King-Mag.com released a list of the eight most TiVo-worthy moments of 2008, complete with YouTube video.
It’s a solid list, though there’s a certain swimmer and a certain clutch three-pointer that are curiously missing.
Tag: LeBron James (Page 78 of 85)
Here’s a quick list of the top 10 small forwards under the age of 26, ranked in the order of a combination of current performance and trade value (regardless of salary).
I’ll also list the player’s age and his Player Efficiency Rating.
1. LeBron James, Cavs
Age: 23
PER: 33.28
27.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists on a 20-4 team – can you spell M-V-P?
2. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
Age: 24
PER: 18.50
The Nuggets are sitting atop the Northwest with a 16-7 record and with the arrival of Chauncey Billups, ‘Melo is starting to play defense, as evidenced by his career-high 8.2 rebounds.
3. Danny Granger, Pacers
Age: 25
PER: 18.67
His boards are down, but his points and assists are up. I bet that the six teams that drafted other guys ahead of him – Magic (Fran Vasquez), Clippers (Yaroslav Korolev), Bobcats (Sean May), T-Wolves (Rashad McCants), Nets (Antoine Wright) and the Raptors (Joey Graham) – are all wishing they could have that draft back.
4. Rudy Gay, Grizzlies
Age: 22
PER: 16.54
I’d like to see better assist numbers (1.7), but he’s still scoring at a terrific clip even though ROY candidate O.J. Mayo is in town. But what’s up with that three-point percentage (29%)?
5. Luol Deng, Bulls
Age: 23
PER: 13.41
It’s not good to see your FG% take a dive (to 43%) the season after you sign a fat contract. Even though his minutes are about the same, Deng’s production is down across the board.
6. Thaddeus Young, Sixers
Age: 20
PER: 13.32
Philly is asking a lot more of Young this season, which is why his run has taken a 12-minute jump. Predictably, his numbers are all up, but he’s not as productive on a per-minute basis, which has a lot to do with the dip in his FG% (-6.6%).
7. Trevor Ariza, Lakers
Age: 23
PER: 19.45
It’s not clear why the Knicks and Magic let him go – well, Isiah is to blame in one case – but their inability to see Ariza’s promise worked to the Lakers’ advantage. Defensively, he’s a terror. If he could only shoot the long ball, he’d be the answer to the team’s problem at small forward.
8. Al Thornton, Clippers
Age: 25
PER: 13.37
Thornton’s numbers are up across the boards thanks to increased minutes (+10.4) and better accuracy from the field (+2.6%).
9. Brandan Wright, Warriors
Age: 21
PER: 20.80
Wright is wildly productive in the 17 minutes of playing time he gets each night, but one wonders why Nellie is barely playing him? It’s not like the Warriors have a ton of great players; they’re 7-17 for Pete’s sake.
10. Jeff Green, Thunder
Age: 22
PER: 14.47
Green has made a big jump from his rookie season. His points (15.6), rebounds (5.5) and assists (2.4) are all up, but more importantly, he’s shooting with increased accuracy from the field (+3.2%) and long range (+13.7%). After looking like a bit of a bust last season, he now looks like he’s capable of being Kevin Durant’s sidekick for the long haul.
Who am I missing? Before you jump all over me for leaving someone off, be sure to check the player’s age – all these guys are 25 or younger.
Other lists:
Originally published December 11, 2008.
Updated November 12, 2009.
The phrase “Summer of 2010” has become part of the NBA lexicon. Teams have been tripping over each other trying to clear cap space for next summer so that they can sign an impact free agent (or two). With that in mind, let’s take a look ahead at the free agent crop of 2010.
Below is a list of the top 10 players that are likely to be free agents next summer. I’m ranking them based mostly on talent, but it’s also important to note each player’s age in July of 2010, as that will affect his value and skill. For example, a 31 year-old Paul Pierce holds much more value than a 33 year-old Paul Pierce. Get the drift?
