Back in the early-mid 2000's all positions were stacked but nowadays it seems like theres not that much in each position. What do you guys think?
Center is the absolutely weakest I've ever seen of the years that I've watched the NBA. It's really not even close.
Shooting Guard is by far the weakest position in the NBA right now. Center is not as weak as folks make it out to be.
Center or Shooting Guard. On the other hand though, PG is as stacked as its ever been, and power forward is solid.
I think a lot of the rules haven't helped either. I think it is SG more than anything, and with so many good PGs have caused a flood of "combo guards."
When people are talking about a flawed guy like Harden dethroning a 36-year-old guy who has just missed a whole season, you know that position is pretty weak.
Interesting that the unanimous verdict is C and SG (which I agree with) while the Rockets have probably the best C and the best SG in the league.
The game has evolved to where the two most important positions are point guard and power forward. It used to be that the center position was more utilized in the post, but ever since the NBA allowed zone defenses, it made it easier for teams to clog the lane up. This change in rules, in my opinion, evolved the most important power player to the PF spot. The prototypical PF would be someone like Karl Malone who can power it inside, but hit a mid-range jumper if the lane was clogged. I'd say point guard has always been the most important position just because the point guard is responsible for setting up the offense and getting everyone in place. He is the quarterback on the floor. Sure, there have been many teams that went on to win the championship without a good point guard (MJ's Bulls, Lebron's Heat, etc...) but those are rare cases where they feature a GOAT player who essentially takes over the point guard duties as a SG or SF during crunchtime. The shooting guard position and small forward positions have sort of evolved into specialty positions. With the offenses leaning more and more towards leveraging the three point shot, many teams fill these positions with specialty players...like JJ Redick or Kyle Korver. Or defensive specialists like Tony Allen or Andre Iguodala. Many teams run their offense through a point guard and power forward and utilize the SG and SF as outlets for 3 point shots if double teamed. I think a lot of teams still think center is the way to go to build a franchise and continue to draft guys like Greg Oden and Joel Embiid because they are centers, but they will eventually realize that centers are best suited as specialty positions focusing on defense and rebounds.
To me, it's not "interesting" but worrisome. Having the best players at the weakest positions might turn out to be fool's gold. I hope I am wrong. Furthermore, our weakest positions (PG and PF) are the strongest in the league.
The center position has weakened. Yao Ming was the last of a dying bread and yes guys that includes Dwight Howard. You can say the game is moving more towards a European style where all 5 guys have to be able to spread the floor. But as far as what the league used to be in the 90's and early 2000's the Center position is now watered down.
Isn't Joakim Noah the best center in the NBA? Well, it's hard to tell who a center is these days because the most effective ones seem to be better suited as a PF. Even Dwight Howard should probably be a PF since he's borderlined at 7' and he has T-Rex arms. I sort of think Anthony Davis is the best center in the NBA right now, but with Asik in New Orleans, I guess he's a locked in as a PF now. And I think people should qualify statements about James Harden as the best "offensive" shooting guard in the league right now. The only guy that Jared Dudley was able to blow by should not be the best anything in the league. I mean, if he dropped 36PPG or something, then it might be easier to ignore his horid defense, but he does not. Defense takes energy too. If Harden tried more on defense, it might impact his energy on the offensive side. I still think a guy like Klay Thompson is totally underrated when ranking the SGs. He is a phenomenal defender and still is a pretty decent threat on the offensive side of the ball too.
You might want to rethink that statement. How many championships since 1990 do you think have been won by a team were their pointguard was there best player? In those 25 years there are 3 or 4 years were the PG might have been the best player on that team (1990, 2004, 2007 2014), and is not even clear cut (I do not think Parker was the best player in 2007, Parker just had an amazing final series and duncan a poor shooting series). During history the center has been the most important position. For some reason the NBA is changing their rules to minimize the importance of a center and to improve the importance of wing players. But I still think a all time great center is the best position to build around. The center position has been terrible since the end of Shaqs era, but I do think it is improving it is better than a couple of years ago. the SG position is weakest now, but that is just something of the last couple of years. So this year I would say SG, but when looking at the last 15 years I would say Center.