Injuries have significantly affected the legacy and championship hopes of many players and teams in the last season. An example being Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tear in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, which crushed the Pacers’ title hopes. However, in a perfect world without injuries, who would be the top players in the league? This question will be answered in CABB’s Top 10 Current Players in the NBA When Healthy.
Honorable Mention: Kevin Durant
10. Lebron James
Even at age 40, James is still a top 10 player in the league. While making the list, the ranking of Kevin Durant, Lebron James, and Kawhi Leonard was very close. However, we ultimately settled on this current result because of their impact on winning last season. James still has a large impact when he is on the basketball court and his basketball IQ only improves as he ages.
9. Kawhi Leonard
As mentioned, the ranking between the three forwards were very close. We ultimately ranked Leonard over James and Durant due to his defensive impact and the performance he showed last season. Last season, Leonard demonstrated in multiple games that, at his best form, he is still a top 10 player when healthy and over James and Durant. Next, as Durant and James ages, their defense has regressed and thus make them lower in this ranking. Leonard is still an All-Defensive caliber player while being a very efficient scorer.
8. Anthony Davis
7. Stephen Curry
Although Curry’s normal stats are objectively worse than every player on this list other than Joel Embiid who barely played last season, Curry is still easily a top 10 player. In multiple games, Curry still showed that his shooting remains unguardable and, at his best form or when he “goes off”, he can still be one of the hardest players to defend.
6. Jayson Tatum
5. Joel Embiid
4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
3. Luka Doncic
Although Doncic had a worse statistical season than his previous seasons, Doncic was bothered by injuries over the course of the season. He is ranked above the MVP and Finals MVP because Doncic has shown in multiple games that, at his best form, he is arguably the hardest guy to defend. At his best form, he can still have a 60 point triple-double and impact the game more then Gilgeous-Alexander and other players above.
The League Leader 
Leave a comment