ESPN's David Thorpe released his ranking of the top 20 NBA players in the their sophomore season. Since the Sixers had the second overall pick in that draft, the ranking is notable. His number one is Blake Griffin, who is kind of a sophomore and kind of not. He was injured prior to his rookie season and didn't play until last year. The consensus has been to just count him among the class of 2010-2011 and so he's a fairly obvious choice at #1.
↵He has the Sixers' own Evan Turner ranked at #6.
↵↵↵If the NBA handed out its Most Improved Player award now, Turner would be a finalist. He has been much closer this season to what Philly expected of him in his rookie campaign; he is doing lots of little things to help his team win.
↵Can he score 20-plus points in a game? Yes. Can he grab 10-plus rebounds in a game? Yes. Can he control the ball for long stretches and help run the team as an off guard? Yes.
↵He has also shown much better shot selection this season and is now one of the two biggest bench producers for perhaps the league's best second unit. His herky-jerky style of a dribble attack is roasting defenders, and he's making more rim shots this season than he attempted last season.
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The top five were Griffin, Greg Monroe, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins & Tiago Splitter.
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