2013-2014 CSL Top 5 (PG)

With the 2013-2014 CSL Season over, let's look at the top players this past season categorized by position.

*The standard is solely based on performance during the 2013-2014 season, and not who the best players are or who I'd want to have most. I tried to consider all factors, including team, record, efficiency, and etc.

1. Chris Paul (LAC): 22.4 points, 7.2 assists, 3.3 steals, 60.0% TS, 26.8 PER

CP3 had yet another stellar season, leading his team to 73 wins and the 2nd best record in the CSL. He was incredibly efficient in both passing and scoring, and once again had a DPOY-caliber season with his tremendous defensive statistics. He came up a little short in the Playoffs this year, but some of that may be attributed to playing next to another high-usage player in Deron Williams. Either way, he showed once again that he's still the clear-cut best PG in the league.

2. Damian Lillard (POR): 24.4 points, 7.2 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 61.5% TS, 24.6 PER

Talk about a guy coming into his own. Lillard had a breakout year and showed that he's a future superstar in the league, ending the season with a top 10 PER and leading his team to the 5th seed in the tough West. His play suffered big-time in the Playoffs, however, which may indicate that he's not quite there yet. He's still a top notch scorer with room to grow, and there's no doubt it was a great learning season for him. Expect big things from Lillard in the coming seasons.

3. Stephen Curry (GSW): 18.3 points, 8.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 61.3% TS, 21.1 PER

Curry solidified himself as a top PG in the league this season by showing his great all-around ability. He's easily one of the best shooters in the league, and shot a blistering 43.5% FG on a crazy 8.1 attempts per game. His Warriors made the 7th seed in the West and Curry shot lights out in the postseason, only to lose in five. He keeps defenses honest and can really punish any zone defense. I would like to see him take more shots and really utilize his scoring ability more to perhaps climb the list next season.


4. Derrick Rose (CHI): 21.6 points, 8.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 56.2% TS, 22.6 PER

It was a disappointing season for the Bulls, who vastly underperformed, struggling with inconsistency in the front office and lackluster coaching. Still, Rose managed himself another great season, leading his team to the 5th seed. He was absolutely brutal in the postseason against the Knicks' trapping defense and Jeremy Lin, however. He really needs a different type of team around him to succeed, and it'll be interesting to see which direction the team goes under new management.

5. Isaiah Thomas (MIA): 16.3 points, 7.0 assists, 2.2 steals, 59.4% TS, 23.8 PER

While there are certainly other candidates available at the final spot in guys like Ty Lawson, Mike Conley, and Jrue Holiday, I had to go a little homer here and recognize the best 60th pick of all-time. He showed that he was a great fit for the Heat's system (the one that made Earl Watson a starting-caliber PG). Yes, he benefited greatly from a fast-paced and offensively-talented team, but that doesn't take away from the production he had last season. He managed to come through for his team in the Playoffs multiple times, and was an integral part of the team's success." />

thanks for mentioning Lillard and so high on the list also. His play did suffer somewhat in the playoffs but worth mentioning that without LMA the defense was all about stopping Lillard. He still scored 22 a game but yes, stats wise, definitely not as productive. Did lead us to game 7 vs the eventual West champ

andrei wrote:thanks for mentioning Lillard and so high on the list also. His play did suffer somewhat in the playoffs but worth mentioning that without LMA the defense was all about stopping Lillard. He still scored 22 a game but yes, stats wise, definitely not as productive. Did lead us to game 7 vs the eventual West champ

He was easily the second-best PG this past season IMO. He's legitimately my favorite player in the sim league, especially because of the way I like to play utilizes PGs a LOT.

I expect many 2011 MVP D-Rose type seasons in the future from him.

Homer or not, Thomas over Jrue Holliday is horrible. I would take Holliday over Thomas 10 out of 10 times.

Dylan (SAC) wrote:Homer or not, Thomas over Jrue Holliday is horrible. I would take Holliday over Thomas 10 out of 10 times.

