As I listen to Bill Simmons debate his 9th annual Top 40 NBA Trade Value, I feel it is my duty as an avid NBA fan and blogger to write and do my own list (a shortened version mind you) since a Top 40 would just take too long. This list however, does follow Bill's rules for which I have cut and pasted for you below (okay so I'm being lazy tonight)
1. Salaries matter. Over this season and the next three, would you rather pay David West $37.9 million or Andrei Kirilenko $63.3 million?
2. Age matters. Would you rather have Rasheed Wallace for the next four seasons or Al Horford for the next 12?
3. Pretend the league passed the following rule: For 24 hours, any player can be traded without cap ramifications. So if Team A tells Team B, "We'll trade you Player X for Player Y," would Team B make the deal or not?
4. Concentrate on degrees. For instance, neither San Antonio nor Orlando would make a Howard-Duncan trade. But at the very least, the Spurs would say, "Wow, Dwight Howard's available?" while the Magic would say, "There's no frickin' way we're trading Dwight Howard." That counts in the big scheme of things.
5. The list runs in reverse order (Nos. 50 to 1). So if Carmelo comes in at No. 14, players 1 through 13 are all players about whom the Nuggets would probably say, "We hate giving up 'Melo, but we definitely have to consider this deal." And they wouldn't trade him straight-up for any player listed between Nos. 15 and 50.
Now on to my list:
10. Brandon Roy
Awesome player who can score, defend and lead. His Blazers are playing well, they're young, athletic and growing fast, with Roy undoubtedly at the center of it all. Plus paying him 3, 4 and 5 mil respectively for the next 3 seasons has to be a plus as well.
9. Derrick Rose
Fastest player in the league by far, with a huge ceiling for growth. Come next season that CP3/DWill "who's the best pg in the league" comparison will certainly need to be including him in it. And I'll be the first to say it here, good luck picking the starting pg for the 2012 Olympics. Good luck!!!
8. Deron Williams
What kind of tear has he been on lately and he isn't on the All Star team? No All Star for he and Melo? Garbage in my opinion. The guy can flat out play.
7. Kevin Durant
The best pure scorer in the league next to Kobe, LeBron and Melo. Will challenge for the best player in the league soon, has a huge upside.
6. Dwayne Wade
Has raised his game considerably since recovering from his injuries. Unfortunately for him his team blows and looks to be average for a few more seasons. His situation reminds me of where Kobe was 4 seasons ago. Let's hope he can stay healthy! Needs to improve his outside shooting or he'll run down soon.
5. Chris Paul
Pure assassin! Takes over a game so effortlessly. He's Isiah re-incarnate.
4. Tim Duncan
Not much else to be said, unless one of the top 3 is offered there is no way he's moving.
3. Kobe Bryant
Would be No. 2 if he were a tad younger, but he's now in his 30's with over 1000 games behind him. He may be the best in the league now and for the next 5 seasons but if Howard or LeBron were available I find it hard to imagine LA saying no, especially with LBJ being 24 and Howard being 23.
2. Dwight Howard
If he can continue to develop offensively and maintain his focus defensively he will become unstoppable. My only thing with him is "does he have the right focus and killer attitude to lead a team to championship" sometimes I not so sure on that one. He has too much of a David Robinson vibe for me to be comfortable with. But still with his size and age him being number 2 is about as low as I can put him.
1. LeBron James
Did you really expect anyone else? Could go down as the best ever but I highly doubt that he will. I just don't see him loving the game as much as Jordan and Kobe. Like I've pointed out before, LBJ and Shaq have by far the highest ceilings of any player in history. Shaq's going to go down as one of the best, top 5 for sure but man could he have dominated had he tried a little harder, for some reason I see that same thing for LBJ. Will go down in the top 5, but as number 1, not so sure.
later.
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