The definitive ranking of the best players in the NBA today…
He’s won an Olympic Gold Medal now, which is akin to winning an Emmy. I’ll finish this analogy by saying winning an NBA Championship is like winning an Oscar (you got that, right?).
The point I’m making is Michael Redd is a good player and at times a great scorer, but may have been 
somewhat overrated in the last few years. He shouldn’t have been considered a top-tier guy to begin with, but I can see how the mistake created itself.
Redd was caught in the same no man’s land that a segment of the NBA always gets caught in. He’s too talented to be a rotation guy but not quite dominant or consistent enough to be a star. Yet these sorts of players always ask and expect to be paid like stars. They also tend to – by the very nature of the League and its financial conditions – drive fans nutty (I make no blanket judgments on a player’s market value. I’m just making an observation).
Players like Redd are better suited as being the man next to the man, but if your team is bereft of talent, then it often gets trapped in the middle. If you follow the planetary sciences, you know planets revolve around stars (Earth revolves around the star known as Sol. Think of the name we call it, the Sun, as something like a nickname) and under them are dwarf stars – great in size and power but nothing compared to their superior counterpart. In NBA terms, Redd is a dwarf star (as are all of the names you’ll find at this point in the Top 50).
If you don’t pay these secondary stars big money, they may leave or sulk. You need them to play – and play happy – so your real stars can function at their top ability. Of course, it’s hard to come to a common ground about what to pay these kinds of players since paying them too much may alienate your real stars and/or leave you with too little money to sign rotation players.
This is Michael Redd in a nutshell.
During the early years, he was considered a find – an up-and-coming guy with a sweet outside stroke who could potentially be a key component of a contending team. But once he signed a $90 million deal back in ’05, people expected him to be great – to be a franchise player – and not just part of the puzzle. Andrew Bogut and the since-departed Mo Williams were thought to be pieces to build around Redd, but things never coalesced in Milwaukee.
Redd put-up the following numbers last season:
Finished eighth overall in points per game (22.7 per), started 71 games, 4.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, shot 44 percent from the filed, 36 percent from 3-point territory and 82 percent from the foul line. (He’s been solid his entire career, once dropping 57-points in a game against the Jazz in ’06 and making the 2004 All-Star Game).
That resulted in 26 wins, however. An assortment of problems explains the Bucks’ mediocre record, but Redd’s name was firmly in trade talks up until the Bucks brought-in former Nets star Richard Jefferson, a player also in that dwarf/lesser star category. So now what?
I mentioned that he scores well, but here’s what he’s not so great at. He’s an average defender and can regularly be contained by second-tier defensive talents. He’s also not much of a motivating force – he watched the Bucks settle for being regular last year. The upside is he’s in his prime (his age of 29 is hidden by a rapid ascension into baldness. I’m not clowning him by the way, just saying…), and a summer spent surrounded by the competitive types such as LeBron, Chris Paul and Kobe should push anybody to the next level mentally…in theory.
New Bucks coach Scott Skiles is known to push guys, and the team seems like it’s more prepared to compete than last season. His ability to stretch the floor with his outside shooting and overall scoring ability should put the team in playoff contention. Whether or not the Bucks qualify for the postseason will disprove or confirm his placement on our list. We’ll soon find out.
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does this mean you know who tomorrow’s player (j. o’neal) is?
and if so are you privy to the entire list?
but i have him at #37. as david west #39.
i’ll credit that on the rookies, that you guys might include and i don’t even have Oden on my list.
= Minimum of 10 games for an NBA team =
i don’t think i agree on that… anyway…
don’t get me wrong, i love the guy since the bucks (!!!) but if you can’t find 10 guys better than Ray-Ray… well, that means you only watch 4 or 5 teams during the season.
i have Redd#35 and Allen#24.
They didn’t have nearly as much fun though I suspect.
@betcats…yeah I forgot the Detroit series. Did the Bucks get swept or was Detroit bored and Milwaukee got one game? ”
1 man cant beat 5 Scott. Not even Kobe could get out of the first round in the pre-Gasol post-Shaq days, and thats if he made them
Kobe
Nash
Duncan
CP3
Howard
Melo
Iverson
Garnett
Pierce
Baron
Brand
Gil
Shawn Bradley
D-Wade
Really Baconator? He gets top 15? Interesting…
example: i like ray-ray way better, but i gave Melo a higher rank and billups was always on eof my favourites, but i gave him #25 for all the disappointment in the playoffs
how can Mr Big Shots let detroit make such a run in the regular seasn and than play like that in the postseason???
anyway, my top10 is the same as scott, except that its not in this order and i take away Nash (#12), Dwight(#14) and deron(#15) to put Tim Duncan (scott probably forgot), AI#3 and TMAC.
There ARE NO knicks or Bulls as a top-50, even though i was expecting someone would try to fit Luol Deng in there
:S
anyway, Jukai, i hate Dirk man, he is a top10 most hated in the league for me, but, i have to admit that he has his values and i gave him #17.
i would put him as #20high, but its tough to rank the players you hate, cause i usually take the hate to amazing levels (remember olympics-lebron?)
anyway, i have AI high cause he was always the man and i think he desearves a very good spot. he was always a top5 on my passion-players… i droped him to 8th, cause i know, he is getting old, but 8th is the worst i can give to this guy.
he is definitly a true player.
COULD, but he would probably need another brain up there and i don’t think he got one this off-season…
Let’s all quit pretending like we’ve seen Michael Redd play enough to know whether or not he should be higher or lower on this list. Seriously, if you don’t live in Milwaukee you probably only watch the Bucks play when they’re playing your favorite team. due to bogut hyped up in aus, the majority of games shown (which isnt many) are mostly bucks games. So i can talk bout his game as i see it sort of regularly
West averaged about 2 points less, while almost doubling his rebounding. Not to mention The Hornets are going to be a powerhouse (yes, that is mostly because of Chris Paul, but the Hornets would definitely NOT be as good without West either). A lot of players have been underrated so far, especially from the Pistons starting line-up.
i hope Khalid keeps writing cause it has been awesome
i think i’m going with calderon there, but i don’t know, i still don’t trust him, even after last season…
here comes a big one. or a complete BUST!
hahahahah
or, the 1st rookie.
Jukai says:
Tayshun Prince didn’t make my list. A guy who can’t score outside of the paint or create for others does not make my list.
First, he can. Second, is Dwight Howard then not in your 50? (By the way, I really hope SLAM doesn’t overrate him. Does not belong in the top 10. Please don’t make that mistake)
Tealish: I should have specified “wing players.” However, I do expect my centers to have range and passing ability, and this keeps Howard out of my top 15. Chamberlain, Jabbar, Shaq, Hakeem… they could all pass masterfully out of a double team and hit the open man. Howard can’t do this yet. It is troublesome.
I noticed that on the homepage Michael Redd is dribbling a basketball. Dribbling? Really? He can dribble? I thought he was a shooter. Not a dribbler. This is supposed to be sarcasm but I suck at it. Point is, Redd is not a dribbler and ( I think) that SLAM is taking is taking the p1ss outta him. Or it could be my profound sense of humour
DP says:
I guess…he’s at least he’s a top five shooter. On who’s list????????????
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