In an interesting piece for Bleacher Report, Dan Favale explores which player out of a group that features Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Kristaps Porzingis would make for the best young franchise cornerstone.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2726826-towns-giannis-embiid-or-porzingis-who-ya-got-as-best-under-24-cornerstone?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national The Case for Giannis Antetokounmpo: Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks in all five major stat categories, becoming the fifth player overall to do so, and the first since LeBron James in 2008-09. He also finished inside the top 20 of the league in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. No player, not even James himself, has done that before.
The Case for Joel Embiid: Embiid emerged from his injury-plagued hibernation last season as the unicorn the NBA didn't know it employed. He wasn't just a silhouette of Hakeem Olajuwon in the right light. He could shoot threes. He could switch across multiple assignments on defense. He swallowed shots at the rim. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the only other player to ever tally at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks per 36 minutes. Not rookie. Player, bar none.
The Case for Kristaps Porzingis: No one else from this list combined to defend as many pick-and-roll ball-handler, roll-men, spot-up and isolation possessions per game last year. Porzingis was far from the most prolific stopper in these categories, but spreading himself across so many different play types is a feat unto itself.
The Case for Karl-Anthony Towns: Towns made strides in almost area of the game. He was devastating out of the pick-and-roll. He improved his three-point clip while upping his volume. He graded out as one of the five most efficient higher-usage post-up scorers. His entire defensive approach needs work, but he's a better switcher than advertised and already a convincing glass-crasher and vertical rim protector. Oh, he's also just the second player to tally 2,000 points, 100 blocks and 100 made three-pointers in the same season. His company: Kevin Durant.
Who you got?