The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.
by Adam Sweeney/ @AdamSweeney
“And you can check my stats cuz worldwide they attesting to that
So listen you can probably learn a lesson perhaps
How I’m like Bobby DeNiro, Joe Pesc and them cats
Am I the unsung hero? oh yes if you asking anybody that’s aware of the classics”
The Roots – “Rising Up”
I have a confession to make. I’m sick as hell of using the words “underrated” and “efficient” when it comes to Kevin Martin. If Martin had a rapper equivalent, he’d have to be Black Thought from The Roots. Year in, year out, he’s going to knock the tracks out while other artists get the run.
NBA fans and coaches obviously don’t completely recognize his talent yet, which is insane given that he has been a top scorer for the last six seasons, averaging over 20 points for five of the six. Since most awards are named after players, or whatever corporation decides to shell out the most cash, my suggestion is that we create the “Nike Kevin Martin Award,” given out each year to the player who deserves to be on the All-Star team but can’t make it because he’s not flashy enough or voters are too ignorant of his ability. In many ways, it almost seems destined that Martin would play for the Houston Rockets, the ultimate “the sum is greater than its parts” team.
Martin played last season without another star by his side and helped carry the load. He also threw a figurative middle finger in the air to critics who call him fragile by playing 80 games.
For statheads ready to argue that Martin doesn’t put up big enough numbers, check again:
#9 in points per game
#2 in points per 48 minutes
#1 in free-throws made
#8 in free-throw percentage
Those numbers are exactly why Martin fits so well on the Rockets. He knows how to get his points within the frame of the offense and does so while stopping the clock, killing any momentum the opponent can gain while also keeping his team in the game. It explains part of why Houston was such a damn pesky team to play against last season. But you’d know that if you watched him or Rockets games more often, and I’m not saying that out of spite. Working for a Texas sports radio station and being a Houstonian, there’s enough numbers to show that Houston flies under the radar.
Martin’s free-throw shooting has also proven to be a statistical anomaly, but you don’t have to take my word for it. (Yeah, we took it back Reading Rainbow style, bitches.) Allow me to show you a stat by writer Ian Levy*:
“Over the past 10 seasons the League average FT% has never dropped below 75.2 percent, and never risen above 77.1 percent. Over the course of a player’s career their FT% tends to stay fairly similar as well.
Despite entering the League as a very good free-throw shooter, Martin has seen his FT% rise substantially. He shot 81.7 percent his last season at Western Carolina but just 65.5 percent as an NBA rookie. Even if we dismiss his rookie season as a blip we still see steady improvement. He’s increased his FT% almost every season, and is shooting 89.0 percent from the stripe this year. Even more impressive is he’s done that while substantially increasing his number of attempts. As a rookie, Martin averaged 4.4 FTA/36. This season he’s averaging 9.6.”
Take that, haters.
The biggest hit against Martin throughout his career has been that he doesn’t work on the defensive end. To that, I suggest you go watch tape of Carmelo Anthony. That’s not to say Martin and Anthony belong on the same tier, just that playing good defense is not mutually exclusive with the evaluation of a player’s greatness. Some cats are just meant to be scorers.
By now you either get Martin’s importance or you don’t. He’s spent eight seasons in the Association, more than enough time for you to recognize how good he is. Why he hasn’t made an All-Star team yet is one of the greatest mysteries of all time, right next to why Katy Perry’s last album tied Michael Jackson’s Bad for most No. 1 singles of one album, because that shit happened also. But keep talking about the flavor of the month, Monta Ellis, or whatever other scorer ESPN latches on to. Martin’s made a career out of flying under the radar. Why should he stop now?
*Thanks to Red94 for the Ian Levy quote
| SLAMonline Top 50 Players 2011 | ||||
| Rank | Player | Team | Position | Pos. Rank |
| 50 | Luol Deng | Bulls | SF | 8 |
| 49 | Andrew Bogut | Bucks | C | 7 |
| 48 | Ray Allen | Celtics | SG | 9 |
| 47 | Marc Gasol | Grizzlies | C | 6 |
| 46 | David West | Hornets | PF | 15 |
| 45 | Kevin Martin | Rockets | SG | 8 |
Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’11-12 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Maurice Bobb, Shannon Booher, David Cassilo, Bryan Crawford, Sandy Dover, Adam Figman, Jon Jaques, Eldon Khorshidi, Ryne Nelson, Doobie Okon, Ben Osborne, Quinn Peterson, Dave Schnur, Abe Schwadron, Dan Shapiro, Irv Soonachan, Todd Spehr, Tzvi Twersky, Yaron Weitzman, DeMarco Williams and Ben York.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.
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Loul Deng would hold this dude to single digits and score 20 on his a** on too.
….umm, no. Not really.
23.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.5 apg.
Three rebounds and two assists per for a 6’7″ shooting guard who played 32.5 minutes per is pathetic.
And he plays no defense, as you touched on.
How he is rated higher than Deng and Bogut who can do so much more than just score is beyond me.
So far this is the wackest top 50 I’ve seen.
He so good on Offense …he takes a Offensive player out the game on the other end ….so he factors on D
Your team cant be a top 10 D if u dont factor on that end
24.6 is his career high.
Kobe, Wade, Bron, Durant are elite scorers.
half decade n better at over 20per ….what else do u need to be considered elite
they got one great defender true
but the other guys matter there is no gettin around it
they not legit individual defender but on team D they legit
the Magic dont win like they could cuz they dont have a closer on the wing
Coaches would have to gameplan for KMartin which automatically make the Magic a better team
It’s two steps above “good” and a step above “great”.
