#why do i the tim hater have to defend him from his fans?!

[nenehyuuchiha]

Hate when people act like Tim is a skinny defenseless poor little meow meow with glass bones and paper skin.

Tim Drake. Red robin.

This mf here 👇🏻

[thattimdrakeguy]

I find it odd that people are just willing to attack people over a preference of character. Like, Tim fans that say anything about Damian, positive or otherwise, get rants about how they don’t understand his character, and how Tim is the worst, etc etc etc. People who literally just transcribe what he did in the comics are not immune either. How can any fan be so deluded to callously attack people for not loving a character unconditionally?

I got this ask like, yesterday and completely forgot to answer it cause when I saw it I went to go watch Jurassic Park and just absolutely forgot to respond when I came back. But I’m really sorry about that. I don’t know if that’s a rude thing to do, but I feel rude for it. I feel bad.

But like, when it comes to stuff like this, I’ve had absolutely awful experiences. But I got rambly, because I am so tired right now. So I put it below that thingie, cause it went on a while.

Trigger warnings for like, talks of pedophiles and such. Which makes my stomach curl having to type that, but here we are.

I’ve noted stuff Damian did in series they like, because they always act like they’re some gold standards when Damian’s still doing horrible stuff in them, and they’ll act like I’m hating on Damian. When acknowledging that he did stuff that makes the whole anti-hero thing make more sense, is not hating on him. I just accept him for who he is, without having to freaking woobify or change him so I don’t have a bad conscious about enjoying him.

I literally just look at it like that with the viewpoint of “In context, and looking at what he still does, this is not out of character. They just aren’t ignoring it, or not treating it like how they probably shouldn’t”. That is it.

And yet for that, I got called jaded, racist, a child-hater. Literally had someone give a verbal request for people to to “repress me” which is essentially asking for me to be group bullied. An account was made just to harass me (maybe two actually). And for a part of the post where I acknowledged that looking at a panel where Damian was naked made me viscerally uncomfortable. I got called at first, childish, and then someone made a joke about me being a pedophile.

When the reason why I was uncomfortable, was because I have fucking PTSD over a pedophile attempting to groom me, and they had naked pictures of Damian. Like fucking excuse me for having trauma and a bad life experience.

Like they went to that level, just because I acknowledged more about their favorite than they would. They are that deeply ashamed of him.

But all it proves to me, is that chunks of his fandom encourage being an absolute terrible person. They defended each other. They seeked and got reassurance from each other. A dude named DamiFucker jumped in, and I didn’t see them shut down the actual fucking pedophile. They didn’t give a shit. Because it isn’t about reality. It was just about trying to make me look bad.

Which by the way. Having every bad thing said about me, be not true, is oddly kind of a confidence maker, because they couldn’t find a valid thing to complain about me for. They had to exaggerate or just lie about it like they do everything because they can’t just calm down.

All for acknowledging something Damian legitimately did, in a recent comic, that they act like he’s just some innocent kid in.

Someone told one of them to kill themselves, and they acted like I DID IT. They done fucking thought they were getting close to revealing personal information about me, by revealing I’m some Scottish high school teenage girl or some shit. And I am genuinely sorry that it ever happened to them, but I am not at the control of other people, and had already told people not to do that before a lot of them even brought it to my attention.

When also, about the Scottish thing, I don’t even use the proper spelling of someone from the U.K. They just wanted to get me that deeply so bad they didn’t realize.

Of course after that they blamed it for me anyway, even though I am not responsible for other people’s actions. I didn’t even tell anyone to do it.

Instead of taking responsibility for their own heinous actions, they instead try to just make me seem as bad as possible. Like I am not a fictional character which makes it ridiculous, because I can defend myself, and I have far more legitimate respect from others as well for being a genuinely good human, and intelligent at that.

And this isn’t even the first time I’ve gotten shit for stuff like this.

There was a person who harassed me for months till I finally blocked him, just because, I said that Damian was actually really tall originally, and they just changed it just to do some cheap jokes. And I thought that was ridiculous just to make a character out of character just for something like that.

Some of them take little things like that so seriously, because they have this specific view of him, that if disrupted. They can lose it.

I’ve gotten told to kill myself many many times over shit like this.

I literally say what happened in a comic, or my basic opinion. My most negative stuff is about how terribly his stories are written a lot of the time. Something I do with my own favorite.

And they give it attempts to run my fucking life, for real, over it.

