The definitive ranking of the NBA’s best players.
by Vincent Thomas / @vincecathomas
Outside of basketball junkies and the media, Zach was a fairly unknown commodity, unless you lived in Oregon. Unfortunately, for most of Zach’s career, he was a basketball pariah to the hoops junkies and scribes—a lazy, trouble-making cancer. Then the 2011 Playoffs happened, where he averaged 22 and 9 in a first round upset of the Spurs and then 23 and 12 in a seven-game semifinals against the Thunder, often abusing the imposing Perkins/Ibaka tandem that OKC hoped would tame the beast. This capped off his most complete and substantially productive season as a pro.
Belated accolades followed.
Now, he’s routinely mentioned among the elite of the NBA’s elite and celebrated as a legitimate franchise player. Commentators and fans actually glowed about the dude this past spring. And, if that weren’t enough, he went from being cast as a criminal in Portland and a money-drinking disappointment during his brief stint in New York, to, as Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley described him, “a city hero.”
But, he’s still underappreciated.
There aren’t 18 players better than Zach Randolph. The one who really makes absolutely no sense is backseat-riding Kevin Love. KLove puts up meaningless stats for a meaningless team in a meaningless way. Zach changes games and game plans. Zach scares teams. Zach tells Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka that they can get the bozack as he wheels and deals on ‘em so nasty that their teammate, Kevin Durant, is left with the clear idea that Zach’s the best power forward in the League (KD’s words, not mine…well, my words, too).
Zach is one of maybe 10 NBA players who can go into Unstoppable Mode. He’s got more moves down low than any player in the game and the featheriest touch at the cup, to boot. Plus he can J you from 18 to 22 feet. Yeah, that’s unfair. He renders squads helpless. AND he’s getting those huge mitts on a slew balls that clang off the rim.
KLove? Please. KLove couldn’t wash Zach’s jock strap. In fact, while we’re at it, Chris Bosh and LaMarcus Aldridge can hop in the backseat, too. Zach’s more unstoppable and he’s not soft. Blake Griffin? That’s a joke, right? One day, sure. Right now, the young fella’s game is Similac and you know Zach’s is straight Remy. Check his head-to-heads with Love, Aldridge, Griffin and Bosh. They don’t want it with Zach. They know that. He knows that. Do you know that?

| SLAMonline Top 50 Players 2011 | ||||
| Rank | Player | Team | Position | Pos. Rank |
| 50 | Luol Deng | Bulls | SF | 8 |
| 49 | Andrew Bogut | Bucks | C | 7 |
| 48 | Ray Allen | Celtics | SG | 9 |
| 47 | Marc Gasol | Grizzlies | C | 6 |
| 46 | David West | Hornets | PF | 15 |
| 45 | Kevin Martin | Rockets | SG | 8 |
| 44 | Andrew Bynum | Lakers | C | 5 |
| 43 | Brandon Jennings | Bucks | PG | 11 |
| 42 | Lamar Odom | Lakers | PF | 14 |
| 41 | Gerald Wallace | Blazers | SF | 7 |
| 40 | Brook Lopez | Nets | C | 4 |
| 39 | Joakim Noah | Bulls | C | 3 |
| 38 | Carlos Boozer | Bulls | PF | 13 |
| 37 | Kevin Garnett | Celtics | PF | 12 |
| 36 | Eric Gordon | Clippers | SG | 7 |
| 35 | Tony Parker | Spurs | PG | 10 |
| 34 | