Top 30 NBA Players

Dr. Giganto

Bill Simmons does a thing on ESPN.com every year where he ranks his top 40 NBA players. I figured I'd steal it. But, I was too lazy to get all the way to 40, so I stopped at 30. The rules are:

1. You would have to be willing to trade one player for another player higher than him, straight up. So, if you wouldn't trade Allen Iverson for Paul Pierce, then Pierce can't be higher than Iverson

2. Age matters. Would you rather have Shaq on his last legs or Yao in his mid-20's?

3. Contracts matter. If a guy is terribly overpaid, you have to take that into consideration. However, I know nothing about most of these guys contracts, so I kinda neglected this one.

And, with that said, here we go.

1. LeBron James - The future of the NBA, and probably has the best chance of becoming the "next Jordan". I realize D-Wade won a championship first, but LeBron is really something special, and when he actually gets some decent players around him, the Cavs will be a force to be reckoned with. Oh, and he's only 21 years old...

2. Dwyane Wade - The first of the big stars from the amazing 2003 draft class to lead his team to a title. He plays extremely hard at all times. He's ahead of Duncan because of his age, and ahead of Kobe because of his seflessness.

3. Tim Duncan - Big Fundamental is still an elite NBA player, but he may be slowing down. He had career lows in rebounds and points per game, but he was bothered by injuries. He turned 30 years old this season too, which is something to look out for. It's gotta be gettingharder for him to move that big body of his.

4. Kobe Bryant - Would be higher if he wasn't such a prick. That bullshit he pulled at the end of Game 7 against the Suns was just bush league type stuff. It's too bad all that talent is wasted on a piece of shit like Kobe.

5. Dirk Nowitzki - He may have fallen off in the last 4 games against Miami, but that shouldn't diminish all Nowitzki accomplished this year. He's become a dominant offensive player, and he showed a lot of toughness as well.

6. Amare Stoudamire - I don't care about the injury this year. This kid is an absolute monster. Nobody in the NBA has the combination of size and speed that he has.

7. Gilbert Arenas - He may not get the press he deserves, playing for a mediocre franchise like the Wizards, but Arenas is the truth. He was there step-for-step with Lebron in the playoffs, and that series could have gone either way.

8. Yao Ming - Gets a bit of a premium because he's one of the few legitimate Centers in the NBA year. He had his breakout year this year, averaging 22.3 ppg and 10 rpg, both career highs. He's starting to get adjusted to the NBA, and has improved every year in the league.

9. Elton Brand - Put up an MVP caliber year this year. He plays hard and is a great teammate by all accounts.

10. Kevin Garnett - His points and rebounds have been declining the last 4 years, slowly but steadily. He's still one of the most versatile players in the NBA, and 22 ppg, 12 rpg is nothing to scoff at. But, like Duncan, he just turned 30, and perhaps his body is starting to wear down.

11. Shaquille O'Neal - Sure, his best days may be behind him, but I really can't justify putting him any lower than this. He doesn;t dominate on a regular basis like he used to, but when he's on, it's basically impossible to stop him.

12. Dwight Howard - This guy is an absolute beast down low. He will be one of the NBA's premiere big men for a long time.

13. Chris Paul - A little high for someone with so little experience, but he had an excellent rookie year, and he's a traditional point guard who makes his teammates better.

14. Andrei Kirilenko - He can score, rebound, block shots, pass the ball, play excellent defense. If he were healthy this year, he probably would have been near the top of the list.

15. Chris Bosh - 22.5 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 6-10 and as athletic as big men come. Oh, and he's only 22 years old.

16. Allen Iverson - Nobody plays harder than him, and he can light it up. Unfortunately, he's a bit of a coach-killer, and he's getting older, or else he'd be higher.

17. Paul Pierce - I was originally going to put Pierce a little lower than this until I realized a few things. First, he had a career-high scoring average in 05-06. Secondly, his field goal percentage has steadily climbed in recent years. Third, he's in his prime years, at age 28. And lastly, he's never really had that good a team around him, which explains his lack of postseason success.

18. Michael Redd - He and Ray Allen are arguably the two best shooters in the NBA, with Redd only getting the nod over Allen because of age (Redd is 26, Allen is 31)

19. Steve Nash - I realize he's the two-time reigning MVP and some people might think he should be higher, but he's 32 years old, can't play defense to save his life, has a bad back, and he's probably a little overrated because he's white.

20. Ray Allen - See "Redd, Michael"

21. Carmelo Anthony - He hit a lot of big crunch-time shots for Denver this year, but he has also shown bouts of immaturity that his fellow 2003 draftees have avoided.

22. Shawn Marion - Has one of the coolest nicknames in the NBA (The Matrix), and he's ridiculously athletic and picked up the slack in Stoudamire's absence this year. He averaged career highs in points and rebounds this year, and he's basically in the middle of his prime, at age 28.

23. Tracy McGrady - Injuries plagued him this year, and looking at his stats, you can see a disturbing trend. His scoring average has fallen each of the last 3 years. Some of this can be attributed to Yao's growth, but T-Mac's field goal percentage has also been shrinking. For a 27-year old player entering his prime, this is a troubling development. He also carries a max contract. Still, it's hard to put somebody this talented any lower.

24. Pau Gasol - One of the better big men in the game, entering his prime (just turned 26 on Thursday), and greatly improved his passing this year, nearly doubling his assists, to 4.6 per game. However, his team has gotten swept out of the first round three straight years, which obviously looks really really bad.

25. Jermaine O'Neal - Two injury-plagued years have derailed this talented star's progress. He's 27 years old, and may have plenty of good years ahead of him. He's been very productive while he's been on the court, but he's only started 88 games the last two seasons combined.

26. Ron Artest - Yeah, he's crazy, but he's also really really good. He's an excellent perimeter defender, and is very good on the offensive end as well. Look at how much Sacramento improved when he got traded there, and you can see his value.

27. Chauncey Billups - On a team that was supposed to represent the "team over individuals" concept, Billups was arguably the MVP. A good perimeter defender, good scorer and distributor, and a leader. You could make a strong case that the Pistons would not have been as successful as they were without him. Only age (he just turned 30) keeps him from being higher on this list.

28. Vince Carter - He can still pile on the points, but you have to be a little worried about the way he left Toronto. Playing half-assed so that he could get traded to a contender? Not cool, and you always have to question whether or not he'll do it again.

29. Ben Wallace - He's pretty inept offensively, but he's a beast on the defensive end, including on the glass. He's only 6-9, but he can D up the biggest of big men.

30. Emeka Okafor - Followed up a very strong rookie year with an injury-hobbled sophmore campaign. He was also banged up his last year at UConn. It's a shame that Okafor seems to be injury-prone, because he's a hard worker and a good teammate.

Blitzkrieg

Administrator

Nice, great job Tom.. I have to say I agree with pretty much the top of the list and most of the rest, great analysis..

I just have a couple players and where you listed them that I kinda disagree with..

The 1st is Tracy McGrady.. You have him listed at 23 and I've always had him as a top 10 player in the league. I understand the troubles he had in Orlando and the injuries he dealt with last year, but to me there's two things that stick out..

1. He's in his prime
2. Only a handful of players can take over a game or an entire series for that matter like he can..