NBA Finals 2019: Ranking The 10 Best Players On The Golden State Warriors, Toronto Raptors

The Golden State Warriors have won the Western Conference for the fifth straight year, but this marks the first time during their run that they won’t be facing the Cleveland Cavaliers. The defending champions don’t have to worry about stopping LeBron James, though another superstar is looking to pull off a historic upset.

The Toronto Raptors are heavy underdogs against the Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals. It isn’t for a lack of having the best player in the series.

At least two of the NBA’s five best players will compete in the finals. If Kevin Durant is healthy enough to suit up, three of the league’s top superstars will play on the NBA’s greatest stage.

How do the Warriors’ stars compare to the Raptors’ top players? Let’s rank the 10 best players in the NBA Finals.

1) Kawhi Leonard

Leonard has been an NBA Finals MVP and finished second in the regular-season MVP voting, but he is now playing the best basketball of his career. He’s easily been the top star of the playoffs with averages of 31.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 50.7 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from three-point range. Leonard basically beat the Philadelphia 76ers single-handedly in the second round, and his defense on Giannis Antetokounmpo changed the Eastern Conference Finals. If the Raptors upset the Warriors, it’ll be because Leonard was the best player in the series, which has been the case for three straight rounds.

2) Kevin Durant

Durant might have been No.1 if Golden State and Toronto had met a few weeks ago. He can’t be ahead of Leonard at the moment because of his injury and the way the Raptors’ star is playing. The calf injury that Durant suffered on May 8 will force him to miss Game 1, and it would be a surprise to see him before Game 3. Maybe Durant won’t return at all, given the seriousness of his injury and the Warriors’ success without him. Golden State might ultimately need Durant if Toronto’s defense continues to excel. The reigning NBA Finals MVP made sure the Warriors weren’t challenged in each of the last two years. He was this postseason’s most unstoppable player through 11 games with 34.2 points per game on 51.3 percent field-goal shooting and 41.6 percent three-point shooting.

3) Stephen Curry

It’s no knock on Curry to put him third on this list. He’s actually given the best chance, by far, to have the most impact of any player as the odds-on favorite to win the 2019 NBA Finals MVP award. The point guard has been on a historic pace since Durant went down, scoring at least 33 points in five straight games. Curry might be the league’s most destructive force on offense when Durant isn’t in the lineup. He shot 42.5 percent on 15.3 attempts per game from behind the arc in the Western Conference Finals. There’s really nothing opposing defenses can do when Curry is shooting like that.

4) Draymond Green

When Green noted after last year’s finals that there’s a distinction between “82-game players” and “16-game players,” he could’ve used himself as the perfect example. The three-time champion wasn’t in consideration to be an All-NBA selection for the regular-season, but he’s looked every bit like one of the league’s 15-best players during the playoffs. Green has four triple-doubles this postseason. It hasn’t mattered that he’s not a threat from three-point range because he facilitates open looks for everyone else. The former NBA Defensive Player of the Year has been a monster on defense, making him nearly as valuable as Curry in Durant’s absence.

5) Klay Thompson

It’s easy to forget about Thompson when Durant and Curry are taking turns obliterating opposing defenses. The sharpshooter has averaged at least 20 points in five straight seasons. His scoring average has increased in each series after he put up 21.5 points per game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Thompson’s suffocating defense on Damian Lillard allowed Golden State to sweep the conference finals, and he’ll be asked to try to slow down Leonard at times in the finals.

6) Kyle Lowry

It might be time to stop making jokes about Lowry in the playoffs. The point guard had previously been known to disappear at times during the postseason, but he did no such thing in the biggest series of his career. Lowry was Toronto’s second-best player against the Milwaukee Bucks with averages of 19.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 50.9 percent shooting. He’s thriving now that he never has to be the Raptors’ best player.

7) Pascal Siakam

It’s been an interesting season for Siakam. The 25-year-old has been better than all projections and is the overwhelming favorite to be named the 2019 NBA Most Valuable Player. Doing so probably raised expectations a little too high, and he really wasn’t able to be Toronto’s second option on a consistent basis against good playoff teams. Siakam can make corner threes and find points in the paint. He’s been a big part of the Raptors’ defensive excellence this postseason, and Toronto will need him to step up on that end of the floor against Golden State.

8) Andre Iguodala

Iguodala is another “16-game player” that saves his best for the postseason. After averaging 5.7/3.7/3.2 in 23.2 minutes per game during the regular season, the veteran is up to 10.1/4.3/3.9 while playing 29.4 minutes per game in the playoffs. Iguodala continues to guard the other team’s top scorer for a large portion of each game, and he’s not afraid to take big shots.

9) Marc Gasol

Gasol might be the key for the Raptors to reach their ceiling. The big man was largely invisible for much of the second-round and Toronto’s two losses against Milwaukee. Gasol’s aggressiveness on offense helped turn around the conference finals when he shot seven-of-14 from three and totaled 14 assists in Game 3 and Game 4. He made some key plays down the stretch to help put the Raptors in the finals, and it will be interesting to see how the center performs against the Warriors’ smaller lineup.

10) DeMarcus Cousins

Cousins is questionable for Game 1 after it looked like a first-round quad injury would end his postseason. His impact on the series might be minimal, though any quality minutes that he can deliver off the bench would be welcomed by Golden State. The Warriors can’t exactly bank on Alfonzo McKinnie and Jordan Bell to replicate their production from last round. Cousins had some impressive regular-season numbers, averaging 16.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.3 steals in just 25.7 minutes per game.