Should the Golden State Warriors Avengers come to pass, the legacies of Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant will be secured
2027 will be the year of the BEAST (rankings system)
Eric Apricot says: This is an original series that analyzes and ranks the Top 75ish NBA players of all time, written by a friend of DubNationHQ.com. Some of you will be angered, some will think you can do better, but hopefully everyone can find something to enjoy in this journey appreciating the great historical achievements by past and present players.
As we await Steve Kerr’s decision and the NBA playoffs claims its first victims in Kevin Durant’s Rockets (again) and, more shockingly, Nikola Jokic, I find myself drawn back to my lair.
Toiling deep in my NBA dungeon, surrounded by noxious fumes from my vast array of potions, imbibed due to the boredom of a Steph-less playoffs and insane NBA offseason rumors, I, Dr Duncan Stein, found myself slipping into a trance…
Upon awakening, a terrifying vision struck, clear as day. It unfolded and imprinted itself upon my brain, the events of the next year laid bare, clear as day. I had no choice but to crank the handle and prod our BEAST to explore the speculative impacts of such events.
But first, events, dear boy, events.
What shall transpire in the 2026-27 NBA season
The offseason
Draft night 2026. Steve Kerr has returned with the promise of putting together a team to chase down the Wemby-led Spurs. For this he requires warm fresh bodies. Enter Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan’s winning all action forward. Ancient by draft standards, yet a spring chicken compared to the Warriors dastardly plans, Dunleavy snaffles him up with the 11th pick.
As free agency awaits LeBron James’s latest decision, Draymond Green opts out and takes a two-year extension for $40m, lining him up with Steph who has added another year onto his deal. This enables the Warriors to use Bird rights to sign Porzingis to a similar contract above the full mid-level exception, opening up the non-taxpayer mid level.
LeBron James breaks his silence, announcing he will join the Warriors in his final season for that very same MLE, recreating a version of the Team USA Avengers in the face of Wembanyama’s ascent. After all, they reason, it worked the first time around.
Kevin Durant, fresh off the insanity of playing almost the most minutes in the league at 37 and the realities of having to deal with the Houston Rockets accepts an incoming call from LeBron.
Dunleavy’s masterstroke move follows. With the Rockets needing a new star wing and the Clippers needing draft picks galore MDJ hoodwinks the Warriors’ most hated rivals into a three-way deal. KD returns to Golden State to finish the unfinished business of 7 years ago. Kawhi goes to Houston, giving them a veteran All-NBA wing (so they think!). The Warriors send their two future picks (27 and 30), Will Richard, and a swap to the Clippers along with Jimmy Butler and his contract.
A sad day for all as Jimmy’s all-too-brief tenure was a delight, but at least his BEAST place has been secured, and any potential contract year sourness artfully dodged.
The Warriors round out the roster. Melton finds a depressed market after shooting sub 30% from three and returns for one more year with Celebrini. Kevon Looney returns to replace Al Horford (who bolts back to Boston) after being unceremoniously cut free by a Pelicans front office that operates as if it were an actual pelican (if that is not a tad unfair to pelicans).
The Warriors enter the season with the unlikely-to-ever-be-healthy lineup of:
Curry $62.6m
Podz $5.7m
KD $43.9m
LeBron $15m (MLE)
Porzingis $20m (extension)
Melton $3.5m
(Moody) $12.5m
Gui $4.6m
Yaxel $6m
Dray $20m (extension)
That mo’fo Pat $2.5m
Bronny $2.5m (of course)
GP2 $2.5m
Loondawg $2.5m
Total salaries just under $205m (allowing for some wriggle room under the $209m 1st apron hardcap triggered by use of the full MLE)
The 2026-27 season
The Warriors finally nail the late Spurs model of veteran stars playing under 30 minutes per game and a strong second tier of rotation players with complementary and flexible skill sets able to dial up or down as needed. They clinch the three seed partly thanks to an unbeaten record on the front end of a miraculously league-low back-to-backs (let’s just call it the LeBron effect) and the efforts of Dr. Rick who craftily keeps the mileage down (the very antithesis of Houston’s method) and Porzingis alive.
This is greatly aided by an improving Podz and Gui building on their late season progress and playing all 82, and Yaxel stepping right in to plug all the veteran rest gaps across the frontcourt and performing the role of key defensive stopper, earning him 6th man of the year honours. Moody returns too at the All-Star break to give them a welcome boost on the wing. After the trade deadline Klay Thompson secures a buyout and returns to finally gracefully accept his late-career role as bench flamethrower. Dino returns to DubNationHQ and is promptly banned for jubilant trolling.
The playoffs!
They face Kawhi’s Rockets in the first round. Well they would have done if the Rockets hadn’t repeated their efforts with Kawhi leading the league in minutes before straining a limb planting a tree on his community service just ahead of the playoffs (a neat conclusion to the Aspiration saga).
