NBA: Which Positions Are Lacking the Most Talent?

The NBA is a league that has been dominated by big men for many years. The taller and bigger you were, the better your odds would be succeeding at the NBA level.

With numerous rule changes in the last decade or two, things have changed, and the need for a bruiser down low has quickly been replaced by the need of an athletic and quick big man.

Early on this decade it was the shooting guard who took the spotlight. The true pioneer of this era was Micheal Jordan, but shortly after came flashy big name stars like Iverson, Carter, Allen, Pierce, Bryant and McGrady, amongst others, had taken over the league with their amazing scoring abilities.

The league is ever-changing and continues to evolve constantly. Toward the end of this decade we have seen yet another transformation in basketball where it seems NBA teams have come face to face with the reality they've been trying to run away from: Defense wins championships. Now elite scorers like Monta Ellis and Carmelo Anthony are losing popularity amongst NBA teams that are constantly prioritizing defense over offense.

Despite the NBA's attempts to change the rules (remove: hand checking, back-to-basket rule, defensive three seconds, etc) and enable more fluid offenses, they haven't managed to erase the great strategic advantage given to "defensive" teams that might not be very flashy, but continue to remain atop of the standings.

While much of the NBA's talent consists of interchangeable players, it's become clear some positions dominate in the NBA, while finding productive talent in others is quickly starting to fade away. Here we're going to look at each position in the NBA and assess which positions are thinner in talent compared to others. The results may be surprising.

Stats are represented as:

RK PLAYER TEAM GP MPG PTS FG% 3P% FT%

5. Power Forwards

RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
1	Amar'e Stoudemire, PF	78	36.8	25.3	.502	.435	.792
2	Dirk Nowitzki, PF	73	34.3	23.0	.517	.393	.892
3	Blake Griffin, PF	82	38.0	22.5	.506	.292	.642
4	LaMarcus Aldridge, PF	81	39.6	21.8	.500	.174	.791
5	Kevin Love, PF	73	35.8	20.2	.470	.417	.850
6	Zach Randolph, PF	75	36.3	20.1	.503	.186	.758
7	Michael Beasley, PF	73	32.3	19.2	.450	.366	.753
8	David West, PF	70	35.0	18.9	.508	.222	.807
9	Pau Gasol, PF	82	37.0	18.8	.529	.333	.823
10	Chris Bosh, PF	77	36.3	18.7	.496	.240	.815
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
11	Luis Scola, PF	74	32.6	18.3	.504	.000	.738
12	Antawn Jamison, PF	56	32.9	18.0	.427	.346	.731
13	Carlos Boozer, PF	59	31.9	17.5	.510	.000	.701
14	Paul Millsap, PF	76	34.3	17.3	.531	.391	.757
15	Andray Blatche, PF	64	33.9	16.8	.445	.222	.777
16	Josh Smith, PF	77	34.4	16.5	.477	.331	.725
17	Danilo Gallinari, F	62	33.9	15.6	.414	.352	.862
18	Elton Brand, PF	81	34.7	15.0	.512	.000	.780
19	Kevin Garnett, PF	71	31.3	14.9	.528	.200	.862
20	Lamar Odom, PF	82	32.2	14.4	.530	.382	.675
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
21	DeMarcus Cousins, PF	81	28.5	14.1	.430	.167	.687
22	J.J. Hickson, PF	80	28.2	13.8	.458	.000	.673
23	Jeff Green, F	75	32.4	13.3	.449	.303	.811
24	Thaddeus Young, F	82	26.0	12.7	.541	.273	.707
25	Carl Landry, PF	76	26.4	11.9	.502	.000	.740
26	Glen Davis, PF	78	29.5	11.7	.448	.133	.736
27	Rashard Lewis, PF	57	32.0	11.7	.433	.357	.802
28	Drew Gooden, PF	35	24.6	11.3	.431	.150	.794
29	Boris Diaw, PF	82	33.9	11.3	.492	.345	.683
30	Brandon Bass, PF	76	26.1	11.2	.515	.000	.815
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
31	Charlie Villanueva, PF	76	21.9	11.1	.442	.387	.767
32	Tyler Hansbrough, PF	70	21.9	11.0	.465	.000	.779
33	Ryan Anderson, PF	64	22.3	10.6	.430	.393	.812
34	Al Harrington, PF	73	22.8	10.5	.416	.357	.735
35	Tyrus Thomas, PF	41	21.0	10.2	.471	.000	.787
36	Kris Humphries, PF	74	27.9	10.0	.527	.000	.665
37	Serge Ibaka, PF	82	27.0	9.9	.543	.000	.750
38	Amir Johnson, PF	72	25.7	9.6	.568	.000	.788
39	Ersan Ilyasova, PF	60	25.1	9.5	.436	.298	.894
40	Greg Monroe, PF	80	27.8	9.4	.551	.000	.622