Like the Tim fandom are not saints. No fandom is, but they are not freaking worse than any other fandom. The idea that the Tim fandom is the worse is ridiculous and is just said because they’re so far up their own ass in ignorance that they won’t acknowledge their own actions.

They have to make stuff up in attempts to make them look bad. If you have to make stuff up, or exaggerate stuff, or highlight stuff that the other fandoms literally do all the time. You should just fucking acknowledge that it is not the worse.

Even just for Tim himself they always have to make stuff up, or exaggerate stuff to make him look worse than what he is.

If you have to do that for anything, a real person or not, you don’t truly hate it nearly as much as you think. You’re just a bitter angry person, looking for something to hate.

This stuff was months ago for me. It is not something I’ve thought about every day since like, the few weeks after it happened.

But I’m just acknowledging this because they can be so utterly reprehensible and yet they still have the victim complex. And this ask reminded me of it.

Obviously, it isn’t like the whole fandom. Like do I think literally everyone who likes Damian is a shithead? Obviously not, ya know. It’s just that unfortunately that fandom has some real toxic attitudes. There are good people there, that are probably just as confused by it themselves. They can excuse actual pedophilia as long as they’re attacking the same actual living human, but they draw the line at openly acknowledging something their favorite character actually did in a comic that they themselves like.

They even admitted they didn’t read the fucking thing.

Basically, just get out of town acting like the Tim Drake fandom is the worst fandom. I’m in the tag everyday, and the worst I see is some people being too obsessive, and JayTim. And I think JayTim is like, disgusting, but if someone’s here reading it like “Oh, but I ship it”. I’ll also say that I don’t care if you ship it, because fandoms are freaking weird and I accept that. As long as you’re not a gross person in real life, I ultimately don’t care anymore. I don’t get it, but what ever. As long as it’s not pedophilia, in which case, I’m genuinely going to judge you. But even then JayTim is more of a Jason fan thing as far as who their main fav is.

Basically, if transcribing character actions gets a downright horrid response that involves attacks and worse, then the people attacking should probably get a new favorite character, because they obviously can’t freaking stand them.

I didn’t even say it in a negative context either. Just: “This new story makes more sense than you think, because if you look here, and--”.

I got really ranty. I just woke up and this ask gave me weird memories from a while back that I needed to ramble about cause it’s still hard to process.

[lamptracker]

Headcanon: Tom dating an older woman

So this what I think happens when Tom dates an older woman: 

- From the moment Tom saw (y/n), he was smitten

- She worked in Wardrobe and occasionally helped fit him

- When she did, they’d flirt incessantly

- One day Tom worked up the courage to ask her out

- Her immediate response: “I’m 27”

- Tom’s jaw hit the floor. No way was this girl 27!

- “No way are you 27!”

- But (y/n) pulled out her drivers’ license; sure enough, the birth year was 1990

- He just shrugged and said: “So? I don’t care about your age, I care about you.”

- (y/n) thought that was super sweet and agreed to go out with him

- Tom admitted to Harrison that he was a little nervous about the age difference

- “She’s got so much more life experience than I do”

- Harrison snorted, called him a div, and then reminded him why he asked her out in the first place

- “Besides, Tom, age is just a number. And whatnot. Whatever, I forgot where I was going with this. Just don’t think about it and have fun”

- So Tom took Harrison’s advice, just didn’t think about it, and had fun

- They went on four dates before he kissed her

- (Sure he was younger, but of the guys she’d kissed Tom was the best)

- The sex was amazing

- Since she’d had a little more experience she knew what she liked and what she didn’t

- And she was very vocal about it

- Tom loved her confidence in the bedroom and her sense of humor outside of it

- But every now and then the age difference bothered her

- (Like when she visited her mom)

- “My mom says I’m a cradle robber”

- “Your mom also thought my name was Tim for three weeks, and once she called me Jeff for some reason?”

- (Y/n) had to laugh at that - “Yeah, she rarely knows what she’s talking about”

- To be honest, most of the time Tom forgot there was even an age difference at all

- He was just so taken by her

- She got along really well with his brothers and his parents loved her

- The first time he told her he loved her was when she was talking about going to her first concert (N’Sync when she was 9)

- “So there we were, in the third row, and I swear to you Justin Timberlake looked right at me”

- “Dear God, I love you”

- “You...what?”

- “You heard me.”

- “Okay, well, I love you too.”