I agree, Holiday was top 5 in both assists and steals per game, and he was the 1st option on his team. Cousins had a season ending injury quite early on (torn ACL) which really hurt the team. Dirk at age 34 was the next best player, and Ariza was a solid but after that it gets real ugly.

Anyway, I like Holiday quite a bit, he was the reason Chris Paul was a bench player on the allstar team. He isn't as good as Paul obviously, but I'd argue he is on par with Rose, better in fact depending on what you value from the position. Westbrook/Wall/Conley/Rondo/Lawson can be debated because of injury/team record but efficiency and supporting cast are tied together. Still, Thomas had an unreal season no doubt and these things are subjective.

Well, I wish I had any of these 5 down in the Magic Kingdom.

I would go Holiday hands down. I would love to have him on my team. Thomas would not have that season on anyone elses team so his stats are inflated. Conley is also a good PG, but Holiday is a great all around player who I would love to get my hands on. Overall good article though.

Westbrook. Top 2. Next season.

Cyrisnyte (ORL) wrote:Well, I wish I had any of these 5 down in the Magic Kingdom.

Trade that #1 Pick and I'm sure you could

Agree with consensus, Thomas was left off the All Star list and should've been left off this list as well.

He had a fantastic season no doubt, Holiday and Lin had better season's though. Nice list all in all, looking forward to more.

With Tyreke Evans out of town, Damian Lillard is going to put up some monstrous numbers next season. If his efficiency stays as high as it is...WATCH OUT!

Dylan (SAC) wrote:Homer or not, Thomas over Jrue Holliday is horrible. I would take Holliday over Thomas 10 out of 10 times.

blackice (ATL) wrote:

Dylan (SAC) wrote:Homer or not, Thomas over Jrue Holliday is horrible. I would take Holliday over Thomas 10 out of 10 times.

I agree, Holiday was top 5 in both assists and steals per game, and he was the 1st option on his team. Cousins had a season ending injury quite early on (torn ACL) which really hurt the team. Dirk at age 34 was the next best player, and Ariza was a solid but after that it gets real ugly.

Anyway, I like Holiday quite a bit, he was the reason Chris Paul was a bench player on the allstar team. He isn't as good as Paul obviously, but I'd argue he is on par with Rose, better in fact depending on what you value from the position. Westbrook/Wall/Conley/Rondo/Lawson can be debated because of injury/team record but efficiency and supporting cast are tied together. Still, Thomas had an unreal season no doubt and these things are subjective.

emplep7 wrote:I would go Holiday hands down.  I would love to have him on my team.  Thomas would not have that season on anyone elses team so his stats are inflated.  Conley is also a good PG, but Holiday is a great all around player who I would love to get my hands on.  Overall good article though.  

WillyJakkz (HOU) wrote:

Cyrisnyte (ORL) wrote:Well, I wish I had any of these 5 down in the Magic Kingdom.

Trade that #1 Pick and I'm sure you could

Agree with consensus, Thomas was left off the All Star list and should've been left off this list as well.

He had a fantastic season no doubt, Holiday and Lin had better season's though. Nice list all in all, looking forward to more.

Love this multi-quote feature haha.

Hey, I'd rather have Holiday too, but again, this is about production this past season, which is why Westbrook wasn't even mentioned.

And Jrue is the most overrated PG around here hands down, people are definitely enamored with his raw stats and high minutes. He had a 49.6% TS, which is just beyond horrendous, even moreso in our league where the average efficiency is much higher than IRL. He's a great defender and good passer/ball-handler for sure,  but top 5 in the league with that kind of scoring efficiency is a crime IMO.

In a way, this is like IRL Jrue in his All-Star season last year, who really didn't have a great year efficiency-wise but made up for it with raw numbers and minutes.

And Lin's not even in the discussion. He had an even worse 49.0% TS and averaged just 6.7 assists on 3.6 turnovers.

I don't get what ya'll seeing in either of them over the five guys here this past season, would love to hear an argument.

For fun, here's a statistical analysis of Holiday and Thomas.