The power forward slot is and has been loaded for a long a time. It can be argued that power forwards make up the largest portion of talent in the NBA when you consider how many natural PF's play the center and SF positions.

The position holds at least 11-12 All-Stars, and is also occupied by many "border-liners" and prospects. With six players scoring at least 20 points per game and almost every single PF in the top 40 being key players on their respective teams, the power forward is the most dominant position, talent-wise, in the NBA.

4. Point Guards

RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
1	Derrick Rose, PG	81	37.4	25.0	.445	.332	.858
2	Russell Westbrook, PG	82	34.7	21.9	.442	.330	.842
3	Deron Williams, PG	65	37.9	20.1	.439	.331	.845
4	Stephen Curry, PG	74	33.6	18.6	.480	.442	.934
5	Tyreke Evans, PG	57	37.0	17.8	.409	.291	.771
6	Tony Parker, PG	78	32.4	17.5	.519	.357	.769
7	Chauncey Billups, PG	72	32.1	16.8	.427	.402	.916
8	John Wall, PG	69	37.8	16.4	.409	.296	.766
9	Brandon Jennings, PG	63	34.4	16.2	.390	.323	.809
10	Chris Paul, PG	80	36.0	15.9	.463	.388	.878
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
11	Raymond Felton, PG	75	36.5	15.5	.425	.353	.805
12	Rodney Stuckey, PG	70	31.2	15.5	.439	.289	.866
13	Devin Harris, PG	71	31.7	15.2	.422	.322	.833
14	Steve Nash, PG	75	33.3	14.7	.492	.395	.912
15	D.J. Augustin, PG	82	33.6	14.4	.416	.333	.906
16	Mo Williams, PG	58	30.8	14.0	.399	.324	.853
17	Jrue Holiday, PG	82	35.4	14.0	.446	.365	.823
18	Beno Udrih, PG	79	34.6	13.7	.500	.357	.864
19	Lou Williams, PG	75	23.3	13.7	.406	.348	.823
20	Mike Conley, PG	81	35.5	13.7	.444	.369	.733
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
21	Kyle Lowry, PG	75	34.2	13.5	.426	.376	.765
22	Ramon Sessions, PG	81	26.3	13.3	.466	.200	.823
23	Darren Collison, PG	79	29.9	13.2	.457	.331	.871
24	Jameer Nelson, PG	76	30.5	13.1	.446	.401	.802
25	Baron Davis, PG	58	28.4	13.1	.417	.339	.771
26	Andre Miller, PG	81	32.7	12.7	.460	.108	.853
27	Luke Ridnour, PG	71	30.4	11.8	.468	.440	.883
28	Ty Lawson, PG	80	26.3	11.7	.503	.404	.764
29	Daniel Gibson, PG	67	27.8	11.6	.400	.403	.822
30	George Hill, PG	76	28.3	11.6	.453	.377	.863
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
31	Gilbert Arenas, PG	70	25.7	10.8	.366	.297	.784
32	Aaron Brooks, PG	59	21.8	10.7	.375	.297	.886
33	Rajon Rondo, PG	68	37.2	10.6	.475	.233	.568
34	Jose Calderon, PG	68	30.9	9.8	.440	.365	.854
35	Gary Neal, PG	80	21.1	9.8	.451	.419	.808
36	Jordan Farmar, PG	73	24.6	9.6	.392	.359	.820
37	Jose Juan Barea, PG	81	20.6	9.5	.439	.349	.847
38	Jerryd Bayless, PG	71	21.1	9.2	.422	.336	.806
39	Jarrett Jack, PG	83	20.7	8.9	.408	.306	.850
40	Shannon Brown, PG	82	19.1	8.7	.425	.349	.911
X	Jason Kidd, PG	80	33.2	7.9	.361	.340	.870

Here you can see there is a large number of talented point guards in the league, with three PG's scoring more 20 PPG and 24 others scoring in double figures.