- (y/n) stopped worrying about the age difference the same day Tom posted a picture of the two of them on Instagram

- It was a picture of them in the park, walking hand-in-hand with Tessa running ahead of them; the caption quoted Ed Sheeran’s “Galway Girl”

- “She fell in love with an English man/Kissed her on the neck and then I took her by the hand/she said ‘Baby I just want to dance’”

- (photo credit @harryholland64, of course)

- Most of the comments were supportive

- There were a few haters, though

- “Wow she’s so much older, she should date someone her own age, cradle robbing bitch”

- And that was the mildest

- She was so upset by the hate that Tom made a post on Twitter

- (And took a screenshot and put it on Instagram)

- “I love my beautiful (y/n) to the moon and back. If you’re a true fan, you’ll support her. Because if you don’t support her, you don’t support me. I love her for who she is, now how old she is. Now please, leave her be”

- One or two nasty comments still leaked through after that, but for the most part they did stop

- (Y/n) was so genuinely touched by what Tom had done for her

- “Well, you’re my girl, I had to defend you”

- “You’re a regular knight in shining armor, Tom, and I love you so much”

- “I love you too, darling”

[joeygoespolitical]

What If The Cure For The Current Political Climate... Is More Political Debates?

There is no doubt that the current political climate is toxic. The 2016 election cycle was nasty, vicious, and downright ugly. Worst of all, it made Americans more cynical, fearful, and hostile with one another. We are almost nine months since Donald Trump's victory shocked the world and our country is still as divided.

Many have thought that such a climate led to the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-SC), who was just released from the hospital last week. For a solid 48 hours, the country came together, Democrats and Republicans alike, and called for unity and to tone down the rhetoric that has fueled everyone's emotions. Sadly, such unity did not last very long.

Scalise was literally fighting for his life and those in Congress, the White House, and in the media didn't change one bit. Even if he died, I doubt it would have led to meaningful change our country desperately needs from the people we all look up and listen to.

So if the assassination attempt of GOP lawmakers couldn't cool down the political climate, what can?

We'll get to that later.

Last weekend, the annual Politicon took place in Pasadena, California. If you aren't familiar, Politicon a giant convention for everything politics. There were countless panels made up of countless pundits and politicians on both sides of the aisle to discuss anything and everything related to politics, from the election, the media, to the current Trump presidency.

Arguably the most anticipated events at Politicon are the debates. Two of them this year include a policy debate between The Daily Wire's editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro and The Young Turk's founder/host Cenk Uygur and an interview-style discussion between Chelsea Handler and Tomi Lahren.

In terms of the political spectrum, you can't go more opposite. Shapiro is one of the strongest conservative voices in the modern era while Uygur is the face of progressive political media. Handler has become one of the more outspoken liberal comedians in Hollywood while Lahren emerged as one of the more outspoken conservative millennials on the internet.

What was amazing about these two debates in particular was how the participants handled themselves. There were plenty of heated moments between Shapiro and Uygur, but they never shouted each other down nor attacked either other personally. And when the audience was giving Lahren a hard time, Handler actually defended her and shamed the hecklers. In other words, despite the ideological differences between them, there was common respect, something that's truly lacking in today's society.

It's uncertain as to whether everyone in those audiences attended these events was rooting for one side or the other. We don't know if everyone was a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative, or a Trump supporter or a Trump hater. Perhaps there are somewhere in the spectrum and were attending such debates to make up their own minds. Whatever the case may be, these debates are the epitome of civil discourse.

But in the era of Trump, civil discourse still might not be enough.

When you Google "civil discourse," the definition reads "the engagement in conversation intended to enhance understanding." It's always good to have a better understanding of people you don't associate with. To this day, the people who despise Trump can't comprehend the people who voted for him. Some will even dismiss them all as a "basket of deplorables." So it's one thing to put yourself in someone else's shoes, it's another thing to prove who's right and who's wrong, which is why me need more political debates in this country.

The reason why there's so much chaos today is because people are focusing on their own emotions and not the facts. People allow their love or their hatred for Trump to determine how his presidency is doing. To those who love him, President Trump has been fantastic. To those who hate him, he has been a disaster. In reality, the truth is in between even though the partisans will say otherwise.

