Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Photo : Tori Lynn | Getty Images Sport)
One of the more controversial pre-season topics is the ESPN Players Rank. The Top 50 players have been identified.
While ESPN has only named the players ranked 51-60 as of this writing, it does mean that every player not yet ranked belong in the Top 50. Their exact ranking has yet to be revealed, though.
The sports media giant listed the rankings by team and it was quite surprising which teams had the most in the Top 50.
Neither of the two NBA finalists in the 2014-15 season made it to the top as they only had three each. The Golden State Warriors have the Splash brothers, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Andre Iguodala, the Finals MVP, barely made the cut at 56.
The Cleveland Cavaliers also have three players in the top 50 and predictably it's LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Tristan Thompson is at 59, but technically, he is not a Cavalier at this time.
Top ranked teams like the OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, who recently acquired LaMarcus Aldridge also had three top 50 players each. 2007 Finals MVP Tony Parker was a borderline snub at 54. Other teams with three Top 50 players are the Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies and the Utah Jazz(!).
One team that has four Top 50 Players is the Chicago Bulls. They have a solid Twin Tower pairing in Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah and they also have a candidate for best backcourt tandem in Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler.
Perhaps a shocker for a team with the most top 50 players is the Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greg Monroe, Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker have all made the cut of the top 50 players.
The explanations have yet to be given, but ESPN has always been high on the "Greek Freak" even though he was only ranked 100 in Sports Illustrated's Top 100 countdown. Jabari Parker is not even in SI's list-- while he may actually belong in future lists, he was injured almost the entire season and it's hard to see how he could be ranked higher than Tony Parker, Andre Iguodala or DeMar DeRozan for that matter.
Incidentally, this is a bizarre time for the NBA as the two most storied franchises in league history, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, did not even have one top 50 player in both of their rosters. So did the Sixers, Magic, Nets, and Nuggets.