There are at least 10 All-Star level PG's currently in the league, but the position is loaded with good players. The majority of the top PG's are still young with a lot ahead of them.

3. Small Forwards

RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
1	Kevin Durant, SF	78	38.9	27.7	.462	.350	.880
2	LeBron James, SF	79	38.8	26.7	.510	.330	.759
3	Carmelo Anthony, SF	77	35.7	25.6	.455	.378	.838
4	Danny Granger, SF	79	35.0	20.5	.425	.386	.848
5	Rudy Gay, SF	54	39.9	19.8	.471	.396	.805
6	Paul Pierce, SF	80	34.7	18.9	.497	.374	.860
7	Luol Deng, SF	82	39.1	17.4	.460	.345	.753
8	Dorell Wright, SF	82	38.4	16.4	.423	.376	.789
9	Gerald Wallace, SF	71	37.9	15.7	.454	.333	.746
10	Wilson Chandler, SF	72	33.3	15.3	.450	.350	.807
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
11	Caron Butler, SF	29	29.9	15.0	.450	.431	.773
12	Tayshaun Prince, SF	78	32.8	14.1	.473	.347	.702
13	Grant Hill, SF	80	30.1	13.2	.484	.395	.829
14	C.J. Miles, SF	78	25.2	12.8	.407	.322	.811
15	Shawn Marion, SF	80	28.2	12.5	.520	.152	.768
16	Nicolas Batum, SF	80	31.5	12.4	.455	.345	.841
17	Corey Maggette, SF	67	20.9	12.0	.453	.359	.834
18	Andrei Kirilenko, SF	64	31.2	11.7	.467	.367	.770
19	Carlos Delfino, SF	49	32.4	11.5	.390	.370	.800
20	Mike Dunleavy, SF	61	27.6	11.2	.462	.402	.800
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
21	Linas Kleiza, SF	39	26.5	11.2	.438	.298	.631
22	Trevor Ariza, SF	75	34.7	11.0	.398	.303	.701
23	Richard Jefferson, SF	81	30.4	11.0	.474	.440	.759
24	Hedo Turkoglu, SF	81	31.4	10.8	.446	.410	.679
25	Jared Dudley, SF	82	26.1	10.6	.477	.415	.743
26	Marvin Williams, SF	65	28.7	10.4	.458	.336	.845
27	Martell Webster, SF	46	23.8	9.8	.447	.417	.770
28	Chase Budinger, SF	78	22.3	9.8	.425	.325	.855
29	Reggie Williams, SF	80	20.3	9.2	.469	.423	.746
30	Travis Outlaw, SF	82	28.8	9.2	.375	.302	.772
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
31	Wesley Johnson, SF	79	26.2	9.0	.397	.356	.696
32	Omri Casspi, SF	71	24.0	8.6	.412	.372	.673
33	Ron Artest, SF	82	29.4	8.5	.397	.356	.676
34	Peja Stojakovic, SF	33	18.7	8.5	.441	.419	.920
35	Josh Howard, SF	18	22.7	8.4	.358	.241	.617
36	Paul George, SF	61	20.7	7.8	.453	.297	.762
37	Shane Battier, SF	82	29.0	7.6	.450	.382	.688
38	Austin Daye, SF	72	20.1	7.5	.410	.401	.759
39	Al Thornton, SF	71	19.5	7.4	.476	.154	.775

The small forward position has been spearheaded by superstars throughout the decade, and the majority of small forwards today are meant to be defensive anchors who are still expected to contribute on offense.

With about eight All-Stars and nearly 10 borderline All-Stars, the SF spot is one of the most underrated positions in the game. Due to the large number of tweeners and declining veterans, the SF position has become weaker than the PG and PF positions today, but is filled with more complementary players than any other position.

