National Basketball Association

Washington Wizards' John Wall Ranked Among Top 20 Players In NBA By Sports Illustrated

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Washington Wizards point guard, John Wall, hasn’t necessarily gotten the credit he deserves, but he’s still a top-20 player, according to Sports Illustrated.

It’s impossible to win an NBA championship without an elite player. That part, at least, seems obvious. But, do the Washington Wizards have that player on their roster?

According to Sports Illustrated, they do.

SI, our mother network, recently ranked the top 100 players in the league.

Last year, John Wall came in as the 13th best player in the NBA.

This off-season, the Wizards’ point guard has slipped four spots, coming in as the 17th best.

Rob Mahoney broke down Wall’s game for the piece:

As CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Keely Diven noted, Wall was ranked ahead of Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard and Mike Conley. He was, however, ranked lower than Kyle Lowry, who led the Toronto Raptors to their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals this past season.

Here’s a list of some other notable players that Wall was ranked ahead of:

Individual rankings are based around statistics, but there’s no doubt that team success influences the way players are placed in the rankings.

If the Washington Wizards had made it to the Conference Finals, Lowry wouldn’t have been ranked ahead of Wall.

This ranking by Sports Illustrated seems fair, but there’s no reason why Wall can’t crack the top-10 list this upcoming season.

The former first overall pick has all the tools to become an MVP contender at this level. Because of instability and injuries, Wall hasn’t lived up to his full potential, which is almost scary to think. With his knee issues behind him and a new coach in Scott Brooks, the recipe for a remarkable season is there for Wall.

Wall has never been complacent, so this ranking – while reasonable – will likely just serve as more motivation before the beginning of the season.

As long as the team performs well and Wall continues to do what he’s been doing in his career, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes one of the league’s truly elite players.

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