Ranking Luka right now.

[Thespiralgoeson]

His game 4 performance against the Clippers is one of those historic "I have arrived moments." It just makes me wonder, where should Luka rank among NBA players right now? Not down the road, in terms of potential- because I think it's clear he has the potential to be the best player in the NBA- but right now at age 21? He's easily a top 10 player, and has easily been a top 5 player throughout 2019/2020.

I would say he's easily top 5, but the only thing that gives me pause is that I don't know how or where to rank Durant and Curry. Durant in particular, we don't even know if he'll ever be the same player again due to the severity of his injury. If we just rank players in the 2020 season, my ranking roughly goes like this. (Note: This is not MVP ranking, in which Kawhi would be ranked a lot lower due to number of games missed and carrying a lighter load for his team than other players. Luka would easily outrank Kawhi in MVP voting this year and probably Harden too.)

1. Giannis
2. Kawhi
3. Lebron
4. Harden
5. Luka
6. Jokic
7. Lillard
8. Davis
9. Embiid
10. George

(Not even sure about 9 and 10. Just had to pick two players to round off the list.)

If you have to factor in Durant and Curry though, and operate on the assumption that both guys will be roughly the same as they were pre-injury, that changes things.

1. Giannis
2. Kawhi
3. Durant
4. Lebron
5. Harden
6. Luka
7. Curry
8. Jokic
9. Lillard
10. Davis

Okay, so... am I crazy for having Luka over Curry right now? Is that pure homerism? It feels like blasphemy given how much Curry has accomplished and that he's roughly in his prime or at least close to it. But I feel like Luka just gives you more, and can do more with less. I'd probably rather have Curry as my #1 scoring option on a loaded team. But if I can only pick one great player and I have to trust that guy to carry the team with an average supporting cast? I'm going with Luka.