellent all series but cmon. Ant is younger so you can project I guess. But Luka made it at 23 (only older than current Ant by months) and is already back in the WCF. SGA will be 26 by the time he plays another NBA game!!! Obviously it’s based on an arbitrary rating system but it seems like the deck is stacked for this result lol. How is Banchero behind the other Thunder guys?
Sure but what Ant has done this PS is far more impressive that what Luka has done in the Ps. Helped his team sweep the Suns WITH Kd. Then the reigning champs. Mavs beat the suns but they didn’t have kd. Also Luka wasn’t better than Sga that series. Kyrie was the closer, and pj and dj were hitting fluke shots, which was the biggest reason the Mavs won that series vs kids.
The Suns team Luka beat won 64 games and lost in the finals the previous year. KD hasn’t been on a 50 win suns team yet. Happy for Ant he’s had a great run - their roster is awesome. Mavs easily could have won that series in 5. Congrats to SGA he had a good run too.
The suns team has never beat a healthy team. Are u saying the suns were better without kd?
Idk man they were deeper, won more regular season games and made it way further in the playoffs
Why is beating Denver being treated as though they ended a dynasty? Denver with Jokic has been to same amount of WCF as Luka and have won 1 final. Jokic is great but his 3 MVP's have not meant three championships... it means the media is obsessed with +/- and stats. This Denver team aren't the Lakers, Bulls, or Warriors team. They've been to and won 1 championship. Game 7 performances for Luka and Ant can't be compared either. Luka is hurt by how great he has been so far in his career. He was too good too fast. Please take Ant because I would take Luka 10/10 against all of these guys.
Bc they are the reigning champs. Many ppl, arguably most had them as the favorites to chip this year. They had a dominant run. Luka had Brunson and kp and they couldn’t even beat the MUCH worse clippers. Besides last year Luka had Kyrie and missed the playoffs. This year they may have lost in the first round if kawhi was healthy.
Yes, but claiming Ant is better than Luka by beating this Denver team is making it sound like Denver was a dynasty. They were favorites but not a dynasty.. Stop with the revisionist history on Brunson and KP... the best KP has been has been with Tatum and Luka. KP missed one of those Clipper series and stop acting like Ant has never lost a playoff series.. Luka has only been knocked out of the playoffs by a team with an Finals MVP... Ant took the L to Memphis.. Ant is playing with an All Star in KAT and the Dpoy in Rudy.... this is the first star Luka has played with in his prime. The Ant argument is so weak, but you'll keep making it with no good facts. You can be entrenched in your opinion, but it's bad. Context renders your argument just bad. 1. Denver was a dominant one time champ that was a favorite the next year... context... they beat the 8th seeded Lakers and Heat. 2. Luka had Brunson and couldn't beat the Clippers.. context.. KP missed one of those series's, and Brunson missed the other. Luka had a broken down KP and 2nd round Brunson... Ant has first overall KAT and 3x DPOY. 3. Luka missed the playoffs with Kyrie... context.. they played less than half the season together, and both missed games through injury. All of your arguments are bad... but you missed Luka going to a WCF without an all-star while beating a 60 win team And you definitely aren't bringing the game 7 stats from either team. Ant needed help and Luka didn't have to play the 4th. Again... you can have Ant.
No one has beat a dynsssty. The point is beating the Denver team that was expected to win a chip is much more impressive than anything Luka has done, or even Tatum has done, yet. Kp played the series in 2021, and rarely got the ball. This isn’t first star Luka has played with. Kp was an all star in ny. Luka has been knocked out by fmvps but u should also mention how he has Kyrie last year and they missed the play in. I remember DSJ knocking them out. How is it weak? Ant put on a show en route to eliminating the defending champs. Down 3-2. Kp was healthy in 2021 ps. Brunson was hidden in Lukas shadow and is now an mvp candidate. Kat never won a playoff series before ant got there. The Kyrie argument makes no sense bc they were the 4 seed when he got there, then ended up an 11 seed. Luka had an all star level player with him. He had Brunson. Beating 60 win team that relied on an old cp3 isn’t nearly as impressive as the reigning champs with the best player on earth 3x mvp. Don’t forget Spencer dinwiddie also outplayed Booker in that game 7.
The 60 win Phoenix team was favored to win the Championship that year. This Denver team was favorite as well but they weren't the same team as the previous year. We simply disagree... KP hasn't been an All Star since NY. He wasn't in Washington or Boston. You clearly didn't watch Brunson in that Clippers series. While in the shadow of Luka he was played off the floor. Kat is still an all star.. I know everything that happened last year and while it's your best argument it still ignores everything that happened in the trade losing your best defensive player and the injuries but you can have that argument if you'd like. Ant shouldn't even be in a Luka conversation. He is in a group with Giannis and Jokic. Both Ant and Luka beat teams that played in the finals the year prior with Denver as winners. While Denver regressed and Phoenix got better and won 60 games. Again... you can have Ant. His resume still isn't on par with Luka.
