ESPN NBA Rank: Manu Ginobili slides in at No. 25

By Quixem Ramirez
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Nov 17, 2010; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (20) rolls the ball behind his back to get between Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) and center Joakim Noah (13) during the fourth quarter at the AT

ESPN has officially embarked on their quest to rank the top 500 NBA players for the upcoming season. As each Spur is listed, I will provide a synopsis and a brief take on why they deserve (or don’t) this ranking.

Manu Ginobili missed 32 games with a broken finger last season. His injury did not sap his effectiveness as Ginobili posted career highs in assist percentage, true shooting percentage and PER.

While he only amassed half a season of action (which was already shortened), he produced $6.55 million of value. It was an encouraging season for the 35-year-old guard, albeit statistically unreliable, and Ginobili should continue to be one of the elite shooting guards in the league.

In response to his age and perhaps his shortened season, ESPN NBA Rank placed Ginobili at 25, a drop of eight spots from last year.

My take. You can make a case that he is better than Marc Gasol and it would be a valid one. Tyson Chandler and Kevin Garnett are absolute defensive forces and alter the complexion of their respective teams. Kyrie Irving is only 22 but he finished among the top 20 in Player Efficiency Rating (PER). That is no small feat. Really, I don’t have a huge issue with this ranking.

Other Spurs already ranked: Tim Duncan (27) | Kawhi Leonard (95) | Tiago Splitter (149) | Stephen Jackson (151) | DeJuan Blair (155) | Danny Green (160) | Boris Diaw (162) | Gary Neal (171) | Matt Bonner (198) | Patty Mills (309) | James Anderson (424) | Cory Joseph (458) | Derrick Byars (488)

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