Nothing Wrong with Second Best: NBA's Top No. 2 Options
In an NBA where Big Threes and Dynamic Duos have come to dominate the strategic landscape, it’s worth remembering that, in most instances, it’s pretty clear who’s the alpha dog.
Does anyone question who held the reins of the Miami Heat? Anyone other than the President of the James Jones fan club, I mean? Is there any debate over the best player on the Oklahoma City Thunder? In a pickup game full of third graders, maybe.
Still, it’s high time we give the Association’s second fiddles their just due. That is why we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 second options the NBA has to offer.
A few caveats: First, just because we leave out someone on, say, the New York Knicks or New Orleans Pelicans, doesn’t mean we don’t think Carmelo Anthony or Anthony Davis are legitimate superstars. Of course they are. It just means we can’t really tell who their chief sidekick really is, whether by virtue of there being multiple options or no real good options at all.
Second, there are no San Antonio Spurs on this list because they exist on a different galactic plane where all matter has the same mass and energy and taste and everything. They are completely and utterly equal. Science.
All right, enough lollygagging. To the slide-machine.
10. Rudy Gay, Sacramento Kings
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You’d be hard-pressed to find a more polarizing player in today’s NBA than Rudy Gay. Long fawned over for his smooth game and freakish athleticism, Gay’s statistical shortcomings have made him something of a poster child for the analytics movement.
So when Gay registered a career-high player efficiency rating after being traded to the Sacramento Kings early last season, it was worth wondering: Might playing alongside blossoming superstar center DeMarcus Cousins have helped Gay settle down a bit?
Fifty-five games does not a satisfactory sample size make. Still, with Cousins poised for another mini-leap this season, it’ll be interesting to see how seamlessly Gay eases into his role as Sacramento’s second banana.
As one of many West teams looking to scratch and claw their way into the conference conversation, the Kings seem to have finally found their future foundation. Now it’s time to see whether Gay can become their foremost weight-bearing beam.
9. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
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Some things change, some stay the same. That right there is profound.
After four seasons spent gradually receding toward third-fiddle status, Dwyane Wade stands to slide back up the Miami Heat pecking order. And not a moment too soon either: The Heat need a bounce-back year from their Hall of Fame shooting guard now more than ever. What with LeBron James’ devastating departure resulting in a full-fledged roster reconstruction.
But while Chris Bosh’s age and superior durability make him the team’s unquestioned cornerstone, Wade—carrying a cultural clout unmatched in South Florida—isn’t far behind, sentimentally speaking.
At 32 years old and with thousands of all-terrain minutes to his treads, Wade’s career is much closer to twilight than peak. At the same time, these Heat, imbued as they are with more than a little bit of bitterness, have more than a little something to prove. And Wade—pride somewhat jaded after James’ decision—is just the kind of guy to lead that heart-charred charge.
8. Monta Ellis, Dallas Mavericks
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Like Rudy Gay, Monta Ellis has earned a reputation as something of a guiltless gunner—a player for whom things like “true shooting percentage” and “usage rate” have no bearing beyond some basketball ivory tower.
And, as with Gay, redemption came in the twofold form of a superstar front man and a much-needed change of scenery.
The result: Ellis’ best true-shooting percentage in three seasons, a renewed emphasis on attacking the tin and—most crucial of all—a resurgent year for the suddenly brim-loaded Dallas Mavericks
Indeed, Ellis has proved an ideal complement to the comparably deliberate and ground-bound Dirk Nowitzki. Together, the two helped spearhead the league’s second-most efficient offense a season ago. Now, with the versatile Chandler Parsons in tow, Dallas is poised to push the needle even higher.
It may have taken a decade to figure out Ellis was never meant to be a No. 1 option. But we’ll bet the Mavericks are happy to be the ones who figured it out.
7. Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls
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Ask me a year ago, there’s scant chance Joakim Noah makes this list. Valuable as he is in terms of defense and leadership, so the thinking might've gone, he’s simply far too limited offensively to be thought of as a bona fide sidekick to Derrick Rose.
Oh, lordy, how wrong we were.
With Rose once again sidelined for a lion’s share of the season, Noah stepped up big time, recording four—four—triple-doubles to help propel the Chicago Bulls to a feel-good 45 win season. Four triple-doubles for a guy who shoots like he learned the form from James Naismith himself. Not too shabby.
More importantly, Noah’s indomitable spirit was crucial in helping Chicago weather yet another year without its fast-and-furious floor general.
“All these other teams, when you’re feeling sorry for yourself, they don’t care,” Noah told Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams. “It’s like a wounded animal. When a team sees that you’re wounded and you’re in low spirits, or if things aren’t going well, they’re going for the kill. We didn’t want to be that wounded animal that teams would just come in here and kill.”
With Rose now fully back in the fold, Noah’s raw numbers will likely take a bit of a hit. His importance as a secondary playmaker and defensive quarterback, however, has never been higher.
6. Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
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If 1) you constitute one half of what’s widely considered the best backcourt in the NBA and 2) the other guy is widely considered one of the best players in the NBA, then it follows that 3) you are a top-tier sidekick.
And all that time they told me a philosophy degree was worthless.
