Fantasy

I don't want to list 25, so I'll just post a team 2 deep:
James, Nash
Allen, Wade
McGrady, Nowitzki
Duncan, Garnett
Yao, Okafor

I didn't want anybody past their prime like Kidd and Shaq, and I didn't want anybody that is only potential like Howard and Livingston. I also didn't want The Rapist on my team, so I went with Ray Allen and Wade at the 2 spot.

 

This is a prelim list. Didn't put a lot of thought into it so maybe 1 or 2 are players missing. No way I can do 25 players.

1. Lebron James
2. Tracy Mcgrady
3. Tim Duncan
4. Amare Stoudamire
5. Kevin Garnett
6. Dwayne Wade
7. Kobe Bryant
8. Dwight Howard
9. Yao Ming
10. Dirk Nowitzki
11. Manu Ginobli
12. Ben Gordon

Dr. Basketball, I don't see how you could leave Dwight Howard out of the top 25. Unless something goes seriously wrong, this guy has the talent and character to become a top 5 player. I like Okafor a lot, but in 2-3 years, Howard will have easily passed him by.

Last comment: I would agree more with your list if I was building a team just for next year. Some of the players on your list like Shaq, Nash, Ben Wallace, Ray Allen, Kidd have peaked out and may be on the downside.

 

Without too much thought and not too much emphasis on BIGS.

1. Tim Duncan
2. Tracy McGrady - with a respectable coach.
3. Kevin Garnett
4. Lebron James - with a respectable coach.
5. Kobe Bryant - with a respectable coach.
6. Dwayne Wade
7. Yao Ming
8. Shaquille O'neal
9. Dirk Nowitski
10. Amare Stoudemire - with a respectable coach.
11. Steve Nash
12. Allen Iverson
13. Jason Kidd
14. Vince Carter
15. Ben Wallace
16. Andrei Kirilinko
17. Shawn Marion
18. Jermaine O'neal - with a respectable coach.
19. Ray Allen - with a respectable coach.
20. Manu Ginobili
21. Baron Davis
22. Rasheed Wallace
23. Mike Bibby
24. Paul Pierce
25. Steve Francis - with a respectable coach.
26. Carmelo Anthony
27. Rashard Lewis
28. Richard Hamilton
29. Pau Gasol - with a respectable coach.
30. Kirk Hinrich

Dwight Howard needs to develop some more offensively. Shaun Livingston needs to gain some weight. Emeka Okafur isn't good enough. Tyson Chandler is better than Ben Gordon to me. All those guys have a lot unknown as of right now, who knows where they end up.

Ron Artest is too insane for my taste. Stephon Marbury is off my list because I don't like him, why is he off Dr. Basketball's?

 

At this point, I'd prefer Dale Davis to Baron Davis. He's off my list. Jason Kidd is off mine - he's a coach-killing prima dona who probably won't play the life off his enormous contract due to severe knee issues. Nash's back could blow out at any time, so as good as he is I'd prefer bot to build a team around him. Shaq's days of being dominant at both ends of the floor are long-gone, and if the Heat with the title this year he'll baloon to 400 lbs, so he's off the list.

My top 25:

1) Duncan
2) Garnett
3) Yao
4) Amare

Gotta go with the franchise bigs!

5) Lebron
6)McGrady
7) Wade - Wade is marginally better than Lebron right now, but Lebron will likely have the better career
8) Dirk
9) AK-47
10) Howard
11) Bosh
12) Kobe
13) Marion
14) Pierce
15) Al Jefferson
...2111703) Bruno Sundov

 

'doh, meant "top 15"

 

I'm going to go with a 3-deep by position team:

PG: Wade, Lebron, Hinrich

SG: T-Mac, AI, Ray Allen

SF: AK47, Pierce, Richard Jefferson

PF: KG, Duncan, Elton Brand

C: Yao, Shaq, Amare

just my opinions

 

One player's name on this list is quite baffling.

He averages, for his career, 16 points, 9 rebounds, and almost 2 blocks.

His career best year is 18 points and 8 rebounds.

Top 25 stuff? Not likely.

Yet he has appeared at 3, 7, and 9.

Yao Ming?

I just don't see him in the top 20 yet. I think he breaks the top 25, but definitely not the top 20, he hasn't produced at all. He's almost 25 years old, his best years are ahead of him but they seem to extrapolate to something like 22 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks.

I think the Yao in the top-10 is quite premature.

 

Going with a 3-deep by position team, like RocketsFAN3035:

PG: Nash, Wade, Kidd

SG: Ray Allen, Kobe, Pierce

SF: T-Mac, AK47, Lebron

PF: Nowitzki, Garnett, Duncan

C: Yao, Shaq, Amare

 

bigsm00th, the question was building a franchise, not just next year. I would definitely build a franchise with Yao. If I was putting together a team just for next year, I'd leave him off my top 10. When thinking of the long term future, it's hard for me to leave Yao off. Starting in a couple of years, I expect him to have a long run on the first or second team all-NBA.

 

Despite being under utilized, Yao is the 6th in efficiency rating per 48 minutes. His game level is up there among the first tier elites, but his stamina is short so his minutes are reduced, reflected in lesser stats.

 

Building a team around any NBA player? Beautiful.

It's hard to pass on LeBron James. You're looking at 12-15 years of All-NBA performance. But the same can be said of Amare Stoudemire, too. And Dwyane Wade.

Or you take 7-8 years of excellent performance from Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant.

There are some fantastic young NBA players right now.

 

Well, Antoine Walker had a better scoring average then Yao, so if you want to trade Yao for him be my guest! Every team in the league would love to be able to build around a 7'5" franchise cornerstone. He's not Shaq, but he's the next best thing.