For the sixth season in a row, ESPN.com is ranking the top players in the NBA. Who will be the best player this season?
To get the final ranking, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players.
LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant. Damian Lillard vs. Chris Paul.
We asked, "Which player will be better in 2016-17?" To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and the quantity of each player's contributions to his team's ability to win games.
We'll roll out the rest of our top 200 players over the next two days. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook.
On to the list ...
16. Klay Thompson
Warriors | SG | @KlayThompson
Last year's rank: 16
2016-17 projected RPM: 2.27
Insider profile: The gift and the curse for Thompson is that he's perhaps the world's second-best shooter ... but also second in his own backcourt. Last season, Thompson stepped out of his point guard's giant shadow by improving his ability to create his own offense and becoming less dependent on Curry. His shooting keyed the Warriors' series-saving comeback in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals at Oklahoma City. Read more »
#NBArank 11-20
