Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the top 10 players in the NBA today

5. James Harden

Arguably the most controversial player positioning on this list is James Harden at five. A player who averaged over eight points per game more than the league’s second-best scorer would typically translate into him being the league’s best player, if not the top three at the very least. But James Harden lands at five on this list due to some ongoing concerns with his defense and postseason play.

Furthermore, for a large part of the regular season, one could have easily made the argument that Harden was the league’s best player. He broke plenty of offensives records and propelled the disgruntled Houston Rockets into the fourth seed, securing homecourt advantage in the first round.

Harden is the best offensive player in the game and at times showed that he may be the greatest offensive player of all-time.

The Beard averaged 36 points per game and somehow managed to grab over seven assists per game in the process. His defense is a problem, but he finished third in the league in steals in spite of that.

For the majority of the 2019 NBA season, Harden might’ve been the league’s best player but then the playoffs came around. The lefty hasn’t been able to perform at a high level in the playoffs, so until he does, he’ll stay put.