The Rockets young guns have no answer. The Warriors waltz to a 3-0 lead. Kerr rests the vets for game 4. Podz grifts his way to 30 drawing begrudging respect from a crowd who once cheered James Harden’s every free throw. Yaxel throws in a triple double. Bronny hits a three. The brooms break out in Houston for yet another playoff exit at the Warriors hands.
The rest proves vital as the competition takes it up a notch. They face the Thunder, who have been knocked off their #1 regular season top spot by the terrifying spectacle of Wemby actualised. It’s a tough battle but with Moody unleashed, Melton supporting, and the whistle mysteriously vanishing (let’s call it the LeBron effect), Shai is contained. Porzingis battles Chet to a unicorn-off stand-off.
On the other end a salty af and not-at-all-cupcake (whatever those signs in the stands might say) KD goes bananas averaging 40 across the series. The Warriors advance in 6.
They face that terrifying spectacle of Wemby. But over the course of the series Draymond Green wears him down, supported by our new platoon of Loondawg and Porzingis. The Spurs guards cause some no little trouble with their athleticism and speed. But on the other end Steph runs free and wild around those disorientated youngsters who can’t track him let alone Steph and KD running off screens with LeBron handling.
Nonetheless it’s an epic battle that comes down to one final possession in Game 7 in which Harrison Barnes misses a game-tying three, distracted by the presence of a fake KD-lookalike looming behind the Spurs bench, and the Warriors advance to the NBA Finals.
There they face the Miami Heat, winners of the Giannis sweepstakes. But he is not enough to overcome the Avengers. Game 1 is a tight contest but Klay, having taken a dip in the ocean at South Beach, splashes in 7 consecutive threes in one insane 5 minute burst at the start of the fourth quarter to bust it open. The Warriors steal home court and from there on in have the advantage.
With LeBron picking the Heat apart and feeding Steph and KD over and over the Heat have no real answer over the course of the series. Giannis toils mightily but can not match the combined might of the Warriors veterans. Faced with the real defense of Draymond and Loondawg, Bam Adebayo is held to 8.3ppg for the series.
The Warriors win Game 6 in a rapturous Chase Center. With the Warriors dynasty on course to win a fifth ring (Steph already having pointed at his thumb midway through the second quarter), Adam Silver, who has done so much to avoid dynasties taking hold, rage quits on the spot at half time. After a desperate search for someone to present the trophy, Andre Iguodala as Executive Director of the NBPA steps off the bench and into the breach to fill the moment in the only way he can. He hands Steph the Finals MVP trophy right in front of LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
In the aftermath of the golden glow, on the Warriors group chat Steph, LeBron, KD, Dray, Porzingis, Moody and Melton lead an effort to donate a sizeable chunk of their winnings to build a statue of Rick Celebrini. At ring night a gigantic solid gold statue of Celebrini, the likes of which has never been seen outside of a Soviet Union-era WWII memorial, is erected to tower over Chase Center. No-one can understand how the San Francisco planning department has allowed such a monstrosity to be built.
The BEAST legacies of this generation are secured
As for the impact of the prophecy above, which is what this boredom fueled exercise is really about, the first and most noteworthy outcome is that LeBron would just edge past the top spot over Jordan clearly settling the Goat debate once and for all (lol). James adds 30 championship points in his age-42 season, becoming only the second player to top 1000 BEAST points. Currently Jordan has a slight advantage which basically boils down to peak of winning vs longevity. But a fifth ring is a capper on an incredible career and elevates that longevity to a new stratosphere.
Perhaps more importantly for this Warriors crowd, the impact on Steph’s ranking would be significant. Currently Steph sits around 90 points behind Kareem for the third spot, just ahead of Magic. A fifth ring, and Finals MVP spoils, more playoff and Finals moments, would vault him much closer, more than slicing that lead right down. With Steph likely to play a few more years and rack up more counting stats he will continue to rack up some more statistical points.
Alongside this, a subsequently enraged Wembanyama laying waste to the NBA for the next decade, and Jokic continuing to rack up the counting stats, will gradually erode Kareem’s advantage as he is knocked down a spot or two on various lists from which he currently derives a significant chunk of his points. As it stands as the top big man in NBA history he’s most at risk from the newer generation of Wembanyama and Jokic racing up those charts.
The impact of that is that by the time Steph retires he would likely be third in our BEAST rankings.
LeBron, Jordan, Steph as the top three when all is said and done? Sounds about right to me.
Meanwhile KD’s 3rd ring vaults him into the top 10, leaving Shaq and Bird following behind, and closing in on Wilt Chamberlain. With Jokic’s rumbling up through the top 15 somewhat slowed by his latest playoff stumble and the clock running out on him winning more rings, KD’s place in the top 10 is secure for now. He can finally put down the burners.
Beyond that the top echelons are effectively set until the inevitable Wembanyama revolution takes hold. Legacies are set, and I can finally rest my weary head, but not until I’ve actually crunched the numbers and updated our BEAST properly. Which if all that happens I promise to.
