Predicting the 10 NBA stars who will still be dominant in five years
By Evan Kelly
Very few debates get basketball fans as spirited as a top-10 player list. With the amount of talent in the league today, it feels almost impossible to narrow a list of the best players to just 10 players. An even more difficult task is to project what that list may look like in five years.
Five years ago, if someone was doing this exercise, it’d have been fair to assume that players like Lebron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant would have fallen off to some extent. These players have defied time and have made it fair to wonder how long those players currently in their primes will stay dominant.
Considering the longevity that the great players enjoy in today's game, the influx of talent in the draft every year, and the leaps players can take from year to year, the top of the league will likely get even more crowded in the coming seasons. Here's a look at who the best players in the NBA will be in 2029.
10) Tyrese Haliburton
Haliburton may already be the best pure point guard in the game today. The 23 year old is averaging a league leading 11.7 assists per game despite playing on a minutes restriction for the past few weeks.
While Haliburtons passing will always be his trademark, he is still averaging just under 22 points a night on incredible efficiency, including shooting 40% from three point range. He is the engine that makes the leaguest most potent offense go. As he grows, and the Pacers surround him with more talent, there is no telling the kind of numbers the Pacers will be capable of putting up on a nightly basis.
Haliburton really put himself on the map earlier this season when he led the Pacers to the inaugural in season tournament final. He will have another chance to add to his notoriety this Spring, as the Pacers seem destined for the postseason where they are capable of upsetting several teams in round 1.
Not many players could be traded for another All NBA level player and make the trade feel lopsided, but Halburton has done just that in the years since the Pacers acquired him from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Domantas Sabonis. If the Pacers become a staple in the postseason, and Haliburton continues on his current trajectory, there will be no reason to leave him off this list in 5 years.