CSL Top 50

[Silogical]

2028 CSL Top 50 This is my personal opinion of the CSL top 50. It's based mainly on how much of an impact the player has on winning games. Plus comments on the MVP candidates.

Tier 1
1 Ben Simmons MIA - Best player in the league. Simmons does what the team needs to win.
2 Luka Doncic DAL - Monster offensive player. The only question is when DAL brings in better players will he lead them to success, or will he do what he did in the all-star game and turn his star team-mates into scrubs.
3 Zion Williamson NYK - Amazing stats across the board, however the the team is built to get zion stats. Zions ON rating is not on the same level as Simmons or Luka.
4 DeAndre Ayton BRK - One of the most underrated players in the league. Ayton will have a tough time getting MVP votes because anyone who likes his game probably likes Zion more.
5 Michael Porter SAC - Rounding out the top 5 we have Porter. You need a very specific team to make Porter shine and BT has done that. He would probably be a front runner if he hasnt been resting all season.

Tier 2
6 DeAaron Fox BOS
7 SGA BRK

Tier 3
8 Matisse Thybulle SAC
9 Jayson Tatum PHX
10 Malik Monk HOU
11 Karl-Anthony Towns HOU
12 Dennis Smith MIA
13 Lauri Markkanen NO
14 Stanley Johnson Jr DET
15 Justise Winslow HOU
16 Kristaps Porzingis ORL
17 Jaren Jackson Jr. NYK
18 Isaiah Taylor DEN
19 Donovan Mitchell UTA
20 Kyle Kuzma MIA
21 Brandon Ingram MIL
22 Rui Hachimura LAL
22b Kaiser Gates DET
23 Jarrett Culver MEM
24 PJ Dozier GSW
25 Miles Bridges BOS

Tier 4
26 Marvin Bagley LAC
27 Moritz Wagner PHI
28 Marcus Smart LAL
29 Cameron Johnson MIN
30 Bruno Fernando MEM
31 Semi Ojeleye IND
32 Sekou Doumbouya MEM
33 Shaquille Harrison DEN
34 Trae Young CHA
35 Kris Dunn CHA

Tier 5
36 Michael Young TOR
37 Jabari Parker DET
38 Mohamed Bamba NO
39 Justin Patton TOR
40 Christ Koumadje MIN
41 RJ Barrett OKC
42 Lonzo Ball PHI
43 Brian Bowen PHI
44 Jaylen Adams SAC

Tier 6
46 Tryggvi Hlinason BOS
47 Mario Hezonja TOR
48 Kris Middleton MIL
49 Draymond Green PHX
50 Frank N DET

With the top 50 created I wanted to see how accurately this list is translating to wins. I gave the players a score of 51 minus their rank. I then added those scores to their teams. Below are the results.

Team Team Score comment
MIA 120 Not surprising MIA comes out with the highest team score but its closer than youd think.
HOU 117 Houston is way underperforming their team score. They are right there with Miami in team score but have 14 fewer wins. Im not really sure why they are underperforming so much. Maybe injuries, maybe rest, maybe just trying different things out.
SAC 96
BRK 91 BRK is severely underachieving. They had a slow start and never really turned it on.
NYK 82
BOS 76 The 1st team that is way out performing their team score. My guess as to why they are doing so well compared to their team score is they have a very good deep bench.
MEM 68
LAL 52 LA is 8th in team score but fighting for a playoff spot. Im not sure why this team isnt winning more games. Maybe im overrating Rui, very good defender but you are playing 4 vs 5 on offense.
DET 52
DEN 51
NO 51
DAL 49 Dallas team score isnt great compared to their wins. I think that is because both Hunter and Allen could be argued as top 50 players, but are counting for 0 in team score.
PHX 44 After the trade Denver started climbing and PHX started falling. Its going to be a very tight finish.
PHI 41
MIL 33 Milwaukee is one of the biggest overachievers. They are the 1st team with a team score lower than wins. My guess for this is they just built a solid “team” and know how to coach that team.
MIN 33 MIN is a team i never really liked even after their hot start. They are proving me wrong by holding their playoff spot. The 2nd team with a team score lower than wins.
CHA 33
UTA 32
TOR 31
GS 27
LAC 25
IND 20
OKC 16

[KW]

Thybulle is so far overrated that I can't approve this
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jk Approved.

[KW]

Given the inherent variance of the 3-ball, and Ingles blowing ass for 10-15 games after the trade, we have roughly the record I would expect. I don't think we're underachieving. Could've probably picked up 2-3 more wins if I benched Ingles sooner.

[Silogical]

Given the inherent variance of the 3-ball, and Ingles blowing ass for 10-15 games after the trade, we have roughly the record I would expect. I don't think we're underachieving. Could've probably picked up 2-3 more wins if I benched Ingles sooner.

It could be argued you have the most talented team in the league. The problem is its a balance of talent you dont have that superstar. Looking at the DDS19 champions you have AD, Simmons and Porter. The superstar seems to be important in this engine.

