With Chris Paul On The Verge Of Making A Conference Finals, Who Is Now The Best Player To Never Make The Third Round?

I don’t want to jinx it, but it appears as though one of the longest running jokes is coming to an end. With the Rockets up 3-1 on the Jazz, it’s looking like a strong possibility that Chris Paul is going to make a Conference Finals for the first time in his 13 year career. It’s honestly pretty incredible that a guy like Paul, a player who is a 100% lock for the HOF has never made the third round. He’s been on talented teams too, and yet year after year after year he always fell short. It honestly was the one glaring blemish on this resume so I’m happy for him that he can finally cross that off his list. This then made me think, who is next on this list of awesome players to never reach the final four? I don’t know why I thought about this, I guess I was just looking for any excuse to not work on a Monday. So naturally I went looking, and was curious who the best player is right now that is of Paul’s caliber that has never made a final four, and frankly might go 13 years without one just like Paul did. Here’s my list

Anthony Davis

This is really a no brainer, but only because this is the first time his team is really any good. AD is nearly halfway there to match Paul’s 13 year drought, and with the Warriors and Rockets not going anywhere anytime soon, it would not shock me if Davis stays in NO for his next contract that they never make it that far. A consensus Top 5 player in the league, what will we saw about Davis’ career if he never gets there? Will he face the same critism as Paul if he never gets out of the second round? I think it will all depend on the roster around him, but if a Boogie/AD/Holiday team never gets over the hump it will be interesting to see how that changes the narrative around Davis. Right now we are all giving him the benefit of the doubt because his teams have STUNK. Moving forward though, that excuse won’t fly.

Blake Griffin

Blake is entering Year 10 next year, and I cannot say that I see the Detroit Pistons making the final four in any of the next three seasons. It’s a goddamn disaster right now for the Pistons, and there are a shit ton of teams ahead of them in the East. We’ve seen some crazy turnarounds before, but I don’t see that in the Pistons future. To me his chances were much higher playing on the Clippers, and that was already an extremely small chance.

Damian Lillard

If you want to keep things to just PGs, then I think Lillard is the most common choice. Next season he’ll be entering Year 7, and he has 3 years left on his current deal. That means by his age 30 season if he’s not traded he’ll have a decision to make. If POR doesn’t make any sort of run during that time, does he stay? Dame has proven to be an All NBA player, similar to Paul during these same years, but how close can he honestly say the Blazers are to making that final four. This year they were the 3rd seed and got swept, and given their salary constraints, this is sort of their team moving forward. I get that Dame is a loyal guy, but you hate to see that sort of talent never get a shot to earn a chance to make the Finals.

It also doesn’t help that POR hasn’t made a conference finals since 1999-2000

Jimmy Butler

Another All Star caliber player that next year will be entering Year 7. Butler is tricky because of his contract situation. Can you see MIN ever making a CF? I don’t think so, but Butler also has a player option in 2019-20, so he could decide to take his talents elsewhere and join a team that’s ready to contend. Personally, I think he stays in MIN since it’s such a great fit for him, he gets to be the man and there is young talent around him. The problem is, I don’t think this team is going anywhere deep as long as Thibs is calling the shots.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

This one seems a little crazy because Giannis is SO young. He doesn’t have the same expectations a guy like Paul has, and his team certainly isn’t as good. But here’s the thing. I think we all agree that Giannis is going to be the leader of the next wave of generational talents once guys like Lebron/Durant are gone. I just don’t know if his teams will ever be good enough to get over the hump barring injury. There was a time where people projected the Bucks to be the team of the future, but how close are they to passing teams like BOS/PHI/TOR and if Lebron stays you can include CLE? If Giannis ever leaves MIL I think that changes his chances, but looking at the bucks roster and salary situation, I can’t see it anytime soon.

Karl-Anthony Towns

See everything said for Butler

Kemba Walker

Not quite the HOF talent that Paul is, but still a legit scorer and All Star level player. Kemba is entering Year 8 next season, and I don’t think I have to explain just how far away the Hornets are from a conference finals. I would say that much like Paul, Kemba’s best chance to make it would be to get the hell out of CHA. If he’s traded to say, the Cavs this summer or something like that, you love his chances. He has just 1 more year left on his deal before UFA, and it would not shock me to see him go somewhere else. He’s too good to be wasting away playing with Dwight Howard. Kemba was built for the big stage, so the fact that we may never see it just doesn’t feel right.

If you look at the list of some of the best players from this past season, it’s really hard to find one that hasn’t made a conference finals. I don’t care if they got swept, they at least made it. Guys like Melo, George, Gasol, Lowry, DeRozan, Aldridge etc are all HOF or fringe HOF talents that have made it at least once. That’s what was always so crazy to me about Paul never making it. He was too good, and his teams had too much talent it made no sense as to why they could never get over the hump, and yet lesser teams had done it. But with that soon coming to a close, I just hope the guys on this list don’t have the same fate, because they’d be awesome to see on the big stage.

Did I miss anyone? Let me know who you would pick in the comments