Who are the NBA's best 16-game players?
That's the term coined by Golden State Warriors All-Star Draymond Green as he aided his team's scouting for last year's NBA draft, referring to the minimum number of playoff games necessary to win a championship. "There are 82-game players, then there are 16-game players," director of player personnel Larry Harris relayed to the media, quoting Green. The former excel during the regular season, while the latter save their best play for the postseason.
It's possible to read too much into the distinction. The variance in players' value during the regular season explains about 75 percent of the variance in their playoff value that same campaign. Still, some players do consistently perform better when the intensity ratchets up in the postseason, and Green is one of them -- as he proved again while helping the Warriors to their fifth consecutive appearance in the NBA Finals.
Besides Green, which current players best fit the "16-game" label? Let's take a look at the results of my statistical analysis.