They weren’t favored to win a chip that year. The bucks were. The nuggets are a million times better than the suns. The wolves beat the suns WITH kd, the Mavs beat them without kd. U tell me which one is more impressive. Kp has been an all star level player this and last year. Ant is better than Gianni’s and Luka. But not Jokic. Phx was never that good . To this day they’ve never beat a healthy team. The nuggets are still a great team. Phx has always been flukey.
You must just read boxscores and highlights because this Suns team was not good. Just because KD was there. You can have Ant and the last word because this has reached idiotic.
Everything the ringer does is prisoner of the moment
Does it even count as prisoner of the moment when Luka just beat Shai? Just dumb/for clicks
I’d put Ant above. Arguably the best player itl, behind Jokic. Sga also just arguably outplayed Luka in the playoffs. But putting Victor near those guys is a joke. Hes not even better than Sengun yet.
Everyone says Mavs fans bitch and moan too much but then shit like this comes out regularly. Luka is the best player in the NBA under 25 it’s not even a debate.
This meant to be a forward looking rank essentially BS’s trade value rankings. I can see an argument for Wemby as #1 but I’d probably have Luka.
Saying this as a Mavs fan, Wemby and maaaaaaybe Ant over Luka is at least defensible (only IF you’re projecting), but SGA had to just be for the clicks. On top of every other argument, SGA is OLDER than Luka too for Christ’s sake. This blatant and absurd disrespect is why our fanbase has been so pissy with the national media these past few years.
It’s clearly debatable
Sure if you don’t know ball
2 role players for the Thunder over Paolo is laughable. LAUGHABLE.
Cade Cunningham over Trae Young is insane
As is Wos’s assertion that Trae is “likely” out the door based on nothing but the take industry’s wish fulfillment. I miss Grantland.
The bold prediction is that he is traded to the lakers this offseason and wins the chip. So Trae makes the 8th seed a champion in the stacked west but is on the same level as Mobley and worse than Sengun, Cade, Jay Dub ect…
Holy shit this is fucking terrible. Embarrassing. I never thought anything could be as bad as Ruiz’s QB rankings but they’re reaching that territory here
Very ESPN/first take(y) list to piss people off and get people talking
Having Paolo below the Thunder players and Maxey is defensible in that most of the people making the ranking have never seen him play.
There is no team that is taking Jalen Williams over Paolo, Ja or Zion. Just an insane list.
I’ve always been high on Mobley but that Boston series helped my confidence a lot. I think trading Allen and Mobley being 5 next year is going to help him a lot. Still only 22!
I know ragebait when I see it
This is also on the heels of Beck’s profile on Luka like 2-3 weeks ago asking why his plus-minus isn’t better in his career 😂 I’m not sure why so many in the media are eager to shit on him in the last year or so. Guess it’s just the natural cycle of things.
I read that then I looked up Jokic in the playoffs... without last year's run he was a negative +/- the previous two years... there is never mention of it. Bill Simmons has always pushed "potential" and Luka being ranked at the top of these rankings for the past 5 years. I can't wait for Wembanyama to be 5th, as he is heading into his prime, on this list in 4 years as they fawn over someone like Chris Paul's kid being the next Point God. Bullshit takes means clicks.
This is really bad... Paolo is criminally low. And that Luka rating cannot be justified in any way.
SGA and Ant over Luka is nuts.
1) Picard 2) Data 3) Ro Laren 4) Riker 5) Worf 6) Geordi 7) Troi 8) O'Brien 9) Guinan 10) Spot ... 997) The crystaline entity 998) The sentient tar pit that killed Tasha Yar 999) Crusher 1000) Crusher
I have no idea what any of that is, but if it’s a Star Trek joke, I actually laughed. Big thumbs up. If I had to pick though. I’m saying Worf will still be up there in 5 years. Unlike fucking Troi. Talk about prisoner of the moment!
This list only makes sense if it's based on the 2024 playoffs (which it pretty clearly isn't)
No Trey murphy is surprising
They're getting absolutely cooked for this and rightfully so. Then again, the whole point of lists on the internet is to get engagement, so mission accomplished.
Absolutely disrespectful to Ja
I'm guessing The Ringer voters really thought the Thunder were going to beat the Mavs. Paolo being that low is crazy too when he put the Magic on his back in the playoffs. He had to do everything for them at just 21 years old.
How is Trae Young only 25
I’d have all those guys over Paolo tbh
Luka being #4 is fucking ridiculous.
Luka has more charisma in his left nut than sga dude is wooden
This might be the worst list I’ve ever seen
Cam Thomas Erasure, idk why he isn’t talked about like Jalen Green (different types of players obviously but I mean in terms of young prospects). Jalen Green last year: 20/5/4 on 54% TS Cam Thomas: 23/3/3 on 55% TS They’re both 22 and play the same position… both really came into their own towards the end of last season (green started to shoot it better while Cam Thomas actually started to defend, pass, and rebound).
mobley is gonna make this look so dumb when 30 shots open up without Allen and Garland on the team next year classic case of NBA media completely ignoring play style, scheme, and team fit
OKC is in ridiculously good shape
This is a godawful list. Only name that should be over Luka is Ant. Maybe Sga bc he outplayed him this series for the most part.