Editor’s Note: On Monday, we introduced the methodology and research that went into creating the tiers in general, as well as listing the players in the Nos. 80-125 best player range. Rather than recap in full, we encourage you to peruse there for those details to allow us to get right into Tier 2.
Tier 2 represents 10 of the top 16 players in the league. Everyone in this group is, (or in the case of the two youngest players) or soon will be, playing at a perennial All-Star level. But this strata of greatness is where it becomes even more vital to tease out the smallest of distinctions. We see it year after year in the playoffs that the small edge in the performance of one superstar over another is frequently the difference between moving on and going home.
This tier is also the point at which a team can start to feel it has a real chance at contention if one of these guys is its best player. Though the roster-building challenge is more forgiving for teams led…