[Ocons]

lol

[cb4raptorscb4]

From what I understand, this means we have a bad team lol. Makes us losing by 2 points in Game 7 of the Championship to the #1 team even more impressive.

[blackice]

3 players in the top 50, but I wonder how much MPG play a factor as my main guys are playing a ton. Still, nice to see. I'd love to add a superstar as you always say superstars win games/titles but unless you bottom out and draft well it's tough to luck into a Doncic type.

[blackice]

Interestingly enough BT is the only GM to trade for a top 5 player (Michael Porter), so good on them for doing so.

[GreenBear]

It's not completely clear to me if this is your MVP list or your list of top 50 players in terms of talent, because both are off in my eyes. If it's this year's MVP, I don't know how Luka doesn't take the top spot given how much he does for the Mavs. If it's your list of most talented players, then you're just not paying attention to what bt is doing with Porter to list him at #5. That's 4 spots too low. He's the most unstoppable player in the league, and if bt wanted him to average insane regular season stats, he would.

[Marcos_Beck]

It's not completely clear to me if this is your MVP list or your list of top 50 players in terms of talent, because both are off in my eyes. If it's this year's MVP, I don't know how Luka doesn't take the top spot given how much he does for the Mavs. If it's your list of most talented players, then you're just not paying attention to what bt is doing with Porter.

100% agree. But I get this is your opinion at all and won’t even bother arguing. Just respect your opinion, that’s it

[Silogical]

100% agree. But I get this is your opinion at all and won’t even bother arguing. Just respect your opinion, that’s it

If Ben Simmons was on the Mavs or Kings in place of Luka and Porter he would win MVP pretty easy. Playing for the Heat will cost Simmons MVP.

[Flaming Homer]

I agree with the top 3 + Porter to round out the top 4. But also not sure about the order. Hard to tell if Simmons is really this handicapped in Miami and how dominant Porter could be with a different coach and team setup.

Only one way to find out ... lets trade around this super star players.

[Rizzo]

BRK 91 BRK is severely underachieving. They had a slow start and never really turned it on.

Ain't this the truth. I've never been a good tactician in any engine but especially this one I can't get the hang of what works well for my teams and what doesn't.

[thecoolestjedi]

It’s been a bit of a fall from the grace since the Tatum trade but semi confident(45%) we can power through

[Silogical]

Here are your typical real life usage% https://www.basketball-reference.com/le ... areer.html

Hopefully DDS22 can fix the usage bug. If a player had a 40%+ usage rating in real life that team would get shut down so easy. In DDS no matter how bad the team is theyll score 90+ points and if they have one dominant player that player will score guaranteed. Nothing a defense can do.

[KW]

Here are your typical real life usage% https://www.basketball-reference.com/le ... areer.html

Hopefully DDS22 can fix the usage bug. If a player had a 40%+ usage rating in real life that team would get shut down so easy. In DDS no matter how bad the team is theyll score 90+ points and if they have one dominant player that player will score guaranteed. Nothing a defense can do.

the issue is that percentages don't really appear to scale by volume, and that's probably something that will never change because Gary is stubborn as hell

A typical mediocre "35% three-point shooter" that takes an average amount of shots from 3, let's say 5 per 36, should be higher than 35% if his volume is scaled back and he's only taking easy open shots. But jacking his attempts to 10 per game should imply that he takes a few bad shots that drop his percentage below 35%.

In this game, whether this guy takes 2 or 20 threes a game, he'll hit around 35% with a few modifiers for opposing defense, etc.

In theory, someone with Isaiah Cousins or Devonte' Graham's ratings would be getting ~15 shots in a typical offense (Graham took 12.7 and 14 shots in his two half-seasons with me as a 3rd/4th option). More than those 15 shots should gradually start to be seen as bad shots forcing them into a role they shouldn't be capable of without getting inefficient.

[Andrewu91]

Top 5 assist leader of all time, not in top 50? What does GDP have to do, to get some recognition. Average another 11-11-5 on 50% shooting..

[Ocons]

Top 5 assist leader of all time, not in top 50? What does GDP have to do, to get some recognition. Average another 11-11-5 on 50% shooting..

Easy, he just has to be on Miami and he's in.

[Silogical]

Top 5 assist leader of all time, not in top 50? What does GDP have to do, to get some recognition. Average another 11-11-5 on 50% shooting..

Easy, he just has to be on Miami and he's in.

You had two successful seasons in your career and those were the two seasons i set your sub matrix. If there is one team that should trust my judgement...

Bird is also better than GDP and didnt make top 50.

[bt]

Great work Silo, key being here that you said it's your personal opinion up front. Always good for a discussion though.

Luka to me is showing he's the absolute talent of the league at the moment despite how good Simmons is on both sides. I know people speak of Porter's post season run and loading up last seasons file, he averaged 45.6 points at 54.6% from the field, 64.7% true shooting and a 41.5 PER (in 40.4 minutes per game) but Doncic in the regular season is averaging 40 per game with a 39.1 PER. Not as efficient but only in 32.7 minutes.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he can do in the playoffs when he's playing 40 a game.