If you’re going to label someone an elite scorer, they should be able to at least be worthy of being in the same convo as the all-time great scorers like Jordan, Shaq, Iverson, Dr. J, Domonique, etc.
LeBron, Wade, and Kobe are there.
Durant will be there.
Kevin Martin? Nope.
Kyle Lowry should be on this list too, the way he’s improved–and the defense he plays. Not sure he will be, though, but he’ll be a premium point guard next season.
@ Enigmatic: I know you’re a Bulls fan but Luol Deng should not be ahead of Kevin Martin. I’m sorry. If you want to talk about low assist numbers, Deng averages a whopping 2.3 for his career. I like Deng (and his Chinese last name), but come on. Martin should have been an All-Star by now. He was top 10 in scoring last season while averaging the fewest FG attempts by far. He’s so damn efficient that despite shooting a not-so-impressive % from the field, he’s still top 10 in scoring with fewer Field Goal attempts than even Dirk Nowitzki.
Martin gets you points.
Deng gets you wins.
Which do you value more?
Wow, that’s kinda dope that a Sudanese cat ended up with a Chinese last name somehow…
Team Defense- Deng
On-the-ball D- Deng
Offense- Martin
Rebounding- Deng
Passing- Even
Mid-range- Deng
Long-range- Martin
Close-range- Deng
Efficiency- Deng
Versatility- Deng
Playoff performance- Deng (by a landslide)
Value to team- Deng (by a landslide)
Deng is the better player in every aspect of the game expect for scoring. He’s also the second most important player for last year’s #1 overall seed while KMart has been to the playoffs ONCE (05/06).
But Deng shot 46% to Martin’s 43%.
Martin was able to score so much more due to getting to the line more and shooting 88% from the line compared to Deng’s 75%.
I’d say it’s a tie efficiency-wise. Or slight edge to Martin.
Deng shoulda made an All-Defensive team though.
Martin isnt a alltime elite scorer no …but for this era he is
N every scorer in the league uses screens to get open to get buckets rather off or on ball
N all them Magic defenders cant be that bad n they be top 5 in D …its impossible ….they TEAM D is legit …individual wise 90 percent of the league cant lock up
thats why u seein the Jordan Crawfords Josh Selbys n so on of the world killin n the open run setting but when it comes to league D its NONE of that
KEVIN MARTIN is top 10 EVERY YEAR for HALF a DECADE
ctkennedy, you say that like 5 years is such a long time.
It’s not.
Plus, before he played 80 games last year, he played in 46 the year before that, 51 the year before that, 61 the year before that…
“Your reign on the top was short like leprechauns…”
5yr stretch is harder than u givin it credit for
i agree he is injury prone
im not sayin he a hall of famer or nothin
but for this era hes on a AlexEnglish type past at this rate …he do this for 5more yrs which is possible outside of the main 5-7scorers
he gon be top 10 in scorin for a decade which is nothin to blow off
From 1980 to 1988, here are English’s PPG avgs:
’80- 23.8
’81- 25.4
’82- 28.4
’83- 26.4
’84- 27.9
’85- 29.8
’86- 28.6
’87- 25.0
’88- 26.5
Apart from English’s 1980 season, Martin has never come close to matching English. So……..do you give up now?
but if u did a top 50 in English time he would be higher than 45
like Martin should be now
ONLY the top 10players n the LEAGUE get more buckets than him
n its not the whole top 10
Martin is a above average scorer for his TIME
sayin he ELITE might be goin to far but yall undervaluin what he does on the court
Also, I disagree that Deng is a better close-range finisher than Kevin Martin. Martin has a deceptively quick first step, a deceptively quick bounce and can finish at all angles. He’s not just a jump-shooter.
That was exactly why I argue that Deng is more valuable to a team than Martin, because he can do a whole lot more than just score.
Deng routinely defends the opposing team’s best swingman, rebounds well, scores 17 and steps up big in big games, both offensively and defensively.
I mean, yes obviously scoring is important, but so are other parts of the game.
how much more valuable is Martin as a number one option compare to Deng as arguably the 3rd or 4th best player on his own team
thats what make rankin players hard such as Deng,AI2,JoshSmith n a couple others for that matter
NONE of them is franchise players at all
There’s no way in hell Boozer is better than him, and while Noah is an extremely valuable asset, I’d put Deng over him too.
@ENIGMATIC where do yall rank Deng as a sidekick(2best player on his team)in the league compared to if he was 3rd
Boozer type player is hard to find 20/10 player
17/10 for that matter
thats why he got overpaid
For the Rockets Kevin Martin is clearly the number one option on that team
but u wont with
Eric Gordon
Tyreke Evans
Rudy Gay
Andre Igudola
Rajon Rando n among other players as the number one option either
so that aint sayin much
we ALL know there aint 30 franchise players in the league
thats why all the players r tryin to link up
Kevin Martin is the type of player that Dwight Howard need for example more than say Tyreke Evans or AI2
thats what makes the argument tuff
I’ve noticed that a lot of East Africans, especially the Sudanese, have last names that are eerily similar to Asian/Chinese last names. Not all, but some. I wouldn’t rule out a common ancestry.
Like, look at Deng’s face and picture it in Asian skin. Seriously.
Similar to Filipinos and Latinos having similar last names.
Although in that case, that can easily be traced back to Spanish rule on both sides.
People that think Deng is as go or close to Martin from an offensive standpoint obviously don’t pay attention.
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