CSL Tonite! East: Rising Star, Star, Superstar, Elite

[WillyJakkz]

Hello CSL fans, I'm Cindy Cindy and welcome to the all new CSL Tonite! Please welcome Steve Smith as he discusses the differences between rising star, star, superstar, elite players in the CSL and the teams who have them so without further delay, let's get to it!

Alright Cindy Cindy, here it is... a rising star is usually a younger player who has the talent and potential to become something very special in this League and at times has shown to make an impact on a game, a star player is a guy who'll be loved by his team and is an impact player who affects the game. A superstar is a special talent who can impact the game in every way possible making it easier for their team to be a title contender year in and year out, and an elite player... well they are the guys who are unstoppable and can single-handedly take over any game at any point, regular season, Playoffs, or Finals and will his team to victory... these are the rarest of the rare in the League so let's take a look at them.

Brooklyn
Rising Star: Julius Randle, Bruno Caboclo - 2 young guys who have potential and will be given the chance to do so on a young team
Star: Jrue Holiday, Serge Ibaka - Special talent at the PG spot with superb lockdown defensive skills while the reported Ibaka deal gives them a great help defender and shot blocker that protects the rim at an advanced level

Boston
Rising Star: C.J. McCollum - Potential to be a special player with great shooting ability
Star: Josh Smith, Chris Paul, Brook Lopez - Special superb all-around talent in Josh Smith while Chris Paul has shown to still be capable of running a team at a very high level along with big Brook Lopez who is rumored to have been traded but he's a guy who can score and defend as well
Elite: Al Jefferson - The ultimate low post scoring threat putting up huge numbers on a winning team

New York
Star: Ty Lawson - Special talent at the PG spot who is capable of big games at any time
Superstar: Carmelo Anthony - Superstar scoring talent capable of explosive scoring games at will

Philadelphia
Rising Star: Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams, Adrien Payne - 3 young guys who excel at what they do with a big future ahead of them
Superstar: Jabari Parker - I'm going out on a limb here and calling Jabari a Superstar scorer already at this stage and sky is the limit for the young fella

Toronto
Star: Kemba Walker, Enes Kanter - Little frame, big game from the PG who single-handedly took his team to the Conference Finals along with big bruising bigman Kanter doing the dirty work
Superstar: Kawhi Leonard - Kawhi having Superstar defensive ability while having a nice offensive touch as well



Chicago
Rising Star: Gary Harris - Loads of potential in the 2nd year guy from Michigan State... Go Spartans
Star: Joakim Noah - Still consistent at what he does best, rebounding and defense though numbers are dropping slightly for Jo No
Superstar: Kevin Love - Big time rebounder and scorer who can possibly take the next step
Elite: Derrick Rose - Rose has elite level athleticism and scoring... hasn't shown it the past season but I believe he still has it in him

Cleveland
Superstar: Kyrie Irving - Superstar scoring with ability to become elite this coming season

Detroit
Star: Jeff Teague, Deron Williams - A luxury to have two PG's who are star players and a nightmare to matchup with
Superstar: Andre Drummond - Incredible force defensively who can only get better as he progresses
Elite: Al Horford - Big Al has shown to be elite when put in an offense that gives him the ball to let him dominate

Indiana
Rising Star: Aaron Gordon, Bradley Beal - Gordon has potential to be unique while Beal has one last time to take the next step he was scouted to take
Superstar: LaMarcus Aldridge - Dominating at the PF spot, LMA is capable of leading a team to Playoff success when surrounded with talent

Milwaukee
Star: Jonas Valanciunas, Rudy Gay - Big Valley finding his stride in MIL and starting to flourish while Rudy played excellent as the main threat in MIL prior to Klay Thompson trade
Superstar: Klay Thompson - Huge in LA prior to the Howard trade where he struggled with Dwight but now finding his stroke in MIL



Miami
Star: Chris Bosh, Kyle Lowry - Still a very effective player who could possibly put up bigger numbers in a different role while Lowry is a great drive, score, and dish PG
Elite: LeBron James - Mr. Do-It-All for the Heat has a lot of tread left on those elite tires, still going strong and is in the highest order of the League

Washington
Rising Star: Montrezl Harrell - Big body rebounder and defender starting to standout in his class
Star: Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters - Comes up huge on the offensive glass and a great defender as well, Waiters serves up buckets hot, cold, or however you want 'em
Elite: John Wall - Extraordinary talent leading the Wiz to the Playoffs, he's not only a PG, he's the "Player President"

Charlotte
Rising Star: Clint Capela - Young defensive stalwart in the making
Star: Ricky Rubio, Cody Zeller - Spectacular talent at the lead guard spot, may have the chance to take the next step just as Cody Zeller propelled himself into Star status with a tremendous showing this past season
Superstar: Marc Gasol - Huge bodied big who can impact both sides of the floor