1. LeBron James, SF (26 years-old)
James is the golden boy of this free agent class and is the player that every franchise would love to land next summer. He will have just turned 26 and whatever team is lucky enough to sign him will – barring injury – enjoy four or five years of the best basketball of his career. The Cavs have gone “all in” this season, signing Shaq, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, and re-signing Anderson Varejao. In the process, they gave up whatever cap space they would have enjoyed next summer. If Cleveland’s season ends in disappointment once again, it wouldn’t be surprising if LeBron decides to take his game elsewhere. Three teams — the Knicks, Bulls and Nets — jump out as good fits. LeBron has stated that his top priority is to become a “global icon” and playing in Manhattan would serve that purpose. If the Knicks are able to unload Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries before the trade deadline, then they’ll have the projected cap space to sign two top players on this list, and that might be enough to convince LeBron to sign on the dotted line. Plus, he’s familiar with Mike D’Antoni (via the duo’s work with Team USA) and the Knicks’ up-tempo system would be a near-perfect fit for LeBron’s skill set. The Nets offer a better supporting cast (led by Devin Harris and Brook Lopez) and the (impending?) move to Brooklyn would boost the franchise’s profile. Chicago has a number of pieces already in place (Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Kirk Hinrich) and is bigger market than Cleveland. But would LeBron want to go to the franchise that Michael Jordan built?
Note: Player option (PO)
Originally published December 11, 2008.
Updated November 12, 2009.
The phrase “Summer of 2010” has become part of the NBA lexicon. Teams have been tripping over each other trying to clear cap space for next summer so that they can sign an impact free agent (or two). With that in mind, let’s take a look ahead at the free agent crop of 2010.
Below is a list of the top 10 players that are likely to be free agents next summer. I’m ranking them based mostly on talent, but it’s also important to note each player’s age in July of 2010, as that will affect his value and skill. For example, a 31 year-old Paul Pierce holds much more value than a 33 year-old Paul Pierce. Get the drift?
1. LeBron James, SF (26 years-old)
James is the golden boy of this free agent class and is the player that every franchise would love to land next summer. He will have just turned 26 and whatever team is lucky enough to sign him will – barring injury – enjoy four or five years of the best basketball of his career. The Cavs have gone “all in” this season, signing Shaq, Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, and re-signing Anderson Varejao. In the process, they gave up whatever cap space they would have enjoyed next summer. If Cleveland’s season ends in disappointment once again, it wouldn’t be surprising if LeBron decides to take his game elsewhere. Three teams — the Knicks, Bulls and Nets — jump out as good fits. LeBron has stated that his top priority is to become a “global icon” and playing in Manhattan would serve that purpose. If the Knicks are able to unload Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries before the trade deadline, then they’ll have the projected cap space to sign two top players on this list, and that might be enough to convince LeBron to sign on the dotted line. Plus, he’s familiar with Mike D’Antoni (via the duo’s work with Team USA) and the Knicks’ up-tempo system would be a near-perfect fit for LeBron’s skill set. The Nets offer a better supporting cast (led by Devin Harris and Brook Lopez) and the (impending?) move to Brooklyn would boost the franchise’s profile. Chicago has a number of pieces already in place (Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah and Kirk Hinrich) and is bigger market than Cleveland. But would LeBron want to go to the franchise that Michael Jordan built?
Note: Player option (PO)
Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert had this to say about all of the LeBron-to-the-Knicks talk in recent days.
“This is not LeBron James saying this stuff, this is just a media phenomenon here that will pass in time,” Gilbert said while appearing on “CNBC Reports.”
“We’re focused on this year and you know what, so is he, and he’s focused on this year and next year and hopefully a long career in Cleveland, Ohio. We believe that and we think we have a great situation here and we’re off to a great start.”
There’s nothing wrong with the second part, but if Gilbert doesn’t think that his star player is fueling a lot of this speculation, then he better open his eyes.
In fact, Charles Barkley thinks that LeBron is saying too much.
“If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up,” Barkley said in the Wednesday interview. “I’m a big LeBron fan. He’s a stud. You gotta give him his props. I’m getting so annoyed he’s talking about what he’s going to do in two years. I think it’s disrespectful to the game. I think it’s disrespectful to the Cavaliers.”
LeBron responded like any fifth-grader would…
“He’s stupid. That’s all I’ve got to say about that,” James said Friday night before the Cavaliers’ game against Golden State.
But back to Gilbert, who two months ago said that the media was to blame for the LeBron speculation, which was an insult to the city of Cleveland.
I asked this question before and I’ll ask it again…
Which is a bigger insult to Cleveland — speculating about a possible LeBron departure or pretending that it won’t happen?
If Gilbert wants this talk to go away, he needs to rein in LeBron, who has given several interviews on the topic, saying that July 1st, 2010 “is going to be a big day.” Gilbert needs to get LeBron to tell the press that he’s not going to comment on his future and that he won’t field any questions about the summer of 2010.
The so-called “bored sportswriters” are going to keep speculating, but at least LeBron won’t be adding fuel to the fire.
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