For the sixth season in a row, ESPN.com is ranking the top players in the NBA. Who will be the best player this season?
To get the final ranking, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players.
LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant. Damian Lillard vs. Chris Paul.
We asked, "Which player will be better in 2016-17?" To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and the quantity of each player's contributions to his team's ability to win games.
We'll roll out the rest of our top 200 players over the next week. 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.
On to the list ...
39. Derrick Favors
Jazz | PF | @dfavors14
Last year's rank: 48
2016-17 projected RPM: 1.89
Insider profile: Already a six-year NBA veteran at age 25, Favors has established himself as a solid 16-point, eight-rebound per game contributor who has the ability to play both frontcourt spots effectively. Favors still has two years left on his contract, and since he's making just $23 million over that span, he could be a candidate for a renegotiation and extension that would lock him up past the summer of 2018 at a below-max rate. Read more »
#NBArank 31-40