Last February, CNN hosted a televised debate between Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on health care in America. I'm no fan of CNN, but I thought it was brilliant of the network. Here you have two sitting Senators who couldn't be further apart on policy discussing their views on health care for an hour or so. Just imagine if CNN did a weekly debate with other elected officials on other topics:

Paul Ryan vs Nancy Pelosi - Tax Reform

Mitch McConnell vs Chuck Schumer - The Debt

Marco Rubio vs Kamala Harris - Immigration

Lindsey Graham vs Dick Durbin - National Security

Joni Ernst vs Tammy Duckworth - Veterans Affairs

Rand Paul vs Elizabeth Warren - The Economy

Tim Scott vs Cory Booker - Race Relations in America

Mike Lee vs Dianne Feinstein - The Role of Our Justice System

Trey Gowdy vs Adam Schiff - The Powers of the Legislative vs Executive Branches

Not only would these make great television, these senators and representatives can sway public opinion and even boost their own profiles, especially if they eventually want to seek the highest office in the land. I personally cannot believe CNN has gone this long without any sort of followup to their Cruz/Sanders debate.

Someone else who also deserves praising is Bill Maher. He is as liberal as they come, but he doesn't shy away from those across the aisle. His show Real Time on HBO is at its best whenever he sits down with people like Roger Stone, Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, Matt Schlapp, Jeffrey Lord, Kellyanne Conway, and Breitbart's Alex Marlow. In the age of Trump, he has arguably become one of the greatest interviewers on television today.

Our country is suffering because there are those who refuse to open their minds and allow those with differing opinions to speak. This now often occurs on college campuses, particularly when conservative speakers (including Shapiro) are not only met with protests, they're met with violence.You don't win discussions by ending them and retreating to your safe space. You win discussions by using facts to prove your opponents wrong.

If we stopped only embracing those who think like us and embrace those who think differently, we can eliminate the partisan tribalism that has been festering on both sides. So be brave. If you voted for Trump, find someone who didn't. If you hate Trump, find someone who loves him. Have a drink and a robust debate and make sure you don't leave respect at home.

In the end, something we often forget is that there is so much more that unites us than divides us. If you don't agree, then let's debate.

[junker-town]

2021 NBA player rankings, Nos. 90-81: Will players like DeAndre Jordan be valuable in 4 years?

We argue about the Clippers’ center’s place in the game in four years, plus gamble on some young players for not the first time.

This was the point in our countdown of the 101 best players in the NBA in four years where strategies began to diverge. Some of us chose established players today that we think will age decently. Others swung for the fences with rookies and other younger players.

The end result was a lively section of the countdown, concluding with a fascinating discussion at No. 81.

90. Dario Saric

We don’t really know what will happen in four minutes, let alone four years. But we can make educated guesses — and totally outlandish ones.

I’d like to think that it’s a safe bet to forecast a 23-year-old, 6’10 forward who averaged 13 points, six rebounds, and two assists per game en route to All-Rookie first-team honors as one of the league’s top 100 players in four years.

— Chris Greenberg

Our reactions

TIM CATO: I bet in 2021, Saric is better than at least one of the Sixers we picked ahead of him. There’s too much of a boom-or-bust with Simmons and Embiid for that not to be true.

I don’t even know if I actually believe that, but making grandiose predictions like that is what this exercise is designed for, so let’s do it.

TOM ZILLER: If I start calling Saric the Croatian Gallinari, will Sixersland get mad again? Or is that a compliment?

89. Dennis Schroder

If Dennis Schroder isn’t the safest pick at No. 89 in this draft, he did something wrong.

— Kristian Winfield

Our reactions

JEFF SIEGEL, PEACHTREE HOOPS: Already one of the top 101 players in the game, has Schroder topped out as a low-tier starting point guard, or will he make another leap? Better shooting and creating for others would go a long way to pushing him up the list.

TIM CATO: He’s fine. This pick is fine. I like his hair.

MATT ELLENTUCK: Aggressively fine, still probably picked too late in this draft. Anyway, yeah, great hair.

TOM ZILLER: Barring a trade, he’s going to spend at least the next few years on an atrocious team that no one outside of Atlanta watches in the best of times. Are we going to remember Dennis Schroder’s name in four years?

CHRIS GREENBERG: Provided he gets heated with a more famous opponent during the Hawks’ unremarkable playoff appearances, we will certainly remember his name. For about three weeks every April.

88. Hassan Whiteside

Whiteside will be 32 in 2021 but the Miami sunshine is going to preserve him a little longer. Plus, he didn’t really start the NBA grind until 2015, so he’ll have some legs left. I have more confidence that Whiteside, king of NBA Snapchat, will be more relevant in the NBA in 2021 than Snapchat will be.

— Whitney Medworth

Our reactions

MIKE PRADA: Four years is plenty of time to discover that parrot’s true killer.

