Sports Illustrated has kicked off its countdown of the Top 100 NBA Players list prior to training camps starting later this month and two Chicago Bulls players cracked their list: Dwyane Wade and Robin Lopez.
It’s no secret that the Chicago Bulls are going to be a bad basketball team during the 2017-18 NBA season, but according to Sports Illustrated, the Bulls still possess (at least) two players in their Top 100 Players list.
Both Dwyane Wade (No. 74) and Robin Lopez (No. 85) made the list in SI’s first release of the rankings from No. 100-51. Wade, who hasn’t been bought out by the Bulls and there have been no real talks about Wade seeking a buyout for the Bulls, averaged 18.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in 60 appearances last year.
Lopez, who was acquired last summer in the trade that sent Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks, averaged 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest in 81 games last season. He wasn’t spectacular on either end of the floor for the Bulls, but he provided some stability in the middle for Chicago in the middle last year.
Here’s what Sports Illustrated‘s Rob Mahoney had to say about Lopez being ranked at No. 85:
"The function of a center—even in the age of stretchy, playmaking bigs—remains firmly rooted in defense. This is where Lopez delivers; on every possession he guarantees skillful coverage on the back line, employed through a legit seven-foot frame. It takes a fair bit of dancing and maneuvering on the part of a ball-handler just to get a shot up and over Lopez. Mobility isn’t the only way to cover in space. A colossus like Lopez (10.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.4 BPG) can exercise a lot of influence on the game through reach alone. Lopez knows this, and does well to keep his feet when challenged. By letting his positioning do the work, Lopez ended up challenging more shots than any player in the league last season and blocking a similar percentage of opponents’ shots to DeAndre Jordan. Smart, restrained movement from a player who understands his limitations can do wonders. Lopez obviously isn’t the right fit for teams who want mold-breaking dynamism out of their centers; an 18-foot set shot is about as ambitious as Lopez gets. Having him around, however, allows for the creators on the team to do what they do best while buttressing the rest of the team’s operations."
And, here’s SI’s Ben Golliver on Dwyane Wade coming at No. 74 in this year’s list:
"The Flash hasn’t completely extinguished, but he’s getting deeper and deeper into the fizzle. Wade (18.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.8 APG) wasn’t nearly as effective as his box score stats suggest during his first season in Chicago, ranking well outside the top 100 in both Win Shares and Real Plus-Minus while missing out on the All-Star Game for the first time since 2004. Even with the benefit of playing alongside an A-lister in Jimmy Butler, the future Hall of Famer posted career-lows in FG% and True Shooting Percentage, and he saw his Player Efficiency Rating drop for the fifth straight season. Far too often, Wade’s approach to transition defense recalled post-Achilles Kobe Bryant, and he made waves in the media when his frustration with his younger, less talented teammates spilled over.These are virtually inevitable trends for a former scoring champ who never mastered the three-point shot and who turned 35 in January. Given that Wade makes no sense for the tanking Bulls, this summer appears to represent a crossroads. The three-time champ still has enough scoring chops and savviness to help a winning team, but he’s best suited to a narrower role that will protect his body and channel his energy. As Chicago eventually progresses towards a buyout of his $23.8 million contract, it will be fascinating to see whether Wade is mentally prepared to transition to life as a super-sub after a long and decorated career on center stage."
You can check out the entire list from 100-51 at this point here over at Sports Illustrated.
Next: Bulls release full television schedule for 2017-18 season
Tuesday will bring Nos. 50-31 in SI’s Top 100 NBA Players list. There’s a good chance you probably won’t see Cristiano Felicio until the day that the top 10 players are released, but that has yet to be confirmed officially.