Atlanta
Star: Monta Ellis - As part of the DET deal, this guy is a great scoring guard
Superstar: Greg Monroe - Shown to put up huge numbers in a leading man role

Orlando
Rising Star: Doug McDermott, Frank Kaminsky - Proficient scorer/ shooter in one guy, efficient post play from the other... teach me how to shoot it Dougie
Star: Nicolas Batum - With ORL reportedly moving Batum, this guy is an excellent bridge between the back and front court with all around game
Elite: Paul George - He may be touted as a "Superstar" in the Orlando papers but make no mistake about it, he's easily gone to the next level in a flashy way as the head guy or as I call him, Mr. "Give Him The Ball and Let Him Play"

Great job Smitty... Well, that's all we have time for right now as we'll come back to the Western Conference in the next edition of CSL Tonite!

Hit us up and let us know if you agree or disagree with our list!

Bye for now!

[Jestor]

Nice article, but LOL at McDermott as a rising star. He doesn't score nearly enough to earn that distinction, and never will.

[Dennis]

Very very nice article Willy! I like the rankings, the majority is spot on in my opinion. That's also an article new joiners should use as a guide. Maybe it helps that fewer newjoiners trade their superstars when they see how few "elite players" and "superstars" are in the league.

[NanashiWake]

Great read here, as Dennis mentioned, this is great for anyone wondering what categories these players fall into.

[WillyJakkz]

Nice article, but LOL at McDermott as a rising star. He doesn't score nearly enough to earn that distinction, and never will.

15 as a starter, 12 off the bench here on a PO team. I'd say that qualifies him as rising star.

Probably would put up more on the Lakers, Tavers sure could use a shooter...

And yeah @ Dennis, NanashiWake it could also be used as a tool to gauge current player level while I neglected rookie projections since they've yet to play a game.

[GreenBear]

Great idea for an article, Willy. Very interesting read!

[Beercloud]

I'm gonna agree to anything you say Cindy Cindy. Or may i call you Cindy? groooowl

[Marcos_Beck]

Great list!

Of course we'll difer in some players like I don't view McDermott as Rising Star or missing Waiters listed as a star.. Also Horford, I see him as a superstar, he won't singlehanded win games but he's a superstar in this league for sure, but obviously only my point of view.

Amazing article Willy, one of the best so far!
Keep it up, looking for a Western Conference list!

Good to see the confidence in my boy D-Rose too. Looking to set him loose offensively this season, so look for him to dominate even more.

[blackice]

Really dope list, MIL looks like they're on the way up and DET/CHI are pretty stacked!

[WillyJakkz]

Added Waiters, hard to track FA or potentially traded guys from memory if not on roster but yeah he is a star.

Thought Chris Paul ranking would cause uproar, as for Horford he played at an elite level (28/ 10) pre-trade.

[Rob]

I miss Cindy... Nice article. Cant wait to see the West

[Dennis]

Added Waiters, hard to track FA or potentially traded guys from memory if not on roster but yeah he is a star.

Thought Chris Paul ranking would cause uproar, as for Horford he played at an elite level (28/ 10) pre-trade.

Haha, I already got used to people ignoring his defense and efficiency .. Let's see if next season can change it.

[Rizzo]

Hopefully DePaula will be on the rising star list by next season.

[emplep7]

Awesome article here Willy.

Good to see some Elite players around the league and agree with Horford being elite pre-trade. Unfortunately our style of play doesn't allow for him to be the primary guy, which hurts his numbers, but he's still a top big man.

Heard he's tired of Detroit chocking and could be leaving town though...

[Mattybriand]

Aaron Gordon thank you!

[WillyJakkz]

Value-wise as far as trading I feel it goes like this for the most part.

Age withstanding and preference, players can be traded for players on same tier, while it may take a Star plus Rising Star to get a Superstar, and a mixture of Rising Stars and a Superstar to get an Elite player or Star (s) and Superstar or multiple Rising Stars and Stars to get an Elite player. Picks of course also are an underlying factor.

Of course this also depends on GM value of said players as well.

But for the most part nice way to gauge player trade value which honestly was an indirect affect of the article. Was actually aiming for talent per team angle.

[Chilikonkarne]

Good list but also nice auto-promotion here Willy
Not sure McDermott and Batum deserve their sport here.

[StOfTheStep]

Nice article. Now if only my rising stars can catch up to my superstar, then maybe I would actually have a chance of being half decent...

[WillyJakkz]

East Tally:
Elite Players: 6
Superstars: 10
Stars: 21
Rising Stars: 13

Most Elite Players:
Southeast Division: 3 (LeBron, Wall, George)

Nice overall mixture of talent consisting mainly of Stars but definitely lacks the pizzazz and the strength of the West.