2. Shooting Guards

RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
1	Dwyane Wade, SG	76	37.1	25.5	.500	.306	.758
2	Kobe Bryant, SG	82	33.9	25.3	.451	.323	.828
3	Monta Ellis, SG	80	40.3	24.1	.451	.361	.789
4	Kevin Martin, SG	80	32.5	23.5	.436	.383	.888
5	Eric Gordon, SG	56	37.7	22.3	.450	.364	.825
6	Stephen Jackson, SG	67	35.9	18.5	.411	.337	.816
7	Joe Johnson, SG	72	35.5	18.2	.443	.297	.802
8	Nick Young, SG	64	31.8	17.4	.441	.387	.816
9	Manu Ginobili, SG	80	30.3	17.4	.433	.349	.871
10	DeMar DeRozan, SG	82	34.8	17.2	.467	.096	.813
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
11	Ray Allen, SG	80	36.1	16.5	.491	.444	.881
12	Wesley Matthews, G	82	33.6	15.9	.449	.407	.844
13	Jason Terry, SG	82	31.3	15.8	.451	.362	.850
14	Jason Richardson, SG	80	33.9	15.6	.447	.395	.730
15	Jamal Crawford, G	76	30.2	14.2	.421	.341	.854
16	Richard Hamilton, SG	55	27.2	14.1	.429	.382	.849
17	Andre Iguodala, SG	67	36.9	14.1	.445	.337	.693
18	John Salmons, SG	73	35.0	14.0	.415	.379	.813
19	Vince Carter, SG	73	28.1	14.0	.437	.361	.740
20	Leandro Barbosa, SG	58	24.1	13.3	.450	.338	.796
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
21	Anthony Morrow, SG	58	32.0	13.2	.450	.423	.897
22	Marcus Thornton, G	73	24.3	12.8	.434	.367	.788
23	Arron Afflalo, SG	69	33.7	12.6	.498	.423	.847
24	J.R. Smith, SG	79	24.9	12.3	.435	.390	.738
25	Brandon Roy, SG	47	27.9	12.2	.400	.333	.848
26	James Harden, G	82	26.7	12.2	.436	.349	.843
27	Jordan Crawford, SG	42	24.5	11.7	.384	.258	.869
28	O.J. Mayo, SG	71	26.3	11.3	.407	.364	.756
29	Ben Gordon, SG	82	26.0	11.2	.440	.402	.850
30	Toney Douglas, G	81	24.3	10.6	.416	.373	.794
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
31	Jodie Meeks, G	74	27.9	10.5	.425	.397	.894
32	Marco Belinelli, SG	80	24.5	10.5	.437	.414	.784
33	Kirk Hinrich, G	72	30.0	10.2	.446	.399	.841
34	J.J. Redick, SG	59	25.6	10.1	.441	.397	.875
35	Sasha Vujacic, SG	67	24.6	9.8	.402	.370	.844
36	Randy Foye, G	63	24.6	9.8	.388	.327	.893
37	Landry Fields, G	82	31.0	9.7	.497	.393	.769
38	Francisco Garcia, SG	58	23.9	9.7	.436	.362	.855
39	Gerald Henderson, G	68	24.4	9.6	.454	.194	.785
40	Sonny Weems, SG	59	23.9	9.2	.444	.279	.766

This one's a shocker.

Has the era of dominant shooting guards in the NBA passed?

The SG position has some great players at the top, but the level of talent on the list quickly drops to average role-players shortly after. What's even more surprising is that a lot of the serviceable shooting guards are the household names we've been used to over the decade, and they are growing older and older.

There are five players who score above the 20-point mark, but less than half of the top 10 in scoring are on winning teams. With only about 5-6 All-Stars on the list and about half a dozen good but not good enough players, the SG position is arguably the second weakest position in the league.

