Town Hall #3: Top 5

[greepleairport]

Rules: 1 point if you give thoughtful answers which I will award after the timer ends for responses. The timer ends for responses at the moment the corresponding week's Sim is run.

Note: Use approximately 5 sentences as your bare minimum for 1 point. If you write 3 long, complex sentences, you'll still get a point. If you write 5 3 word sentences, you will not get a point. Don't @ me.

Due: Sim 3 deadline.

After two sims, our top 5 scorers are, in order, Jonathan Isaac, Johnny Davis, Phil Smith, AJ Blaze and Jaden Akins.

Who's staying in the top 5 by season's end? Who's out? Who's taking their place? Let us know why.

[MexicanMamba]

I think Isaac, Uncle Phil, Akins and Blaze might be pretty safe bets to keep driving up their scoring totals. At least 3 of them are probably on squads whose scoring pecking order won't change the rest of the season. Trades could shift things, of course though. However, I think Johnny Davis will fall off this list with Sion James stepping into it eventually. Sion and JD are certainly both the Rockets and Lakers best scorers, but I think JD will drop as some of his scoring loving teammates begin to raise their level of scoring, where I feel like 78 has a roster with everyone firmly in a specific role. Even Larry Williams, a career scorer, is coming off the pine, so not a ton of competition for touches.

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[jlmarines]

There is no question all players are having a great start. Let's start by giving Isaac the respect he deserves. He will remain at the top this year and the years ahead. The Bobcats have 2 great players but I don't see 2 players scoring so much for the entire season. Therefore, I think Jaden Akins will fall from the Top 5. I'm going with a safe pick, Ron Harper Jr will eventually take the 5th spot. The remaining Top 4 will remain the same.

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[K-100]

I'm good with the top-3 staying the same in that order so Jon Isaac will win his second consecutive scoring title. I think the Bobcats will continue to tinker with their lineup and feature some of their other players a little more to get a more well-rounded approach so I think Akins falls out that way. I see the Mavs continue to adjust more as well and feature Scoot so he will slide into #4 and the Trailblazers' AJ Blaze will get replaced by Sion James as he continues to dominate for the Houston Rockets and claim his rightful place as the league's best 2-way talent by rounding out the top-5 in this scoring list. Overall this is a great list of scorers and it should be a fun race to watch as the season unfolds.

[LazyTitanSmash]

Player by Player
Jonathan Isaac is the real deal, he's going to be in the top 10 inscoring a long time, unless hes on a team with to many mouths to feed. Yes and for a few more years

Which bring me to Johnny Davis there just might be to many scores on the Lakers for Davis to keep be a top 5 scorer. Nope.

Phil Smith will be a top 5 scorer for couple of more seasons. He'll be there this year for sure. Yes and for a couple more years

AJ Blaze is probably the real deal. Last years number were comparable and hes only going to get better at lest for a couple of more years. Yes and for a few more years

Jaden Akins isn't it. He going to fall off. The only reason he's on here is there aren't many other scorers on the bobcats. Nope.

Replacement: Scoot Henderson is going to be top 5 scorer this year. He just fell off the list right before this question, and he's go point guard to feed him the ball.

[AngryBanana]

Let's talk about it.

I hate to say this given the Cavs are the Cavs and are almost always trash, but I think Jonathan Isaac will stay in the top two. He was the leading scorer last season, and has only gotten better in the offseason. The team also has gotten a little weaker with losing Karlo Pearson and replaced with Marotta, which is causing Isaac to have more responsibility to score.

Phil Smith should also be considered a lock for the top three as well. He was the number two scorer the last two seasons under cabbie's watch. I don't see anything changing, as I dont see Cashcab changing his system or players too extremely in the season.

Johnny Davis, before looking at the team, was someone that I considered could be dropping a few spots given how heavy that team is with firepower. However, after further inspection of the Laker's team page, I think this may actually last (unless Roberto decides that he doesn't want it to last). Davis is playing the Lu Dort role of this team, where he could potentially average near a triple double all season, with all of the offense running through him at the PG spot. Equally, the other big players are either playing around their point averages (Hub and Banchero) or they are dropping in volume due to the other players on their team (Safi - which I think may be strategic by Roberto and just a guess given Roberto is able to input his rosters on TV).

