December NBA Player Power Rankings: Here comes Russ

A new year is upon us, and two months of the 2014-15 NBA season are already in the books.

With teams about a third of the way through their campaigns and early-season trends starting to look like year-long patterns, we have a better idea of which teams and players are for real.

With that, here are the top 10 players of 2014-15 through December.

Remember, these rankings don't account for past years or future projections. They simply rank the top NBA players based on their 2014-15 performance.

The Top 10

10. Jimmy Butler
21.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.6 SPG
PER: 22.49
Win Shares: 6.0

Butler landing on this list after the season's opening month was deserved, but it's unlikely many observers saw him sustaining a top-10 level of play throughout the season.

So far so good. Butler was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for November, then saw his numbers slightly rise across the board in December. He's also the reigning East Player of the Week, and will be in the Player of the Month discussion once again.

There's no better two-way guard in basketball right now.

9. LeBron James
25.2 PPG, 7.6 APG, 5.3 RPG, 1.3 SPG
PER: 25.04
Win Shares: 4.1

LeBron is always one great run away from reestablishing himself as an MVP favorite, and he may very well win East Player of the Month for December.

James' numbers remain absurd - they'd represent a career year for almost anyone else - the Cavs have won more than 60 percent of their games with him in the lineup, despite it feeling like the sky is falling in Cleveland, and it still feels wrong to have a ranking without LeBron at No. 1 or two.

But if we're judging the 2014-15 season without bias, it's tough to make a case for having him any higher in these rankings.

8. Chris Paul
17.7 PPG, 9.4 APG, 4.5 RPG, 2.0 SPG
PER: 24.61
Win Shares: 5.8

Like James, Paul's lower-than-usual ranking isn't about him not playing well. He remains an elite guard on a 22-11 Clippers team. But he's also not enjoying one of his best seasons, and in the golden age of point guards at the league's deepest position, there are more deserving players this season.

Paul is a future Hall of Famer and one of the greatest point guards of all time, but he's not the best point guard so far this season, and he hasn't been a top-five player, either. When's the last time you've been able to say that?

7. Kyle Lowry
20.7 PPG, 7.7 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.5 SPG
PER: 24.49
Win Shares: 5.4

The Raptors may be a team built on continuity and spreading the wealth on offense, but chalking their last year up to chemistry is an insult to Lowry, as is saying they're a star-less team.

Lowry's advanced metrics rank in the top five or top 10 across the board, he's running an offense that's scoring at a near all-time rate and he's leading a team that's won 75 percent of its games.

He may not be a household name to the casual fan, but Lowry's been a top-20 player over the last calendar year, has undoubtedly been a top-10 player through the first third of this season, is arguably the best player in the East right now, and is squarely in the MVP discussion as 2015 begins.

To close 2014, he averaged 28.5 points (on 50 percent shooting), 6.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals over a four-game stretch that included matchups against Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Ty Lawson and Damian Lillard.

6. Damian Lillard
21.9 PPG, 6.4 APG, 4.8 RPG, 1.5 SPG
PER: 23.12
Win Shares: 5.8

Everyone knows Lillard is a rising star and an exciting talent, but not enough people give him credit for being one of the best point guards in the game at 24, or for being an elite shooter and scorer.

Lillard is shooting a hair under 40 percent from 3-point territory while taking nearly seven threes per game, and his blend of ball-dominance, prolific yet efficient scoring, and passing is something we've only seen in some of the game's truly elite guards and swingmen.

Coming into this season, the only players who have averaged at least 20 points and six assists in a season while posting a True Shooting Percentage above 60 and a Usage Rate above 25 are Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Penny Hardaway, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and James Harden.

Lillard, who is also defending well for the 26-7 Trail Blazers, is in the running (59.7 TS%) to join that exclusive group.

5. DeMarcus Cousins
23.8 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.5 BPG, 1.1 SPG
PER: 27.53
Win Shares: 2.9

Cousins' value to the Kings became brutally apparent as the team sputtered while he was sidelined with meningitis - a slide that contributed to Mike Malone's unjust firing - and the numbers back it up.

The Kings outscore opponents by an average of 9.2 points per 100 possessions with Cousins on the floor, according to NBA.com, a mark that would rank second behind the Warriors. Without him, they're outscored by 11.3 points per 100 possessions, which would rank 29th, sandwiched between the Timberwolves and 76ers.

Sacramento finds itself 3.5 games behind the West's eighth seed and likely won't be playing meaningful basketball for much longer. But damned if Boogie won't try to carry them there.

4. Russell Westbrook
27.6 PPG, 7.2 APG, 5.6 RPG, 2.3 SPG
PER: 32.48
Win Shares: 3.3

What the video above doesn't show is that in addition to his 34 points, Westbrook added 11 assists, five rebounds and five steals in a Christmas Day win over the Spurs.

That's not out of the ordinary this season for Westbrook, who'd be even higher on this list if not for an early season hand fracture limiting him to 19 games played.

He averaged 30 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals over the six games Kevin Durant missed with a sprained ankle, helping the Thunder survive that stretch with a 3-3 record. He's also on pace to break the single-season PER record along with Anthony Davis, and OKC performs 13.4 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court, according to Basketball Reference.

3. James Harden
27.7 PPG, 6.9 APG, 6.1 RPG, 1.9 SPG, 1.0 BPG
PER: 27.13
Win Shares: 6.9

It was supposed to be fun with a small sample size when we referenced it a month ago, but a third of the way through the season, Harden remains on pace to join LeBron James and Larry Bird as the only players in history to average at least 25 points, six assists, six rebounds, a steal and a block in a single season.

He's also the league leader in Win Shares for the 22-9 Rockets.

2. Stephen Curry
22.8 PPG, 7.7 APG, 5.0 RPG, 2.1 SPG
PER: 26.29
Win Shares: 5.5

Curry's averaging over 23 points on a shooting line of 49-39-92, ranks fifth in assists, is playing commendable perimeter defense against the league's plethora of star point guards for the NBA's best defensive team, and has the league-leading Warriors performing a comical 25.1 points per 100 possessions better when he's on the court.

Enough said. All hail the new Point God.

1. Anthony Davis
24.3 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 2.9 BPG, 1.7 SPG, 1.6 APG
PER: 32.08
Win Shares: 6.6

The Brow didn't show any signs of slowing down in December, as he continues to produce at a historic clip while keeping the thin Pelicans in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.

PER isn't a perfect statistical measure by any means, and numbers alone can't accurately portray Davis' defensive dominance or his frightening potential at 21, but we're getting to the point where his PER should be monitored daily, if only for historical purposes.

No player has ever produced a single-season PER of 32, with Wilt Chamberlain setting the benchmark at 31.82 in 1962-63.

The Next 10

Honorable Mention: Kevin Durant, who will skyrocket up this list if he can stay on the floor in January.

(PER courtesy of ESPN, Win Shares courtesy of Basketball Reference)