Two Plus Two Newer Archives - Top Five Players by position in the NBA

List your top five by position (as many or as few as you want). You can include performances in the regular season and the playoffs (factor this in heavily, if you wish). Justifications are welcome. I'll start with the most fun category, PURE Point Guards (Wade will be considered as 2 guards):

1. Steve Nash: Obv. Should be no argument here.
2. Baron Davis: He has to go at 2. He's younger than Kidd, has owned Kidd in the past, and is downright frightening on both ends of the floor when healthy. What he has done night in and night out in the playoffs is the stuff of NBA contemporary classic - he's a 35 ppg threat every night, he gets his teammates involved in a fast and complex offense, and he put the LOCK on Dallas' respectable guards during the greatest first round upset ever. In the regular season, when healthy, he's about 23ppg and 8 apg. A beast.
3. JKidd: It's tough to be in love with JKidd; I have a big problem with guards who can't shoot the rock, no matter how glorious they are in every other aspect. Kidd is a better defensive player than Nash and ARGUABLY runs the fast break better. But, he struggles on the half court from time to time, and a big reason for that is that when it comes down to it, the guy can't shoot the rock for [censored]. Imagine if Kidd could score 21 or 22 a game. He'd be in "Magic Johnson" territory and the Nets would have rings.
4. Deron Williams: The next Baron Davis, except, I don't see him scoring 23 ppg. His basketball IQ, though, is probably higher than Davis, and I see him controlling the tempo a little better. His game tying shot against GS last night .
5. Tony Parker: Yes, over Chauncey Billups, it's a tough call. But, what you have here is a point guard who, while not dishing the ball out 9 to 10 apg a game (it's not SA's style), runs the half-court fluidly, which includes playing with chaos personified Manu Ginobli. That doesn't really separate Parker from other very competent point guards, like a younger Mike Bibby or even Chauncey, but what is so special is that Parker shoots above 50% from the field alongside with his highly proficient point guard play. No other starting guard, I don't think, shoots as high a percentage as Parker. And HOW does he get those baskets? Because he's faster than almost anyone who is guarding him, and anytime he touches that ball, he can slash to the hoop, open up the floor, make easy layups, or pull up for a jumper. Or, open things up for Ginobli, wherever the [censored] he is on the court (eating a banana, hopping over someone's head, driving to the hoop). He presents another form of organized chaos; he's a poor man's Steve Nash.