article link My All-Future Team Imagine LeBron, Amaré, Parker five years from now Posted: Thursday August 16, 2007 12:26PM; Updated: Thursday August 16, 2007 3:45PM By Ian Thomsen I could have gone crazy here and put the likes of Yi Jianlian and O.J. Mayo on this list. But there are too many good young players currently in the league who will be championship-ready five years from now. The history of the NBA is that the best players have staying power. Five seasons ago, the All-NBA first team was Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady, and they're still among the dominant players today. FRONTCOURT SF | LeBron James | Cleveland Cavaliers In five years he'll just be approaching his peak at age 27. Frightening. PF | Amaré Stoudemire | Phoenix Suns Picture him returning to his original position with new-found range -- out to the three-point line -- to go with his colossal explosiveness around the basket both as a finisher and shot-blocker. As a 29-year-old, he'll be an MVP candidate. <b>C | Yao Ming | Houston Rockets Rick Adelman's offense will bring out Yao's skills as a passer, making him impossible to defend. The center position won't go extinct after all. </b> BACKCOURT PG | Tony Parker | San Antonio Spurs Parker was MVP of the Finals as a 25-year-old. Think how good he'll be at 30. SG | Kobe Bryant | Los Angeles Lakers He'll be 33 and as stubborn as Michael Jordan, which is to say he'll still dominate his position. Bryant's championship window will remain open for a long time. COACH Coach | Nate McMillan | Portland Trail Blazers If he can survive the next couple of years with his ultra-young roster, he could develop a Popovichesque relationship with Greg Oden. McMillan has the work ethic, defensive mind-set and integrity to become a championship coach. RESERVES POSITION PLAYER C Greg Oden, Dwight Howard F Chris Bosh, Kevin Durant G Dwyane Wade, Deron Williams, Chris Paul
I've seen the future of the point guard position in the NBA, and right now, he plays in Utah. Come on Deron, opt out.
The sad part is that they have a list of best players in the game today and TMAC is not mentioned article link
Plus Amare/Shaq are reserves for Duncan on the current team, and no Yao. Shaq I can understand but Yao is better than Amare, period.
i agree with all his members on the squad except the PG spot. How can tony Parker still be good at age 30. Parker's game is his speed, he'll be losing it in 3-4 years, so theres no way he'll be better than he is now. Thomson is stupid for saying that. It's got to be Chris Paul or Deron Williams IMO. A passing PG and a shooting PG will last way longer than a penetrating PG who can't shoot it from outside. Absolutely r****ded pick by thomson
I hate to sound so ignorant, but I really, truly think Parker is overrated like a fool. I agree with the article, that he could be scary five years from now, but right now Parker is a side effect of whistle-happy refs and players scared to pick up weak fouls. (imo)
Kobe has a lot more wear and tear on him at this age than MJ did at the same age. MJ was blessed to stay remarkably healthy most of his career. I wouldn't put Kobe on this list, because I think his body will start breaking down in 2-3 years, if not sooner.
He is becoming a better shooter and distributer as the years pass. Even if he does lose some of his quickness, he is already so fast that he will still be in the top tier in terms of quickness. Not to mention that Nash is gobbling up all these years in the league and has only gotten better and better. Now I don't think he will ever put up Nash style numbers, but he is a winner and will probably put up numbers similar to Billups for the rest of his career. It's crazy to think he will be able to carry a team by himself. He will always need someone in the paint to distract the other team's defense. I'm sure no one would be talking about Parker as a top 5 PG if it wasnt for Duncun.
That's cause in 5 years, T-Mac will have retired from back problems and will be watching B-Ball on TV
No!!! I was referring to the current list not the future list. I would have least thought that he would have been a reserve.
Thats because he is not, as much as I like tmac hes not as good as he used to be and there are other players that have taken his spot
^ he's made the all-nba team in 2 of the 3 yrs as a rocket when he played at least 65 games. so i don't think rocket fans have that vote. so i don't think it's rocket fans who think he's overrated. and i agree, tmac in 5 years will be 32 and his back just won't be that great then. if he still plays, he might be a marginal all-star. but u never know. if pattereson can heal his back, tmac's perimeter game might still make him a pretty good all-star then. but remember. they put parker and amare on that list. parker is a stud over deron and paul???? u see how winning can overrate u? and amare? is he even a franchise player? i don't see any other great upcoming center so yao in there is a shoo-in. bron and kobe are locks. i'm shock wade isn't in there but i think his style of play will make it hard for him to be this great in 4-5 yrs. my top 5 in 5 yrs will be: PG - paul SG - kobe SF - bron PF - howard (i think his offense will improve, but his D and rebounding are already much better than amare) C - yao (oden can challenge this but we have to watch him first)
i agree with this. chris paul is already better than parker. parker just happens to be on a championship team and gets all the spot light. lets see how good he is in 5 years when hald the current roster is retired. howard will be better than amare. infact, if howard played with nash i'm pretty sure he'd be considered an offensive player like amare. in 5 years when nash is gone amare will suffer the same way kmart did when he left kidd. the only thing i'd change is sub kobe for wade. kobe will still be awesome but wade is amazing too, and he's younger. 33 for anyone, even kobe, makes you slow down. yao and bron are safe bets...
watch how wade plays though. he's shown no signs in his 4th yr he is stepping out to the perimeter to get away from the wear and tear of the penetration. remember he's much bigger than AI and thus the contact he gets will wear on him more than AI. i just don't think wade will be a superstar in 3-4 yrs. his shoulder we don't know will ever heal for sure. even if it's fixed, he won't play the same way again. w/ that said, i might move bron to SG and put durant at SF.
There's a player that hasn't been mentioned yet, and maybe it's just because he doesn't play a dominating style of game. But if I'm picking a Dream Team for the future, I would find a spot for Luol Deng. The guy just gets it done.
They really went out on a limb here, picking these unheard of players to become superstars in the near future. This is the provocative journalism and analysis that I've so badly been craving all summer. (I mean c'mon, his futures picks are like all ROY winners or runner ups)
