Raptors President Masai Ujiri, who traded for Kawhi Leonard this offseason, recently said that his forward is a top-3 player when healthy, which prompted a debate between Paul Pierce and Amin Elhassan on The Jump as they discussed their “Top 3” in the NBA.

Pierce’s best three players in the league right now are LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden, excluding Kawhi because of his missed time due to injury last season. Pierce said he feels that the new Raptors forward has the potential to earn his way back into that conversation when he gets back to playing.

“I think when you miss a year, you have to play your way back into that,” Pierce said. “Kawhi potentially is a top-3 player, but to me, when you miss a year and you haven’t seen somebody, other players can pass you up, so he has to play his way back to that. And I think he can.”