00:00as the NBA season is right around the corner.
00:02And so always a good time to just take a step back,
00:04look around the league and say,
00:05hey, who's running this thing?
00:08So here are my top 10 players for the NBA
00:11going into the 26-27 season.
00:13At 10, I have Cade Cunningham.
00:15He has really elevated his game
00:17and turned into the player that a lot of people thought
00:19he could be coming out of college.
00:22You would have liked for a bit more of a stamp
00:24put on things post-season wise for him
00:27and for the Pistons,
00:28but this is still one of the best players.
00:30In the league.
00:31Coming in at number nine,
00:32you can't really see him if you're watching the video
00:34because it's a little bit blocked by a Pikachu stuffy
00:38with a Tokyo Tower.
00:40Nonetheless, Kawhi Leonard comes in at number nine.
00:43When healthy, this is still one of the best players
00:46in the NBA.
00:47When you think about the two-way game,
00:49how good he can be defensively,
00:50how reliable it is.
00:52Just get him a shot, mid-range, whatever.
00:54The guy can knock it down.
00:55The health is what keeps him down the list at number nine.
00:59At eight, it's Steph Curry.
01:01The guy just keeps doing the damn thing.
01:02You wish that Golden State would have planned for this
01:05a little bit better or just moved on from him
01:06and let him be a little bit more competitive
01:08in the final years of his greatness
01:11because he is still genuinely a top 10 player in the NBA.
01:15This is not a lifetime achievement award
01:19or anything like that.
01:20This is one of the best players in the league.
01:22Still the best at moving without the ball.
01:25Still the best at shooting the basketball
01:27and directing traffic out on the floor.
01:30Just one of the all-time greats.
01:31And he comes in at number eight here this season.
01:33At seven, it is Ant, Anthony Edwards
01:36for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
01:37Him and LaMelo Ball, just lob city 2.0 in this thing
01:41all season long is going to be a whole lot of fun to watch.
01:44This is a big year for Edwards though
01:46because like already they were dealing with
01:49a bit of a juggernaut in Denver
01:50and they had constructed their roster
01:52to try to handle that team.
01:54Well, Denver's not really an issue anymore.
01:56Now it's the guys in Oklahoma City
01:57and the defending Western Conference champion,
02:00San Antonio Spurs.
02:01So what does Ant have against those teams?
02:04How can he elevate this group even more?
02:07Very interested to see what Minnesota looks like here
02:09this season.
02:10At six, Jalen Brunson elevating his game
02:13to new levels in the postseason
02:14with just absolute dagger after dagger.
02:17It still sometimes can get a little ball stoppy with him,
02:20but that's because for so long
02:22he has been the best option on his teams
02:24and he was able to get more guys involved
02:26and look at that, they go off and win a championship.
02:28But when you are talking about the offensive end,
02:31this is a guy who facilitates so effectively
02:34and again, such a reliable scorer.
02:36At five, it's Luka Doncic.
02:39I feel like almost oddly underrated now
02:42because the Lakers, like the playoff success
02:45they had last year came without him
02:46and it was this big like, oh my God, he's a Laker now.
02:50This is the trade that was made.
02:51And he like, then it's LeBron
02:54and it's everything like that.
02:55So it's more like more of the talk has been
02:57how crazy it was that he got traded
02:59than how good he is.
03:00Still doesn't have an MVP.
03:02This is his team now.
03:04And again, from a handle standpoint,
03:06from a shot creation standpoint,
03:07I don't know if I trust anyone in the league
03:10as much as I would him.
03:11So Luka has to be in the top five.
03:14At four, it's Giannis.
03:15I saw a couple of lists that had him a little bit lower.
03:18Again, there is an injury aspect to things,
03:20but still a tremendous defender
03:23and rim protector
03:25and still just gets his shot whenever he wants to
03:27and everything like that.
03:29Just an absolute physical force.
03:31Health has become a problem for him,
03:33but when healthy, again,
03:35this is a guy who can make a case
03:37for the best player in the league.
03:38Like we have a few guys
03:39who can make compelling arguments
03:40that no, I'm the dude.
03:42At number three,
03:43the guy who was the dude for a while,
03:44it is the Joker, Nikola Jokic,
03:46who comes into this season
03:48as an expiring contract with the Denver Nuggets,
03:50I believe,
03:51talking about,
03:52yeah, I'd sign an extension if they'd have me
03:53and everything like that.
03:54He is one of the best,
03:56not one of the,
03:57he is the best passing big man
03:58in the history of the NBA.
04:00Such a versatile offensive player
04:03and I genuinely,
04:05when he gets rolling,
04:06I don't know how you defend him
04:08and I hate that the Nuggets
04:10kind of cheaped out in his prime
04:12so that we couldn't get the full Jokic experience
04:15and now he goes up against a couple juggernauts
04:17in OKC and San Antonio.
04:19And that is where we go next
04:21with Victor Weminyama
04:22coming in at number two.
04:24The best player on a team
04:25that went to the NBA Finals,
04:27he was,
04:28there's nothing he can't do
04:30and he keeps getting better
04:31and this is,
04:33this is the still growing phase.
04:35I mean, maybe not literally,
04:36but in terms of his basketball growth
04:38as an NBA player,
04:40he's still growing.
04:41He's going to be defensive player of the year
04:43every season that he plays 65 games in
04:45and offensively,
04:47a lot of people saying like
04:48he needs to get that one move
04:49that he can just go to,
04:50but it's just to give him the ball
04:52and figure it out.
04:53A bit of a step back in the finals,
04:55obviously.
04:56And so we will see now how he responds.
04:58But at number one,
04:58it is still our good Canadian kid,
05:01SGA,
05:02as,
05:03again,
05:03solid defender
05:04and maybe
05:06draws a few too many fouls
05:07in ways that people don't like.
05:08But,
05:09I still think
05:10when you look at the overall sport,
05:12I don't think there's anyone better right now
05:13than SGA
05:15as he will look to lead the Thunder
05:16back to an NBA title this year.
05:18So,
05:18I'm going to assume
05:19with basketball fans,
05:20I didn't just go 10 for 10
05:22with your picks.
05:23Where did I go wrong?
05:24Let me know
05:25whether it be in the live chat
05:26or in the comments after
05:28and we can talk about it there.
05:29But the NBA previews
05:30are just starting here
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05:40All right.