I think the first player that cracks the top five, that is not currently listed there, is Sion James. I think that someone in that group of Morelock, Williams, and Baker will ride some time on the pine this season. Looking at their player pages several of those players mentioned had not rode out a full schedule for the past three seasons and Baker and Morelock are both older. If that happens, it may require James to score more to make up the difference. This also may not happen given the Rockets play a slower pace, and if that is the case one of the two Bobcats will for sure stay in the scoring title at that point (my bet is on Van Gundy to sustain his scoring output of the two).

The last player I think jumps up is Antonio Gates. I have two reasons for this. First is because I am being selfish and want him to. The second reason is because I think with the "debut" of DJ this year (he only played 12 mins in game 1 before getting hurt) I think Gates will be provided more opportunities to score. Having a firm facilitator in my starting five will allow all of my players to enhance their scoring potential I hope.

[IamQuailman]

All of these have the asterisk of "BARRING A TRADE" next to them....

I think Jonathan Isaac is a staple of the top 5 for sure. He did the same last year with pretty much the same team. There are not nearly enough players on that roster to command the ball in their hands aside from Vassell. Look for him to be a dominant scorer throughout the season. I'm going to be a contrarian and say Johnny Davis will stay up there in the top 5. He's taking the most attempts per game in the last 8 seasons and playing PG will always have the ball in his hands. He may dip alittle, but not to the extent of falling out of the top 5. Phil Smith will continue as well as he's literally the only guy they really got doing anything (#freephilsmith). Now Blaze & Akins I think have the best chances to fall out, the margin for movement at the moment is razor thin between #4 and #7 on the PPG leaders. As others have said, Sion could easily fly up this list. I also think one 20-40 day injury to Akins or Jeff Van Gundy would catapult the other to elite scoring on the Bobcats. I love Scoot, but I think there are too many young mouths to feed on the Mavericks. Not enough to get him Top 5

[garbageman]

Since a lot of people already examined 1-5, I'm going to examine 6-10.

At #10, Pee Wee Kirkland is sitting under 25 PPG, so he has a ways to climb, and the Spurs have a lot of guys that can score and a guy in Alvarado who can distribute the ball around and get everyone involved. He has way too far to climb and might not even stay in the top 10 once the Grizzlies find out how to most effectively game g/g Raphael Gordon.

RHJ is sitting at #9, and unlike some of the guys on depleted teams that are sitting in the top 5 spots, the Warriors are much more likely to move him for some return, and that would mean RHJ's production could take a hit.

Scoot Henderson was off to a hot start and cooled down a little bit in sim 2. Still, his scoring total could go up. I don't think it'll rise to the top 5, but he has a much better chance than the previous two guys and, in my opinion, the next guy. It all comes down to whether Lazy Titan wants to chase a scoring title or a better record, and I think he goes the latter. He might even cave and un-redshirt Angel Reese.

At #7, we've got Sion James, who a lot of people are talking about. I don't see it. Sion could be the best player in the game, but with Baker, Williams, and Morelock, Sion James has a lot more options on his team than most, if not all of the top 6. Add to that the Rockets tendency to play slow, methodical basketball, and that's a recipe for not getting into the top 5.

Jeff Van Gundy is neck and neck with Jaden Akins on the Bobcats, so this could go either way. They'll probably flip back and forth the whole season, but by the numbers, JVG is a little better of a scorer, and Akins is playing an unsustainable 43 minutes per game and the scoring clip is pretty much the same. I say JVG wins out in the end.

[pennpanther1]

Jonathan Isaac and Phil Smith are locks for the Top 5 because they are so dominant in their teams' lineups but I am going to predict the rest of the top 5 fall out. I think the Lakers are too well-rounded for Davis to keep it up at this torrid pace so he will fall out. I like the idea of Sion James moving up because Alphonse Morelock continues to draw a lot of defensive attention in Houston. I think Ron Harper Jr. will also sneak up the charts as the Warriors continue to showcase his talent to make him more attractive on the trade block. My last pick for the top 5 is Pee Wee Kirkland from the Spurs. They are still adjusting to the new lineup without Ingram but Pee Wee is about to take over.

[Jedihero]

I don't know much about this game yet, so I will just do some top level analysis.