In an era where the shooting guard position is at its shallowest in eons, Klay Thompson’s skill set—deadly shooting on offense, lockdown length at the other end—makes him an automatic entry into the position’s upper echelon.
To be sure, Thompson still has plenty to work on: his dribbling, playmaking and too-quick trigger being chief among them. But as a complement to Stephen Curry’s ever-bourgeoning backcourt genius, the trajectory of the Golden State Warriors’ fourth-year swingman is nothing if not on an encouraging course.
5. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
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There might not be a narrower gap between a team’s first and second fiddle as there is between the Portland Trail Blazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard.
Working solely off past performance, the nod would go to LMA, of course. But if Lillard authors the kind of third-year breakout many expect, we could be talking about a leadership role reversal sooner than later.
And we’re pretty sure both dudes will be just fine with that. That is the kind of simpatico cooperation one would expect from one of the league’s mostly tightly knit up-and-coming teams.
Having been cut from Team USA in lieu of Derrick Rose, Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving, Lillard enters the 2014-15 campaign with an asteroid-sized chip on his shoulder. Whether he can use that slight as fuel to improve all aspects of his game—particularly his defense—stands to be one of the year’s sneaky-compelling narratives.
4. Dwight Howard, Houston Rockets
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Three years ago, asking who was the best center in the NBA to anyone who knew anything about the league would’ve probably landed you in jail. In some counties, anyway.
Dwight Howard is still very much a force to be reckoned with for the Houston Rockets—a game-changing defensive center whose mere presence alone forces the opposition to alter its game plan. But his days as a franchise building block are, sadly, long gone.
For good or ill, this is James Harden’s team to lead or lose. And while his quiet, almost stoic countenance belies his killer instinct on the court, Harden is the perfect narrative foil for the notoriously polarizing—and certifiably goofy—D12.
How wide is Houston’s title window? After losing Chandler Parsons, narrower than it was before. That is why it’s so important that Howard—smile as broad as his shoulders—lends as much muscle as he can to forcing it open a bit wider.
3. Blake Griffin, Los Angeles Clippers
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Here's another pair of career arcs that might—might—be coming to a confluence.
Chris Paul has been the undisputed best point guard in the league for so long, it’s a wonder he doesn’t have some sort of military patch on his shoulder. CP3 is still very much that, by the way. Where he may be hearing footsteps, though, in in who holds the mantle as the Los Angeles Clippers’ best player.
To call Blake Griffin’s 2013-14 season a breakout campaign might be overstating it a bit. Still, Griffin’s improved passing and outside shot alone were enough to make him a much more multidimensional force than the high-flying freak of a few years ago.
Should that jumper ever become a bankable weapon, we could be talking about Blake as one of the undisputed five best players in the league.
For now, Griffin will have to be content with top-five sidekick. Jack McBrayer notwithstanding, of course.
2. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
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The way some people put it, Russell Westbrook is a cold-blooded usurper who keeps himself up at night devising schemes to wrest control of the Oklahoma City Thunder from the skinny-fingered, goody-two-shoes grip of Kevin Durant.
Or maybe, you know, Russ is just a misunderstood basketball genius miscast as a second option when in reality he’s a very, very real 1A-type talent.
It’s probably somewhere in the middle.
Recently, Sports Illustrated’s Phil Taylor fingers to keys to expound on what Durant’s injury means for Westbrook:
"It will be fascinating to see how Westbrook, talented but impulsive, handles his new role. He is a shoot-first point guard, and those shot opportunities will be plentiful, since without Durant OKC has only one big man, Serge Ibaka, who can be considered much of an offensive threat. Westbrook will be freed from the obligation of getting the ball to Durant, but with greater freedom comes greater responsibility. There will be no KD to turn to on the nights that Westbrook’s jumper isn’t falling, no KD to be the voice of the team when the media descends. Does Westbrook want everything that comes with being the alpha dog? Can he handle it all? The Thunder will essentially play two regular seasons, one as Westbrook’s team and one with the Durant/Westbrook combo. To make both adjustments smoothly will take a discipline that Westbrook hasn’t always shown.
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Whatever your thoughts or biases toward the Thunder’s mercurial point guard, there’s no denying Westbrook’s explosive, rim-racking talent—a combination of size, speed and quickness the likes of which the position has scarce known.
Now, with Durant expected to be out for more than a month with a small fracture in his right foot, Westbrook finally has the spotlight all to himself. How he handles it—whether with controlled fury or flagrant hardwood histrionics—will go a long way in determining what kind of dynamic Thunder fans can expect once the duo’s better half returns.
1. Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
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There’s already been pontificating aplenty over whether Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love deserves the label of LeBron James’ high-most hand.
Both sides have a strong case. For Irving supporters, it’s about paying homage to the one who’s been there. For Love…lovers…the argument tends to be based on seniority, in terms of both years and, you know, statistics.
Remove one, the other was bound to be pretty high up on this list. But we’re going with K-Love, whose incendiary preseason has given Cavs fans a sneak peak into just how potent David Blatt’s Spurs-like offensive system can be.
At just 26, Love has already proved himself to be a statistical monster—that rare breed of player whose efficiency actually justifies his usage. Playing alongside the best playmaker on the planet might mean a bit of a drop in raw production, but as a conduit to continued growth as a player, James will only make Love an even more devastating weapon.
