It's Year 5 for #NBArank!
ESPN is ranking (almost) every NBA player and counting them down on Twitter (@ESPNNBA), from No. 400 to No. 1.
Who will be the best player this season?
To get the final ranking, we asked the panel to vote on pairs of players.
LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. James Harden vs. Kevin Durant. Kobe Bryant vs. Pau Gasol.
We asked, "Which player will be better in 2015-16?" To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and quantity of each player's contributions to his team's ability to win games. More than 100 voters weighed in on nearly 30,000 pairs of players.
We'll roll out the results during the next five weeks. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook.
Today, we're unveiling Nos. 46-50 on our list -- one at a time every hour -- starting at noon ET.
#NBArank: 46-50
46. Dwyane Wade
Miami Heat | SG
@DwyaneWade | Score: 53.6
Last year's rank: 36
2015-16 RPM: -0.83
Insider profile: Wade missed 20 games last season due to injuries, and his field goal shooting plummeted to a seven-year low of 47 percent while his turnovers skyrocketed to 3.4 per game. Wade did bump up his scoring average to 21.5 points per game, but that was due to volume, not efficiency. Read more »
47. Greg Monroe
Milwaukee Bucks | C
@M10OSE | Score: 53.4
Last year's rank: 54
2015-16 RPM: 3.57
Insider profile: Monroe is a skilled post player with a wayward shooting touch from midrange. The hope is that this part of his game will be de-emphasized on a Milwaukee team that had zero post presence last season. Read more »
48. Derrick Favors
Utah Jazz | PF
@dfavors14 | Score: 51.4
Last year's rank: 90
2015-16 RPM: 1.81
Insider profile: Though Favors wasn't quite as effective last season playing with a traditional big man (Rudy Gobert), the advantages on defense outweighed the offensive decline. Favors is just enough of a threat from the perimeter -- he shot 37.7 percent from beyond 10 feet, per Basketball-Reference.com -- to space the floor. Read more »
49. Jabari Parker
Milwaukee Bucks | SF
@JabariParker | Score: 50.9
Last year's rank: 95
2015-16 RPM: -3.12
Insider profile: As expected, Parker showed an above-average ability to create offense right from the start in his rookie season. He was terrific off the dribble which, again, was no surprise. Parker was in better shape than he was during his time at Duke, and that showed in surprising explosiveness. Parker shot 70.7 percent at the rim (94th percentile) and finished with a better-than-average foul-drawing rate, according to NBA.com/stats. Read more »
50. Al Jefferson
Charlotte Hornets | PF
Score: 50.7
Last year's rank: 22
2015-16 RPM: -1.11
Insider profile: Jefferson is a relic from another time, a bear on the left block who can methodically maul defenders with skill and precision. He used 8.6 close touches per game, according to SportVU player-tracking data, the second-highest rate in the NBA behind Dwight Howard. Read more »