Tony Mejia ranks the top 50 current NBA players

[Assani Fisher]

Found it interesting, and while I don't agree with everything, I think its a very respectable list.....

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/10383811


Note: I would copy and paste it, but I was told in the past by a mod to not copy and paste full articles so blame the mods.

Some disagreements:

-I think Dwight Howard is better than Bosh and Amare. Amare benefits greatly from Nash. Howard is simply more physical and dominant than those two...scary to think that he doesn't even really have any great moves or great touch yet.

-Am I being a complete homer in thinking that theres no way theres 19 players in the NBA better than Gilbert Arenas?

-Jermaine O Neal is way way too high imo. I simply don't think hes that good of a player. His FG% is very low for a big man and suggests that he'd be better off as a 2nd or 3rd option imo. Consider Pao Gasol who is ranked 5 spots lower. Their stats from last year:

Gasol: 20.8 points on 53.9% shooting, 9.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.1 blocks

O Neal: 19.4 points on 43.7% shooting, 9.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.6 blocks

Thats not to mention that O Neal is constantly hurt.


-Deron Williams and Chris Paul seem really low to me....no way they're that far behind Nash and Kidd imo. Also, its crazy how much the rankings of Williams/Paul changed from their first year to their second.

-Loul Deng should be higher, especially since he writes in his opening paragraphs: "Players are ranked in the order of their projected impact on the coming season. Upside is taken into account, but only for the next 12 months. Whether you're a bargain or a bad contract doesn't matter." Deng is only going to get better this next year.

-Elton Brand not even in the top 50???!!!!!!

-Leandro Barbosa, Josh Smith, David Lee, are all also notable missing names.

-Call me crazy, but I think Tyrus Thomas will be on next year's list.

-I'm a Wizards fan, but no way Jamison should be that high

[Pudge714]

LOL STEVE NASH AT 5. 5 MORE LIKE 500. LOLZ.

[TheNoodleMan]

Jermaine O'Neal is definitely too high.
I'd swap him straight up for For Marion or Arenas in a heartbeat.


Baron Davis is too high also. He is getting love now for the upset of the Mavs, but the reality is that he has missed an average of 35 games a year over the last 6 seasons. He just misses too much time to be considered better than someone like Billups.

[Assani Fisher]

Also I think KG should be higher. I don't think hes that far from Duncan.

[kidcolin]

Damn you Assani for posting this while I'm at work late trying to finish [censored] up. Damn me and my lack of disciprine.

Also damn these lists because going across positions and just saying "best" is really hard to do.

My (homer) input, based purely on value, not "but when he's on the court and clicking" skills. Generally I think it's OK. I don't want to nitpick a ton at the top, but I have Kidd ahead of Nash, and probably of Wade and Lebron. My top 5 is probably something like Duncan, KG, Kidd, Kobe, Lebron. No real particular order. Wade's too injury prone.

I think TMac is too high. I think Pierce is a more valuable asset.

Yao's a tough call because he's hurt all the time.

'Melo is way too high. He's a turnover machine. Gilbert, Redd, Marion, Deron, Boozer, Pau, Deng, Vince, Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, Chris Paul (way too low in general, btw), Gerald Wallace (again, way too low), Billups, Kevin Martin.. I think all these guys are better than him.

Kevin Durant doesn't belong on this list, but whatever.

Al Jefferson should be a bit higher. Somewhere in the high 30s, low to mid 40s I'd guess.

I think Rip Hamilton is too high, but not by an absurd amount. Definitely not better than Ray Allen, Deron, Deng, Josh Howard, etc.

OK, that's enough for now.

[rwesty]

This year (and maybe next) will go a long way towards what people think of KG. I think he'll move up on most peoples lists.

[Assani Fisher]

kc, you really value Kidd that much? I dunno...the 40% FG% gives me lots of concerns. Just seems like that on 1/2 the nights you just stay off him and he isn't capable of consistently hitting his outside shots....of course when he is then hes nearly unstoppable.

[kidcolin]

[ QUOTE ]

-Elton Brand not even in the top 50???!!!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

He says he's only concerned with their impact on the 2007-08 season. So Brand doesn't count.

I think Chris Paul is probably the one he screwed up the most. He should be in the low teens somewhere.

[kidcolin]

Assani,

meh.. maybe you're right. His rebounding and defense are such a huge edge at his position, though, so he makes up for his weak shooting. He's better at protecting the ball, as well (or at least he has been the past 3 years).

[lapoker17]

wow - no brand is a joke - i would probably take him over half the list. - eh read comment about 07/08 whatever.

mcgrady too high - boozer too low - he's bordering on a top 10 talent now. like am i nuts for thinking boozer should be ahead of kidd? (whether kidd is 6 or 26)

i would take maggette over a number of guys listed.

kidd too high. pierce too high.

there seems to be a lot of weird filler - like hard to figure out where shaq should really be - durant is kind of a lame pick.

mainly this list shows me that the league is a lot less deep than i thought. (maybe such a list from any year would make me think that)