1. Center

RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
1	Dwight Howard, C	78	37.6	22.9	.593	.000	.596
2	Andrea Bargnani, C	66	35.7	21.4	.448	.345	.820
3	Brook Lopez, C	82	35.2	20.4	.492	.000	.787
4	Al Jefferson, C	82	35.9	18.6	.496	.000	.761
5	David Lee, C	73	36.1	16.5	.507	.333	.787
6	Al Horford, C	77	35.1	15.3	.557	.500	.798
7	Nene Hilario, C	75	30.5	14.5	.615	.200	.711
8	Tim Duncan, C	76	28.4	13.4	.500	.000	.716
9	Andrew Bogut, C	65	35.3	12.8	.495	.000	.442
10	Channing Frye, C	77	33.0	12.7	.432	.390	.832
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
11	Roy Hibbert, C	81	27.7	12.7	.461	.000	.745
12	Chris Kaman, C	32	26.2	12.4	.471	.000	.754
13	Marc Gasol, C	81	31.9	11.7	.527	.429	.748
14	Joakim Noah, C	48	32.8	11.7	.525	.000	.739
15	Andrew Bynum, C	54	27.8	11.3	.574	.000	.660
16	Emeka Okafor, C	72	31.8	10.3	.573	.000	.562
17	Marcin Gortat, C	80	25.4	10.2	.561	.250	.725
18	Yao Ming, C	5	18.2	10.2	.486	.000	.938
19	Tyson Chandler, C	74	27.8	10.1	.654	.000	.732
20	JaVale McGee, C	79	27.8	10.1	.550	.000	.583
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
21	Shaquille O'Neal, C	37	20.3	9.2	.667	.000	.557
22	Jason Thompson, C	75	23.3	8.8	.507	.000	.605
23	Darko Milicic, C	69	24.4	8.8	.469	.000	.557
24	Nenad Krstic, C	71	22.1	8.1	.511	.000	.774
25	Samuel Dalembert, C	80	24.2	8.1	.473	.000	.730
26	Kwame Brown, C	66	26.0	7.9	.517	.000	.589
27	Chuck Hayes, C	74	28.1	7.9	.527	.000	.662
28	Spencer Hawes, C	81	21.2	7.2	.465	.243	.534
29	Nazr Mohammed, C	75	17.1	7.1	.522	.000	.598
30	DeAndre Jordan, C	80	25.6	7.1	.686	.000	.452
RK	PLAYER	GP	MPG	PTS	FG%	3P%	FT%
31	Anthony Tolliver, C	65	21.0	6.7	.450	.409	.802
32	Robin Lopez, C	67	14.8	6.4	.501	.000	.740
33	Brad Miller, C	60	16.9	6.4	.446	.374	.830
34	Kendrick Perkins, C	29	25.6	6.0	.515	.000	.556
35	Chris Andersen, C	45	16.3	5.6	.599	.000	.637
36	Nikola Pekovic, C	65	13.6	5.5	.517	.000	.763
37	Marreese Speights, C	64	11.5	5.4	.495	.250	.753
38	Jermaine O'Neal, C	24	18.0	5.4	.459	.000	.674
39	Ryan Hollins, C	70	16.9	5.3	.598	.000	.681
40	Trevor Booker, C	65	16.4	5.3	.549	.000	.673

The center position has been the weakest position in the NBA from the new millennium onwards. With only two dominant NBA centers in the last 10 years (Shaq, Howard, maybe Yao and Big Ben), the center position is the weakest behind the other positions by a large margin.

A large number of the talented centers are truly power forwards (Jefferson, Bargnani, Duncan, Lee), and though no winner can get anywhere without one, finding a good NBA center statistically is very hard.

Players who barely average 10 points and eight boards are paid more than All-Stars. Players like Marc Gasol (11.7 points, seven boards a game) and Tyson Chandler (eight points, 9.2 boards a game) are due near-max contracts this offseason. More than half of these players would be All-Stars statistically if the NBA rules were more lenient on big men, but today every other center has an issue with foul trouble and playing time.

As I look at the names and see that there are only 19-20 players who can be considered "legit" starting centers in the NBA, I come to the conclusion that just being big and tall no longer guarantees any production in this league, even though it will likely guarantee a huge contract.

Conclusion

In conclusion I'd like to say a it's surprising how differently players are statistically compared to my assumption that "it's a point guards league". Before looking at the numbers and trying to judge players by their position I thought talented Shooting Guards were much more common than they really are. I could be wrong however, as there are many things that are important qualities to players which don't show up on stat sheets. Being a Center and not grabbing 10 boards and blocking 2 shots doesn't mean your presence doesn't effect the opposing offense. With that being said I'd like to note a few more things:

1) The ranking here listed players by their scoring averages, but I did not consider players good or bad based on their PPG statistic, rather I looked at all stats before writing (just couldn't fit everything on here).

2) Due to the vastness of what we're measuring here, I did not get into details. When I would say "this position has about 10 all-stars" I went by my personal opinion which I base on the players value to their team, their records, and numbers.

3) The information listings here was from ESPN, kudos to them for providing NBA info so conveniently.

3) Everything which I have written is of my own opinion and I'm far from an expert at anything. That's why I'd like to know yours! comment and tell me what you think: Is the league truly a Point Guard league? Are the majority of power forwards 'second bananas' despite the position more players with good stats?