The NBA season is only a week old, and, entering Wednesday, every team has played somewhere between three and five games, so we're not exactly talking about a big sample size here.
But basketball isn't baseball, and we don't need 200 plate appearances to get a better idea of each player's value. A set of eyes and a look at the numbers can be very revealing, even in a short amount of time, and already we are seeing some early-season trends that have drastically changed the rankings since our last update in mid-October.
Moving up
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder: We slid Westbrook down to No. 2 once James Harden received point guard eligibility, but it's difficult to consider Westbrook anything but No. 1 after the numbers he put up in his first week without Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City. Facing lower-tier opponents in his first three games, the Thunder star posted two triple-doubles and missed a third by one assist, averaging 38.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, 11.7 assists and even throwing in 2.7 3s per game. If he's going to put up near triple-double averages while also making 3-pointers this season, he has the edge on not only Harden but on everybody in the league.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans: Davis has never played more than 68 games in a season, which is why we ranked him at No. 9 for much of September before sliding him down to 11 after the news of a preseason ankle injury. His lack of durability makes him a huge risk, and we all know that. Still, as far as pure production goes, he's right there with Westbrook for the top spot and has to be considered almost a 1B to Westbrook's 1A. The Pelicans' star power forward averaged a mind-blowing 37 points, 13 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 3 blocks in his first four games.
Kevin Durant, Golden State Warriors: In some ways, the Warriors already feel like Durant's team, which is weird to even think about, but it shows in his early-season numbers. His scoring (28.5 PPG), rebounding (9 RPG) and shooting percentages (57.4 FG/91.7 FT) are all ahead of last season's pace, as are his steals and blocks, and some metrics have Durant ranked ahead of Westbrook and Davis for No. 1 thus far. We've moved him up from No. 5 to No. 3.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks and Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat: Both of these players were considered low first-rounders or high second-rounders, and if drafts were held again today there's a good chance they'd each go in the middle of the first round. Antetokounmpo's well-rounded game is ahead of even the loftiest of expectations at this point (23.3 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1 SPG, 2 BPG and 0.8 3PG), while Whiteside's combination of scoring (19.8 PPG), rebounding (13.8 RPG), shot-blocking (3 BPG) and efficient shooting (60 percent from the field) makes him one of the game's elite big men.
Gorgui Dieng, Minnesota Timberwolves and Myles Turner, Indiana Pacers: We thought we had Dieng and Turner ranked aggressively in our last update, and guess what -- we were wrong! What's interesting is the difference in hype, as Dieng tends to float under the radar on a young Minnesota team with a number of much higher-profile stars, while Turner entered the season with as much fanfare as any second-year player. What's clear is both should be ranked much higher, and that's why we've moved Dieng and Turner to No. 21 and 22, respectively. Dieng simply does it all (14.3 PPG, 11 RPG, 2 APG, 1.7 SPG, 1.7 BPG while shooting 64.3 FG and 87.5 FT), while Turner makes the most of his 29-30 minutes on the court each night, particularly as a scorer (18 PPG), rebounder (9.3 RPG) and shot-blocker (3 BPG). Aging big man Al Jefferson doesn't appear to be someone who will hinder Turner's upside this season, as we feared might be the case.
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers: Another big man who oozes superstar, Embiid is doing things on the court most 7-footers can only dream of; taking players off the dribble and spotting up from 3-point range. The 76ers are taking it slow with his return to the court after two missed seasons, but his 17.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 2.7 BPG stand to increase when his minutes restriction is lifted. Remember, he's averaged less than 21 minutes a game so far!
Other notable risers:
Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto Raptors
Tim Frazier, New Orleans Pelicans
Kris Dunn, Minnesota Timberwolves
Will Barton, Denver Nuggets
Justise Winslow, Miami Heat
Notable fallers:
Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves
Brandon Knight, Phoenix Suns
Enes Kanter, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers
Jahlil Okafor, Philadelphia 76ers