Fever Dream Rankings Update
In the meantime with the huge caveat that all the stats rankings and points for awards would need updating and of course this year’s title winners reflected etc, let’s imagine that if this fevered dream should come to pass, the post 2027 BEAST rankings could look something like this:
?? Victor Wembanyama [he’s coming for us all]
*83 Jrue Holiday (94 BEAST points)
82 Toni Kukoc (96 BEAST points)
—----------
*81 Jimmy Butler (101 BEAST points)
80 Bill Walton (107 BEAST points)
*78 (tied) Joel Embiid (111 BEAST points)
78 (tied) Dave Cowens (111 BEAST points)
76 (tied) Dikembe Mutombo (112 BEAST points)
*76 (tied) Russell Westbrook (112 BEAST points)
75 Clyde Drexler (115 BEAST points)
74 Gary Payton (117 BEAST points)
*73 Jayson Tatum (119 BEAST points)
71 (tied) Horace Grant (120 BEAST points)
71 (tied) Chris Bosh (120 BEAST points)
*70 Kyrie Irving (121 BEAST points)
69 Chauncey Billups (123 BEAST points)
*67 (tied) Luka Doncic (124 BEAST points) (including 2026 scoring champion)
67 (tied) Ben Wallace (124 BEAST points)
66 Wes Unseld (125 BEAST points)
64 (tied) Patrick Ewing (127 BEAST points)
64 (tied) Reggie Miller (127 BEAST points)
*63 Anthony Davis (128 BEAST points)
62 Dennis Johnson (130 BEAST points)
61 Dwight Howard (132 BEAST points)
60 Paul Pierce (133 BEAST points)
59 Willis Reed (134 BEAST points)
58 Andre Iguodala (135 BEAST points)
57 Allen Iverson (136 BEAST points)
56 Walt “Clyde” Frazier (137 BEAST points)
55 Joe Dumars (138 BEAST points)
54 Charles Barkley (141 BEAST points)
53 Tom Heinsohn (144 BEAST points)
52 Artis Gilmore (146 BEAST points)
51 Elvin Hayes (147 BEAST points)
*50 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (157 BEAST points) (assumed 2026 MVP + bonus for consecutive MVP)
49 Ray Allen (162 BEAST points)
48 Sam Jones (164 BEAST points)
47 Pau Gasol (174 BEAST points)
46 Robert Parish (175 BEAST points)
45 George Mikan (176 BEAST points)
44 Rick Barry (179 BEAST points)
43 James Worthy (180 BEAST points)
42 Kevin McHale (183 BEAST points)
41 Bob Pettit (185 BEAST points)
40 Steve Nash (186 BEAST points)
39 Tony Parker (188 BEAST points)
38 Elgin Baylor (198 BEAST points)
37 Karl Malone (199 BEAST points)
*36 James Harden (201 BEAST points)
35 Manu Ginobili (205 BEAST points)
34 Oscar Robertson (210 BEAST points)
33 Jason Kidd (212 BEAST points)
*32 Klay Thompson (215 BEAST points) (5 championship role player points)
31 Isiah Thomas (221 BEAST points)
30 Moses Malone (226 BEAST points)
28 (tied) John Stockton (232 BEAST points)
28 (tied) Bob Cousy (232 BEAST points)
27 Dirk Nowitzki (236 BEAST points)
*26 Giannis Antetokounmpo (240 BEAST points) (5 runner-up points)
25 Chris Paul (249 BEAST points)
24 Dennis Rodman (252 BEAST points)
22 (tied) David Robinson (260 BEAST points)
22 (tied) John Havlicek (260 BEAST points)
*22 Kawhi Leonard (262 BEAST points)
*21 Draymond Green (277 BEAST points) (10 contributor championship points)
20 Kevin Garnett (281 BEAST points)
19 Dwyane Wade (291 BEAST points)
18 Jerry West (297 BEAST points)
*16 Nikola Jokic (307 BEAST points)
15 Dr. J (381 BEAST points)
14 Scottie Pippen (427 BEAST points)
13 Hakeem Olajuwon (459 BEAST points)
12 Shaq (516 BEAST points)
11 Larry Bird (518 BEAST points)
*10 Kevin Durant (512 BEAST points) (will increase due to statistical category and any further All-Star / All-NBA etc)
9 Wilt Chamberlain (525 BEAST points)
8 Bill Russell (538 BEAST points)
7 Kobe Bryant (593 BEAST points)
6 Tim Duncan (605 BEAST points)
5 Magic Johnson (681 BEAST points)
4 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (778 BEAST points) - 20 points over time = approx 758 points max
*3 Steph Curry (745 BEAST points) (Championship points + Finals MVP) + 15-20 points over time = likely 760+ points
2 Michael Jordan (1011 BEAST points)
*1 LeBron James (1013 BEAST points) (Championship points, will accrue a few more from statistical and award feats)
*signifies current player
BOLD signifies amended points for awards/ achievements in 2025 and 2026
Italics signifies potential points amassed/ amended by the above scenario
If this madness piqued your interest in the BEAST ranking system you can relive the full series, methodology and rankings (as of All-Star break 2025 in San Francisco and with a minor update last summer) here.