I suspect Heat fans will be mad about this ranking, but it seems about right to me. Tough to know how much longevity he’ll have.

MATT PINEDA, HOT HOT HOOPS: Whiteside risks getting left behind by centers that can shoot and even guard the perimeter. Luckily for him, he already got his payday.

TOM ZILLER: I am disappointed in myself that I didn’t pick Whiteside in the top 25.

TIM CATO: Remember when he was reportedly favoring the Mavericks in free agency last summer? El em ay oh.

MIKE PRADA: Did you really just spell that out?

87. Donovan Mitchell

As frequently and liberally as we picked from these 2017 rookies (FORESHADOWING!), I’m surprised Mitchell didn’t get snapped up earlier than this. He was a steals machine in Louisville who thrived shooting tons of threes and has a bit of an inside game, too. He’s a more athletic Damian Lillard if he hits his peak, albeit maybe without quite the same scoring knack. He showed all those skills off in summer league, and it really looks like Utah has their point guard of the future here.

-Tim Cato

Our reactions

TOM ZILLER: Yeah, why wouldn’t you be surprised that a fringe lottery pick who will be coming off his rookie deal in four years and hasn’t played a single minute in the NBA went behind a few dozen All-NBA and All-Star performers in their primes in an every-player draft? A real shocker.

(Yes, I’m salty about how many 2017 draft picks went in this exercise. As Cato says: FORESHADOWING.)

TIM CATO: FINE, BE A HATER. Riding or dying with Mitchell myself.

MYCHAL LOWMAN, SLC DUNK: This ranking is too low. Mitchell will have turned into one of the league's top 30 players by 2021, jumping the depth chart and taking over Rodney Hood's starting spot in his rookie year.

MATT ELLENTUCK: Will he be a point guard, though? Or will he stay on the wing? Finding his position will take some time, though there’s a lot to like about a long-wingspanny defender.

86. Julius Randle

Julius Randle has the physical tools to be a nightmare on both sides of the court. It will come down to how much he can improve his game over these crucial years.

The good news is that he’s only 22. I’ve been going off optimism this whole draft and I’m not stopping here. I think the ceiling is the roof and that we haven’t seen the best of Randle just yet.

-Kofie Yeboah

Our reactions

DREW GARRISON, SILVER SCREEN AND ROLL: Randle being this low is disappointing. It reflects a clear lack of confidence in his ability to progress to much beyond what he is today.

ZITO MADU: I just really hope he stops running head-first into defenders as a way to create separation. I understand playing bully basketball, but he needs to add some finesse.

TIM CATO: But I thought Randle was already the 17th-best player in the NBA? (Sorry, Prada, you get to make fun of my picks in 2021.)

MIKE PRADA: Ahem, 14th. Get it right.

I remain skeptical of power forwards that lack shooting range and can’t protect the rim. It’s just too hard to create the right kind of lineup to mask both of those flaws, and Randle isn’t nearly good enough to earn the privilege of a team reconstructing itself around him. I want him to be good because he’s fun to watch, but I don’t see it.

TOM ZILLER: Oh now Prada is skeptical of Young Carl Landry!

MATT ELLENTUCK: I want Randle to grow like two inches and suddenly protect the rim. I just don’t see it happening. Maybe he’ll be a top-100 2K player, though.

85. Harrison Barnes

Barnes was actually quite solid in Dallas last year and should play even more at power forward (his best position) with Dirk Nowitzki retiring someday. A No. 85 ranking puts you at essentially 17th-team All-NBA level, which seems about right for him for the next few years.

-Mike Prada

Our reactions

TOM ZILLER: Readers will not believe some of the names that went higher than Harrison Barnes.

TIM CATO: I should have drafted him a while ago. This is way too low for someone who’s a gym rat’s gym rat, enough that Dirk has said how impressed he is by it. He’ll maybe never shoot enough free throws or threes to be a top-50 player, but he’s only 25 and he certainly still has room to grow.

MATT ELLENTUCK: I feel guilty that Barnes slipped this low. But I just love my next pick too much.

MIKE PRADA: OK let’s settle down a second. Barnes, even at his best last year, was decidedly “fine.” We kinda know that’s who he is at this point. That puts you around this range and maybe a little higher, but not like 30 spots higher.

ZITO MADU: But is he Kevin Durant? No? That’s all that matters.

CHRIS GREENBERG: The real Harrison Barnes will never live up to the possibility of Harrison Barnes.

