All-NBA Teams: Let The Arguments Begin

Each year, the NBA names 15 players to its three all-NBA teams.  With half a dozen games left, I’ll indicate whom I would pick.  I know that people will disagree with some of my picks.  That’s fine.  I will not spend much time discussing the “no-brainers.”  I’ll focus on the close calls.

            But first, a couple of preliminary explanations:

No David Lee:  In terms of his individual statistics, David Lee belongs somewhere on the three all-NBA teams.  Just last night he had an incredible line of 37 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists!  In a losing effort.  To the Golden State Warriors. 

            The point is, it is extremely difficult to evaluate a player’s production on losing teams playing meaningless games.  Would Lee average 20.3 points and 11.3 rebounds on the Cavaliers or the Lakers?  Not a chance.  He’d play, of course, and no doubt be a valued contributor, but it’s impossible to tell at what level.

            My all-NBA teams will strongly reflect the league’s best and winningest teams—they will consist in the players who did the most to make those teams among the best and the winningest.  No one makes my list whose team isn’t currently projecting to a minimum of 45 wins.  Sorry David. 

No Denver Nuggets:  But there are a few teams who make that mark who aren’t represented, namely Denver, Portland, and Milwaukee. 

People will scream about Carmelo.  Well, sorry, but ’Melo is only second on his team in overall production, in terms of season totals (he’s behind the steady Nene).  He’s missed 13 games, yet Denver has managed to cruise along without him.  In fact, Denver has managed to cruise along in spite of ’Melo’s 13 missed games, Chauncey’s 9 missed games, Kenyon Martin’s 21 missed games (and counting), J.R. Smith’s 7 missed games, and Ty Lawson’s 17 missed games.  It’s a remarkable testimony to George Karl’s coaching skills, as well as to Nene and Chris Anderson, who’ve basically been the steady reliable guys. 

But the result is that Denver, who project to 53 wins and the 7^th best record in the NBA, do not have one guy who has the overall numbers (season totals, not averages) to justify, in my mind, a spot on one of the all-NBA teams.  Similar factors apply to Portland.  Milwaukee just barely makes the cutoff of the best teams, in any case, and they have been a very balanced team rather than a team led by one standout player.

OK, then why does Pau Gasol make your list, who has missed 17 games?  The Lakers have won more than Denver, and Gasol’s contribution has been significant enough to warrant his inclusion.

How can you have Tim Duncan as a center?  Because he plays center.  In fact, San Antonio has no other centers on their roster.  They persist for some reason in listing McDyess as their center and Duncan as their power forward, but Duncan jumps center at the beginnings of games, he defends the other team’s center, and he is defended by the other team’s center.  A rose by any other name is still a rose. 

I have allowed myself some flexibility in positions, with the focus on choosing the best five players for 1^st team, the next best five for 2^nd team, etc.  Josh Smith plays the four for Atlanta, but I think we can all agree that he can play the three without any difficulty, so if I can make a better all-NBA second team with Smith at the three, that’s where I’ll put him.

One last note: I do not necessarily consider that the players listed below are the best players at their positions.  I believe they are the players who have earned their spots on the 2010 all-NBA teams based on their contributions to their teams’ success.  Thus, I believe that Brandon Roy is a better player than Joe Johnson, but I have Johnson at 3^rd team all-NBA because Roy has missed 15 games and because the Hawks have been better than the Trailblazers.  OK, so here are the teams:

1^st Team

F: LeBron James

F: Kevin Durant

C: Dwight Howard

SG: Kobe Bryant

PG: Steve Nash*

2^nd Team

SF: Josh Smith*

PF: Dirk Nowitzki

C: Pau Gasol*

SG: Dwyane Wade

PG: Deron Williams*

3^rd Team

SF: Lamar Odom*

PF: Carlos Boozer

C: Tim Duncan

SG: Joe Johnson*

PG: Rajon Rondo*

            The asterisks indicate the choices where I expect some contention.  I have already discussed Joe Johnson and Josh Smith (also Tim Duncan at center).  I’ll talk about the other controversial choices.

I assume that for almost everyone, four players are a lock for 1^st team (James, Durant, Howard, and Bryant).  I don’t care that James and Durant both play the three.  A team with Howard, James, and Durant on its front line would have no rebounding problem, nor any problem defending the other team’s four.

            I’m betting that people will not like the choice of Nash on 1^st team.  Let me say, first of all, that for me Nash is barely ahead of Wade, Deron Williams, and Rondo, and that the last half-dozen games could scramble the places of those four entirely. 

            Is Wade the second best guard in the NBA?  Certainly, but I feel that, as of right now, Nash has earned the 1^st team spot, by a slight margin.

For now, the fact is that the Suns are tied with Dallas for 2^nd best record in the tough Western Conference, they project to win 54 games, they do it mostly with offense, and like it or not, Steve Nash (not Amare Stoudemire) is the key to their offense.  Nash is one of the most efficient and productive offensive players in the NBA, and throwaway players from other teams (Frye, Dudley, even Grant Hill) come to Phoenix and suddenly look like top-notch offensive players, because of Nash. 

If Amare ever does finally go somewhere else, I think we will see a different player without Nash to get him the ball in those pick-and-rolls.  Does Nash suck on defense?  Pretty much, but the Suns are able to cover enough for his weaknesses that they still average 4.7 points per game more than their opponents.  Should Nash have won back-to-back MVP awards?  No, but we can’t keep punishing him for that.  He is a great offensive player.

            I’m also guessing that some folks in Laker nation will actually object to Gasol being 2^nd team, and Odom being 3^rd team (and I’m aware Odom mostly plays the four, but it’s a given that he can play the three equally well).  All I can say is that without their production, L.A. would not have the second best record in the league.  Is Odom better than Carmelo?  No, but he's done as much to maintain L.A. at the top as Carmelo has done to maintain Denver near the top, but not quite.

            I guess some folks will object to Rondo, but again, without Rondo, there’s no way the Celtics would be where they are.

            That’s about it.  Let the carping begin!  Release the Kracken!