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 week. 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 ...
38. Kemba Walker
Hornets | PG | @KembaWalker
Last year's rank: 79
2016-17 projected RPM: 2.76
Insider profile: Coming off his best season, Walker is one of the bargains of the NBA. Charlotte has Walker on the hook for three more seasons (including 2016-17) at $12 million annually. This for a player who just finished 13th in the NBA in WARP and nearly carried the Hornets to a first-round win over Miami. That is, before Walker had a Game 7 clunker, scoring just nine points on 3-of-16 shooting. Still, Walker is just hitting his prime, has climbed into the upper tiers of his position, and he sports RPMs that are positive on both ends of the floor. To have him under that bargain contract in this salary-cap environment -- it's kind of like finding a Van Gogh sitting in a rack under a flashing blue light. Read more »
#NBArank 31-40