84. Robert Covington

THIS IS MY FAVORITE PICK IN THIS ENTIRE DRAFT.

How can you not love the Robert Covington story? The man played college ball at Tennessee State, went undrafted, and is a better-than-league-average player in 2017. The Process gave him a chance and he took it and ran.

It’s not that wild to think that in four years, at 30 years old, Covington will have it all figured out. He was seventh in RPM among small forwards last season, and he’ll be playing beside Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz next year.

I believe in RoCo.

-Matt Ellentuck

Our reactions

TIM CATO: This is a good sleeper pick for a really underrated player.

MIKE PRADA: Settle down, Matt. It’s Robert Covington. He’s fine and this is fine.

TOM ZILLER: Odds are he’ll be a starter because of his skills and the Sixers’ need for shooting around Ben Simmons. The downside is that we’ve seen plus two-guards fade away after an injury or a down season before. I will remember you, Kelenna Azubuike and Brandon Rush. It’s the most easily replaceable position. There’s a risk here.

83. Jonathan Isaac

Isaac might never a big scorer, but he’s the type of player who just helps you win games. He can defend anyone, hit a spot-up jump shot, and has the athleticism to get out in transition. The world demands an Aaron Gordon-Isaac front court in Orlando.

-Ricky O’Donnell

Our reactions

MATT ELLENTUCK: I love Isaac as a prospect, and think he should have been in top-three consideration in this year’s draft. He’s a real project, though, and I don’t think four years from now he’ll be this good.

CORY HUTSON, ORLANDO PINSTRIPED POST: This feels about right for an offensively limited, defensively outstanding forward, if that turns out to be his destiny.

TOM ZILLER: This is the second 2017 draftee picked in our draft. Don’t worry, there will be plenty more.

82. Avery Bradley

Avery Bradley will only improve now that he plays for a Detroit team giving him an even bigger role. He’s a solid role player who will be able to give a lot of teams what they need, even several years down the line.

-John Ketchum

Our reactions

LAZARUS JACKSON, DETROIT BAD BOYS: Pistons fans are happy with Avery Bradley, but when 2021 rolls around, they'll wish he'd been showing Donovan Mitchell the ropes for the last four years.

CHRIS GREENBERG: Bradley’s perimeter defense may be less notable on a lesser team (sorry Pistons) than the Celtics, but he also developed into Boston’s low-key best spot-up shooter before being traded. Watch for his offense to get more attention in Detroit.

TOM ZILLER: I’m on board with Avery Bradley for the long term.

81. DeAndre Jordan

Jordan is a 29-year-old All-NBA center. He’s missed eight games in the past seven years. He does certain things very well, and he knows what they are. Some team is going to have to decide to pay him next summer, and I think it’ll be a good investment.

-Tom Ziller

Our reactions

LUCAS HANN, CLIPS NATION: This is a fair (or even high) spot for Jordan, who will be 33 in 2021 and will likely follow a similar athletic decline to Tyson Chandler's.

MIKE PRADA: A safe pick, but will the NBA be a friendly place in 2021 for centers with no range and abhorrent free-throw percentages? If yes, this is too low. If not, it’s possible players like DAJ will go extinct like traditional low-post scorers are today.

TIM CATO: I don’t think rim protection is going anywhere, though.

MIKE PRADA: Is DeAndre even that amazing at that, though? He allowed 50.1 percent shooting at the rim last year, which is good, but well behind the elite players. He was higher two years ago, but closer to his 2016-17 levels the two years before that. I’m not saying he’s a bad rim protector, but that’s where Jordan derives most of his current value. That’s why I am curious to see how he evolves as the league continues to change.

TIM CATO: In regards to his shot blocking, that’s fair. But even the most modern offenses don’t require constant five-out lineups. More centers will shoot threes, but I don’t believe all the best centers will need to as a requirement. Four-out with a big-man roller is still a perfectly acceptable offense that I really don’t think is headed towards extinction.

To steal an Erik Spoelstra term, the vertical spacing that bouncy, lob-finishing big men provide can still be just as important as a dead-eye shooter in the corner.

MIKE PRADA: Yeah, there’s a good chance it still will. Seventy-thirty in his favor, I’d say. Just remember how much the game changed stylistically from 2013 to 2017. We could see another revolution.

INTRO | FULL LIST | TOP 100 OF 2017 | HOW WE DID IN 2013 | SNUBS | 101-91 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1 | THE CASES FOR NO. 1