After watching the 2014 NBA All-Star game last night, one thing stood out. No, it was not the total number of combined points (318), Kevin Durant’s stat line (38/10/6), or the other numerous records broken Sunday night. It was the number of young players who will take over this league in a few short years. Now don’t get me wrong, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul still run the NBA. But it’s players like Paul George, Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin and others that will rise up and take the reigns one day as the alpha males in the league.
All three players mentioned above have come into their own over the last two years, and all three are under 25 years of age (23, 25 and 24 respectively). If you look deep into the advanced stats and metrics, all three place in the top 10 in Win Shares , which estimates the number of wins a player adds to his team (7th: George- 7.9, 5th: Curry- 8.8, 4th: Griffin- 8.9)*.
Furthermore, all three players have improved steadily over the last 2-3 seasons. George has transformed himself into one of the best two-way players in the league. Curry has upped his assists per game, as well as his field goal percentage. Finally, Griffin has improved his low post game, and has found a way to grab 9.8 rebounds per game while playing alongside DeAndre Jordan, the league’s leading rebounder.
George, Curry and Griffin are also on championship contending teams for the foreseeable future. All three players are locked into deals for at least the next three years, while playing alongside talented teammates (Roy Hibbert, David Lee and Chris Paul) that can help lead them to an NBA title.
No one can predict how high the ceilings are for these three young stars, but one thing is for sure, one day this league will belong to them. It almost already does. The only thing we can do is buckle up and, to quote T.O., “get your popcorn ready”.
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