NBA: Top 4 Contenders for the New "King of The East"

Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard
Joel Embiid and Kawhi Leonard

#2 Giannis Antetokounmpo

Milwaukee Bucks v Washington Wizards
Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis has only been in the league for 5 seasons and has already bagged 2 All-Star appearances, NBA Most Improved Player (2017), 2 All-NBA Second-Team Selection and an All-Defensive Second Team. The "Greek Freak" has become one of the recent crazes in the NBA with his freakish athleticism and terrorising length. Giannis finished second in All-Star voting in the East last year and was even leading LeBron in the initial voting stage.

As an offensive monster and an even bigger nightmare on defence, Giannis was believed by many to end up being the "King of the East" even before LeBron left. However, Giannis is held back by the weakness of the Bucks roster as the current roster doesn't have the pieces to compete in the east, let alone for a championship.

However, perhaps Giannis' biggest downfall is his own lack of player diversity. While Giannis is extremely talented and has lots of potential, the shooting part of his game is quite poor, as he shot 30.4% from three in the 17-18 season. Even if his team improves significantly, if Giannis can't become more diverse as a player and particularly prove his decency in 3-point shooting, it will be hard to validate any claims he has as the best player in the Eastern Conference.

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