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Who is the best NBA player born in 1987?

By YPB Team

Two of these players made All-Star teams; plenty of others built decade-long careers out of open threes, putbacks and defensive switches. Picking the top of this birth class is less obvious than it looks.

  1. Mike Conley — ranked #11
    Mike Conley
    Point guard drafted fourth overall in 2007 who played 12 seasons for the Memphis Grizzlies and made his first All-Star Game with Utah in 2021.
    1000pts
  2. Jeremy Evans — ranked #22
    Jeremy Evans
    Utah Jazz forward who won the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Contest.
    649pts
  3. Trevor Booker — ranked #33
    Trevor Booker
    Clemson forward drafted in 2010 who played for Washington, Utah, Brooklyn and Philadelphia.
    649pts
  4. Andrew Bynum — ranked #44
    Andrew Bynum
    Center who won the 2009 and 2010 championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and was an All-Star starter in 2012.
    592pts
  5. Wilson Chandler — ranked #55
    Wilson Chandler
    Forward drafted by the New York Knicks in 2007 who was sent to Denver in the 2011 Carmelo Anthony trade.
    592pts
  6. Brandan Wright — ranked #66
    Brandan Wright
    Forward drafted eighth overall in 2007 who became an efficient finisher off the bench for the Dallas Mavericks.
    525pts
  7. Greivis Vásquez — ranked #77
    Greivis Vásquez
    Venezuelan point guard who started for the New Orleans Hornets in 2012-13 and later played for Toronto.
    525pts
  8. O. J. Mayo — ranked #88
    O. J. Mayo
    USC guard drafted third overall in 2008 who made the All-Rookie First Team with the Memphis Grizzlies.
    444pts
  9. Ersan İlyasova — ranked #99
    Ersan İlyasova
    Turkish stretch forward drafted by Milwaukee in 2005 who had several spells with the Bucks over his NBA career.
    444pts
  10. Jonas Jerebko — ranked #1010
    Jonas Jerebko
    Swedish forward drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 2009 who also played for Boston, Utah and Golden State.
    444pts
  11. Jodie Meeks — ranked #1111
    Jodie Meeks
    Kentucky guard who scored a school-record 54 points in 2009 and later played for the 76ers, Lakers and Pistons.
    444pts
  12. D. J. Augustin — ranked #1212
    D. J. Augustin
    Texas point guard drafted ninth overall by Charlotte in 2008 who played more than a decade in the NBA.
    345pts
  13. Ty Lawson — ranked #1313
    Ty Lawson
    North Carolina point guard who ran the Denver Nuggets offense for six seasons from 2009 to 2015.
    345pts
  14. C. J. Miles — ranked #1414
    C. J. Miles
    Wing drafted out of high school by the Utah Jazz in 2005 who later played for Cleveland, Indiana and Toronto.
    345pts
  15. Dante Cunningham — ranked #1515
    Dante Cunningham
    Villanova forward who played for Portland, Charlotte, Memphis, Minnesota and New Orleans.
    345pts
  16. Danny Green — ranked #1616
    Danny Green
    Three-point shooting wing who won NBA titles with San Antonio in 2014, Toronto in 2019 and the Lakers in 2020.
    345pts
  17. Joe Ingles — ranked #1717
    Joe Ingles
    Australian forward who went undrafted and spent eight seasons with the Utah Jazz from 2014 to 2022.
    345pts
  18. Marreese Speights — ranked #1818
    Marreese Speights
    Florida big man who won the 2015 NBA championship as a reserve with the Golden State Warriors.
    345pts
  19. Amir Johnson — ranked #1919
    Amir Johnson
    Forward drafted out of high school by Detroit in 2005 who later started for the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics.
    345pts
  20. Josh McRoberts — ranked #2020
    Josh McRoberts
    Duke forward who started for the Charlotte Bobcats team that reached the 2014 playoffs.
    0pts
  21. Darren Collison — ranked #2121
    Darren Collison
    UCLA point guard who started for Indiana and Sacramento, retired in 2019 at 31, then briefly returned with the Lakers in 2021–22.
    0pts
  22. James Johnson — ranked #2222
    James Johnson
    Wake Forest forward drafted in 2009 who played for Chicago, Toronto, Memphis and Miami among other teams.
    0pts
  23. Wayne Ellington — ranked #2323
    Wayne Ellington
    Shooting guard who won the 2009 NCAA title with North Carolina and became a long-range specialist for many NBA teams.
    0pts
  24. Marcus Thornton — ranked #2424
    Marcus Thornton
    LSU shooting guard who became a leading scorer for the Sacramento Kings after a 2011 trade from New Orleans.
    0pts
  25. Jordan Hill — ranked #2525
    Jordan Hill
    Arizona forward drafted eighth overall by the New York Knicks in 2009 who later played for the Lakers.
    0pts
  26. Gerald Henderson Jr. — ranked #2626
    Gerald Henderson Jr.
    Duke guard drafted 12th overall by Charlotte in 2009 who spent six seasons with the franchise.
    0pts

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