For Part I click here.
The West:
Forwards
Carmelo Anthony: He's playing like an MVP and keeping Denver in the title contenders conservation. People talk about Lebron's strength and size at small forward. Carmelo doesn't get enough attention in that area. His combination of size and quickness makes him almost impossible to guard. I'm glad to see that he wasn't content with one good playoff run.
Dirk Nowitzki: Now I vote for Tim Duncan for this spot annually like clockwork. I don't even look up Duncan's numbers because I know what he means to his team and what he brings to the table both offensively and defensively. But if you look at Dirk's and Timmy's numbers this year - TD: 15/12/2 and Dirk: 26/8/3. Dirk, as of now, is having a better year. You might be saying, "didn't you just say it's not about the number?" Yes, it's not solely about the numbers. But the disparity can't be ignored and coupled with the Spurs slow start and Dallas' decent start, I have to give the edge to Dirk right now. Furthermore, Dirk had some major personal issues to deal with over the summer. He didn't even pick up a basketball but went backpacking Into the Wild style for almost the entire summer. But instead of eating the wrong berries and dying a slow and lonely death like Christopher McCandless, he came back to the NBA and is playing at an All-Star level and will make 20 million dollars this year. I think that is a much happier ending, don't you? On top of all that the All-Star Game is at Dallas this year. Way to overcome your issues and perform in front of the home crowd, Dirk.
Center:
With Yao out for the year and Shaq getting traded to the Eastern Conference the door is wide open for the up-and-comers.
Andrew Bynum: This is another coin flip and the other side of the coin is Chris Kaman. Here are the numbers: Bynum - 20/10/2 shooting 55% from the field and 76% from the line (great for a center) vs. Kaman's 22/9/2 shooting 57% from the field and 73% from the line (also good for a center). There isn't that much of a difference in regards to numbers (the difference is most people expected Bynum to have a strong year because he's healthy but no one expected that Kaman would be putting up these numbers). When this happens you usually go with team success. Lakers vs. Clippers? Do I need to go any further? Lets move on.
Guards:
Chris Paul: He's the best point guard in the game today. Another MVP candidate who probably won't get the award because he's on a crappy team. It's sad really. New Orleans was an up-and-coming team only a couple of years ago but regress because expectations became too high and the owner is more concerned with the luxury tax than wins. Despite that, Paul is dropping 26/10/4 and shooting a whopping 63% from the field and a sizzling 68% from 3-point land. I doubt he keeps those shooting percentages up the entire season. But if he gets anything close to that by the All-Star break he's got to start.
I hate to see special "once in a generation" type players like Paul stuck on crappy teams. If you don't believe me that Paul is a "once in a generation" type of player, compare his first four years to the first four years of all the point guards who ever came in the league and you only come up with one other player comparable - Magic and that's it.
Even though Boston creamed my Lakers in 2008, I was slightly (ever so slightly) happy for KG. KG was stuck in lottery hell with the T'Wolves for years wasting away his talent playing for nothing. He gets traded to Boston and transforms an entire franchise over night, rejuvenates the careers of Paul Piece and Ray Allen, saves Doc Rivers' job, and restores the Celtics to their former glory. And in so doing, creates one of the best "What if" questions - "What if KG had the same type of supporting cast as Tim Duncan?" Would KG be considered better? Would it even be a debate? One wonders, right?
Pipe Dream Warning: Anyway, my point being is that it isn't right that Paul is stuck on a crappy team. Here's my solution. Paul has an opt out clause after the summer of 2011. Everyone is making a big deal about the free agents for 2010 (Lebron, Wade, Bosh etc. - But I'm guessing that most of them stay with their respective teams [because they could offer them the most money] and all the hoopla was for nothing. Players say that "winning is the most important thing" but at the end of the day their actions say otherwise. If it's true that "winning is the most important thing" then why not sign for less money so your team will have cap room to get more players? But I digress.) People should be making more of a deal with Paul's pending free agency the following summer because he might actually leave. He's clearly frustrated but is playing the good solider by not complaining and just playing hard. Now, what if the Lakers could convince Kobe and Pau to take less money (both contracts are up in 2011 - unless Kobe signs an extension this year) because they want to go after Paul?
Both players look at each other and say "Holy S***!, Chris Paul!!" Pau says, "Kobe, you've already made a ton of money and you're getting millions more with endorsements." Kobe says, "Okay, if you take less I'll take less." Pau, "Deal." Jerry Buss, "Done and done." Kobe will be 33 by then and Pau will be 31. If they look at it from a career standpoint, Paul setting the table for them instead of Kobe and Pau creating for themselves will add another four or five years to their careers because Paul will only be 26 by then. Not to mention another four or five rings. Bynum will only be 24 in 2011. So you have Paul and Bynum picking and rolling teams to death for the first 40 minutes of the game and having enough SportCenter highlights to fill the week, while Kobe and Pau take over the last 8 minutes? Scary thought.
Depending on how much less Kobe and Pau take, the Lakers still won't have enough for a max deal for Paul. But here's the kicker, every team with cap room this summer is intent on spending it, all of it. This will leave most, if not all teams, with little to no cap space for the summer of 2011. Now Paul has a choice to resign with New Orleans for a max deal and live in lottery hell throughout his prime like KG did with the T'Wolves or he could sign for less with the Lakers and follow in the foot-steps of Magic Johnson and dominate for an entire decade. If winning is truly the most important thing, then every player in this situation takes less money for the ultimate goal of winning championships for the rest of their careers but of course, I'm dreaming. It's still fun to dream.
Kobe Bryant:
He gets his own blog, which I will post at the end of the week. I'm despicable I know.
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