NBA Awards Season: Ranking the Least Valuable Players
The focus near the end of the season in the NBA is usually around two things: Who is going to the playoffs and who is going after the MVP Award.
Well, I'm here to tell you that these things are overrated baby! (Yeesh, my March Madness hangover must still be lingering if I'm writing like Dick Vitale.)
There are all types of Least Valuable Player candidates scattered around the league. I guess, in a way, it would be the player who hurts his team the most.
Whether it be horrible shot selection, bumbling defense, a tendency for bone-headed plays or just a godawful salary—or even a combination of the four—there are many things that could make for an LVP.
There are quite a few players who are in the running for this award this year, but it can only go to one person, so let's start with the players I left out and then get the ball rolling.
The Worst of the Rest
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Many of you may notice in the coming slide that I have left some of your favorite cap-gobbling, bench-sitting, sorry excuse for an athlete off the coming list, well here are a few reasons for leaving a few of those terrible players off.
Expiring contracts-I would love to include guys like Yao Ming, Michael Redd, Vince Carter or everyone's favorite, Eddy Curry on this list, but they actually did good for their respective teams this year. Their contracts coming off the books means their team won't have to pay them ungodly amounts of money anymore.
Overpaid, yet not outplayed-This is a favorite debate recently concerning certain players getting maximum deals yet not being superstars. Players that qualify for this category would include Joe Johnson or Rudy Gay.
Young'uns on terrible teams-Seeing someone like Christian Eyenga get big minutes for the Cavaliers but not produce big numbers would make them seem valueless. However, on such a terrible team, getting rookies experience is more valuable than paying some average guy to come stuff a stat sheet.
Injured guys who's loss is incalculable-I would love to shove Shaq or Greg Oden into this slideshow, but it's hard to tell what their team lost. The biggest loss for the Celtics came when Kendrick Perkins was traded away, so I'd put the blame there on Danny Ainge and not Shaq. As for Oden, it seems like the Blazers were planning from day one on Oden getting injured, as they slid seamlessly into "Oden's injured again" mode.
Darko Milicic-This may be a first, but Darko Milicic is officially not one of the most depressing players in the NBA. He can now hold his own on defense, and is worth a pretty penny to his team. Bravo Darko. Bravo.
8. Zydrunas Ilgauskas/Erik Dampier/Joel Anthony
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There have been times this season where the Miami Heat trio of starting centers have been good, but overall, they have been the biggest weakness of the Heat.
Let's call them Zydoelrik Ilganthier to save time.
Ilganthier has started all 78 games for the Heat, averaging just 7.4 points and eight rebounds in 51 minutes combined per game.
If we want to we can throw Dexter Pittman in there too, who played one game this season and has a PER of -70.3.
7. Barlie Gordenueva
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The duo that was the Detroit Pistons, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, were meant to bridge the gap between the good Pistons teams of the mid-00s to the next decade.
Here they are after nearly two full seasons together and they have led the Pistons to 27 wins for two straight years.
You can't blame them too much, as they are playing with two old guys that need to retire (Ben Wallace and Tracy McGrady) and a bunch of guys that are still adapting to the NBA game, but you would think they could at least help the team push for the eighth seed in the East, which isn't but around 37 wins.
6. Antawn Jamison
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Antawn Jamison started off the year looking like he could possibly help the Cavs get to 30 wins if they ended up with some good luck.
Then he looked like he got tired of trying and just shot the ball every time it ended up in his hands, played lazy defense and looked like a robot.
Aside from that, Jamison went and got hurt halfway through the season, leading to questions about his durability. From that, his trade value fell through a hole in the floor, as next year all he will be is an expiring contract and not a guy that could possibly help a team immensely for half a season.
The Cavs also get to pay him $13 million for their troubles.
5. Andray Blatche
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Let me get one thing straight right now (because I may end up being called a "Wizards Hater" by the end of this slideshow): I don't hate the Wizards, and I actually love watching Andray Blatche play.
Unfortunately, I like to watch him play for all the wrong reasons.
Blatche is your typical stat-stuffer on a below-average team, and his main focus is to stuff that stat sheet so he can get that next big contract.
Otherwise, Blatche is nothing short of a train wreck. His defense is terribly uninspired, as he usually plays for the rebound and nothing else.
You will constantly see Blatche laze around the lane when his team is either down big or up big only to kick it into gear when a shot goes up so he can get position for the rebound.
Then, there is the fact that he was suspended earlier in the season for getting into a scrum with JaVale McGee, his own teammate.
4. Gilbert Arenas
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The Magic traded a terrible contract (Rashard Lewis) to the Wizards for an atrocious contract (Gilbert Arenas—less money initially, but more years; could be crippling if the salary cap hardens) back in December.
The thought was they could get Gilbert on the cheap from a team who wasn't using him much and see if they could bring back some of the old Agent Zero magic.
Long story short, they didn't.
Arenas actually had his best game as a member of the Magic last night, playing 45 minutes and scoring 25 points, but he still only had two assists compared to five turnovers.
3. Tyreke Evans
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Having Tyreke Evans as your second or third best player would make for a terrific team, but with him as your go-to guy, things just get ugly.
Evans gets his points and grabs a handful of assists, as he is averaging 18 and five, but what he does good statistically he takes away in his style of play.
As the best player on the team, he is a bit of a leader for the Kings. Unfortunately for them, he is a guy who takes too many shots (currently shooting 41 percent but 29 percent for three and shooting three long-balls a night) and plays very lackadaisical defense.
DeMarcus Cousins is following his lead on shooting way too much, as he attempts nearly 13 shots a game but makes only 42 percent of them, terrible for a big man.
The whole team is following his lead on defense, as they are giving up 104 points a game.
2. David Lee
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Here's how I think a conversation between Warriors GM Larry Riley and any logical person would go when talking about David Lee.
Larry: "This guy averages 20 and 10, how could I lose!"
Logical: "You know, he's probably the product of a fast-paced offense and plays no defense, right?"
Larry: "We're a fast-paced offense that plays no defense!"
Logical: "Well yeah, but you guys won 26 games last year, wouldn't you think defense would be a good thing?"
Larry: "Naahhh, this'll be fun to watch."
Logical: "Yeah, but you guys still aren't going to win much if you score 110 a game and allow 115 a game."
Larry: "You really think we could score 110 a game?! I think I'll pull off a sign-and-trade and make it so we're paying him $10 million next year and $15 million by 2015—we gotta lock this guy up."
Logical: "Forget it. Just forget it."
That pretty much sums up my feelings on David Lee.
1. Rashard Lewis
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Rashard Lewis is getting paid $20 million this year. That pretty much sums up why there will be a lockout this year.
Lewis made a name for himself as the big man who can stretch a defense to its max, and Orlando bought into it back in the day—at least initially.
He went from averaging a career-high 22 points a game back in 2007 to slowly dropping each year, ending up at just under 12 points and five rebounds a game on the season.
If he were paid per point, he would have made just over 30 grand a point, or 70 grand per rebound. How does that make you feel about your job?
The worst part about it is the fact that Washington is locked up with Lewis for the next two seasons. Yikes.
