ESPN ran a
half-hearted debate last week going position-by-position trying to determine who is the best in the NBA at each spot. Well, the lockout is officially killing most meaningful Sixers discussion, so why not kick around this very same topic.
May as well just kick it off with my list:
PG: Chris Paul - Rose may be a better overall player than Paul, though that's debatable, but Paul is the best point guard for my money. Great handle, awesome distributor, gets more out of his teammates than anyone else possibly could. His only drawback is on the defensive end where his size in an issue, though he uses his quickness well to hide it. If you were asking me who I wanted on my team for the next five years, it wouldn't be Paul (his injuries worry me), but if you're asking who's the best right now, it's CP3.
SG: Dwyane Wade - For my money, it's a battle between Wade and LeBron for best overall player in the league, and I give the nod to Wade. This was the second-easiest decision for me.
SF: LeBron James - Maybe Durant will overtake him at some point, but most likely this position is LeBron's until he retires.
PF: Dirk Nowitzki - Chris Palmer from ESPN the Magazine actually
gave this to Blake Griffin, which is ridiculous. I'm not sure if I would've said Dirk prior to the playoffs this year, which only shows my bias because Dirk has been a machine for years. A jump-shooting PF with a 60%+ TS% is unbelievable. He chips in on the glass as well, though his defense is lacking.
C: Dwight Howard - There isn't even a runner-up in this one. Dwight is the only big man of note in the league until Andrew Bynum actually plays 2,000 healthy minutes in a season.
Those are my five, list yours in the comments.
Paul
Kobe
LeBron
Griffin
Howard
The jaded one has spoken
In 7 years...
Rose
Shabazz Muhammad
Durant
Griffin
Andre Drummond
just throwing that out there since my list would be identical to Brian's
My lineup:
Deron Williams: Good size. Can do everything that Chris Paul can do, plus he is not a size mismatch on the floor.
Kobe Bryant: Better outside shooter and post up player than Wade.
Lebron James
Dirk Nowitzki: Best PF in the NBA. His fade-aways are ungaurdable.
Dwight Howard
My 2nd best lineup would be:
Chris Paul
Dwayne Wade
Kevin Durant
Pau Gasol
Andrew Bogut
I copy your first team: D-Will, Kobe, LeBron, Dirk, Howard.
How good do you think Blake Griffen will be in the future? I like the kid but I don't think he'll be the prototypical "franchise player", but instead he'll be what Rasheed Wallace was to the Portland Trailblazers.
IMO, a franchise player is one who has the ability to take a team filled with crap,
i.e:
(Anderson Varejoa, Brandon Gibson, Antwan Jamison)
(Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Sasha Vujevic)
(Haslem, Beasley, Chalmers)
(Hedo, Reddick, Nelson, Arenas)
make them into a top 5 team in their conference, and get them to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
I think as of right now i like LaMArcus Aldridge better than Griffin at the PF postion. Plays better defesne and has better touch...Thats right now though not sure what griffin will do in the future. Dirk is by far the runaway though at the PF position
Nash
Kobe
Iguodala
Dirk
Duncan
... because I'm old.
Steve Nash
Jimmer Fredette
Mike Dunleavy
Kevin Love
David Lee
Why?
Because they are tough, intelligent, hard working, and play with a lot of heart.
Oh man... I've never seen a lineup so gritty and quicker than fast
Those ESPN articles had Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin as the two promising players for their positions(SG/PF). What do you think of this duo? They do seem to really complement each other well.
Yeah, they could really be a great duo if they stick together and they stay healthy. They have missed a combined 132 games in their first three years.
How good of a player do you think Blake Griffin will be? I don't see him becoming the top player at his position. I see him in the 5-7 range. A player with good numbers and a bad team. A rich mans Andrea bargnani
Can't argue too much with that list. I also think Wade is the best player in the league. Shawn says Kobe is better at posting up and shooting from distance, which is probably true, but the thing about Wade is that he puts so much presssure on the defense at the end of games because of his passing and driving to the basket. And his fire is off the charts - reminds me of Peyton Manning and Kobe as a competitor.
The only position I might argue is PG. I like Nash's game better than Paul's, but right now Paul is better because of youth - he's quicker, faster & stronger.
I don't believe Wade is the best player on his team - let alone the league
That's ignoring his injury history