My votes would be Davis, Smith, Akins all stay in the top 5, solely based that they are also in the top 25 of minutes played. It's not the only reason they are scoring so many PPG, but it definitely helps that staying on the court longer, gives you the opportunity to get more points. #analysis

Jonathan Isaac is apparently just a beast and had over 30 PPG last year playing all 82 games. How is this guy not purple yet?

As far as who can jump up, I'm going to go with Pee Wee Kirkland. He is top3 in minutes, and #14 on 3pt %. Let the man shoot and he can climb up.

That is enough bullshitting. plz give me a point.

[Black Superman]

I think all 5 have a really good chance to stay in the top 5. Obviously Akins has his own teammate JVG on his tail followed by Sion. Akins is 5th on this list so it's easy to target him as someone that may slip and having a teammate that you're sharing so much of a load; that the teammate is 6th is also a fair argument. But akins is leading the league in minutes and the cats differential is 2. Akins will continue to see heavy minutes and I think he can finish top 5. I'll target Johnny instead who's playing a career high in minutes thus far, as well as taking a career high in shots. On that team will it last all season? The Lakers have been vocal about wanting another player, how much will that take away from Johnny's attempts? Isaac has to score or the cavs would be no where. And if Isaac were to get a PG he might score even more! AJ blaze is the classic good player bad team, he should continue to produce high scoring outputs. If Johnny does fall out, I like scoot to replace him.

[Xist2Inspire]

Like GMan, I'm not particularly sold on any from 6-10 jumping up on their own merits, so I'll speculate on who's likely to fall and open up a spot for him:

-Jonathan Isaac has zero chance to fall out of the top 5. Aside from Vassel, he IS the Cavs, and Chief K's decline has left him to shoulder most of the offensive load down low. Highly unlikely.

-While it looks like Johnny Davis will eventually fall due to the sheer talent on the Lakers, I think there's a good chance that his explosion could be by design. For years now, the Lakers' star-studded rosters have been plagued by a severe case of "too many cooks in the kitchen," which led to playoff upsets from teams who had much clearer defined roles for their players. As of now, it seems like Davis is the alpha, and everyone else is filling in at elite levels. This is different from past LA rosters, and thus might actually have a better chance of getting Mamba what he wants. I don't think he'll mess with this, given that he's tried just about everything else. Unlikely.

-If Phil Smith gets traded, he'll probably fall. Despite the fact that he's a proven top scorer, the Hawks have been overly reliant on him and Amos for all of their scoring the last couple of years, which mean that if he gets traded to a better, more balanced team, he won't have to score as much. 25 ppg would be more than fine. That's if he can find a new home though. If he doesn't - which I wouldn't be surprised to see given his contract - expect him to stay right in the top 5. Debatable.

-AJ Blaze is like Smith, in that he won't fall out of the top 5 as long as he stays on his current team. Unlike Smith, there's absolutely no chance that he gets traded. The Blazers are hard-locked into their core, and they're too young to give up on just yet. I can't see LogP moving away from such a promising duo year 1, and I can't see any move that makes Blaze less of a necessity on offense. Highly unlikely.

-Jaden Akins is unique, in that his own teammate is the one most likely to take his spot! In all honesty, Akins is by far the most likely to fall out, and I wouldn't put money on JVG to replace him either. The Bobcats are a talented but unbalanced team, and any move Dr. K makes to remedy that will undoubtedly ease the load on Akins/JVG. Funkhouser is already too good of a PG to spam 2 players if there's other options, so the fact that we're getting Akins/JVG spam is proof that there really isn't. I do see Dr. K making at least one move to beef up what has turned out to be an underwhelming frontcourt, and that will be what knocks Akins (and JVG) down a peg. Highly likely.

[Eazy P]

Jonathan Isaac will stay in the top 5 unless the cavs decided to reduce his minutes significantly. I just don't see a scenario where he's not top 5. I think the real battle will be between teammates Jaden Atkins, Van Gundy and Blaze. I think the bobcat teammates will over take the 4 and 5 spot. They are probably trying to surpass each other for locker room bragging rights. Should be a fun battle.

[greepleairport]

+1 to @Eazy P , @Xist2Inspire , @Black Superman , @Jedihero , @pennpanther1 , @garbageman , @IamQuailman , @AngryBanana , @LazyTitanSmash , @@K-100 , @jlmarines , @MexicanMamba