*Note: raw stats in PER36, actual minutes per game were 33.6 (Thomas) and 38.3 (Holiday), so the difference is bigger than you think here.

Thomas: 17.5 pts, 7.5 ast, 4.2 reb, 1.7 to (4.4 A/TO), 2.3 stl, 50.3%/40.4%/86.8%, 90.6% STP, 0.8 PA/SF, 59.4% TS, 23.8 PER
Holiday: 18.6 pts, 8.2 ast, 5.1 reb, 2.6 to (3.2 A/TO), 2.0 stl, 42.6%/34.3%/78.5%, 97.0% STP, 0.9 PA/SF, 49.6% TS, 19.8 PER

Rabble rabble rabble IT sucks!

I think he benefits from the other PGs who I think are definitely better than him (Westbrook, Rondo, Wall, Conley) suffering from either injury or poor teammates. This might be IT's only year in this ranking.

orangeparka (MIA) wrote:
4. Derrick Rose (CHI): 21.6 points, 8.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 56.2% TS, 22.6 PER

It was a disappointing season for the Bulls, who vastly underperformed, struggling with inconsistency in the front office and lackluster coaching. Still, Rose managed himself another great season, leading his team to the 5th seed. He was absolutely brutal in the postseason against the Knicks' trapping defense and Jeremy Lin, however. He really needs a different type of team around him to succeed, and it'll be interesting to see which direction the team goes under new management.

I agree on everything but on that sentence in red.
I had the feeling Lin won the series for us. We lost game one when he was injured, and also played trough it in game2 (and he fouled out in those two games). But then he had two monster games in Chicago in games 2 and 3.
Anyway it might be just my lack of memory or the way I see it, so I made the comparison regarding those 5 PO games:

orangeparka (MIA) wrote:And Lin's not even in the discussion. He had an even worse 49.0% TS and averaged just 6.7 assists on 3.6 turnovers.

I agree Lin shouldn't be in the list.
Even though he wasn't that effective he did carry his team higher than anyone predicted during the season. He would've been in the mix or at least near taking into account just he second half of the season when he improved a lot, but that's not the case and there's more deserving PGs.

Myles (SAS) wrote:Rabble rabble rabble IT sucks!

I think he benefits from the other PGs who I think are definitely better than him (Westbrook, Rondo, Wall, Conley) suffering from either injury or poor teammates. This might be IT's only year in this ranking.

Definitely. WB was injured, Rondo played on a crap team without a GM, and Conley spent half the season at SG where his stats suffered.

Too many good players at PG.

Jamal (NYK) wrote:

orangeparka (MIA) wrote:
4. Derrick Rose (CHI): 21.6 points, 8.2 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 56.2% TS, 22.6 PER

It was a disappointing season for the Bulls, who vastly underperformed, struggling with inconsistency in the front office and lackluster coaching. Still, Rose managed himself another great season, leading his team to the 5th seed. He was absolutely brutal in the postseason against the Knicks' trapping defense and Jeremy Lin, however. He really needs a different type of team around him to succeed, and it'll be interesting to see which direction the team goes under new management.

I agree on everything but on that sentence in red.
I had the feeling Lin won the series for us. We lost game one when he was injured, and also played trough it in game2 (and he fouled out in those two games). But then he had two monster games in Chicago in games 2 and 3.
Anyway it might be just my lack of memory or the way I see it, so I made the comparison regarding those 5 PO games:

orangeparka (MIA) wrote:And Lin's not even in the discussion. He had an even worse 49.0% TS and averaged just 6.7 assists on 3.6 turnovers.

I agree Lin shouldn't be in the list.
Even though he wasn't that effective he did carry his team higher than anyone predicted during the season. He would've been in the mix or at least near taking into account just he second half of the season when he improved a lot, but that's not the case and there's more deserving PGs.

Yeah, by brutal I mean he was really bad against NYK haha.

orangeparka (MIA) wrote:Yeah, by brutal I mean he was really bad against NYK haha.

LOL, we agree on everything then