Houston Rockets: Ranking history's recent third-overall picks

3. Jaylen Brown, 2016

Here's where we get controversial.

Ball's BPM is 2.8. By contrast, Brown's career mark is 0.4. Are we being prisoners of the moment? Does Brown's NBA championship make him a better player than Ball?

Let's dig a bit deeper. Brown struggled to find his footing in the NBA. As a rookie, he posted a BPM of -3.7. He hit -2.1 in his third year, and he's never posted a negative mark since.

More broadly, Brown is portable. Ball's impact metrics benefit from the fact that he's always the centerpiece of the offense. Brown can scale down into a 3-and-D role, and take over games with his shot-making as well.

This was the narrowest call on this list. If you prefer Ball because he's capable of taking on that larger role, that's a valid argument. We'll take Bron due to his versatility and durability.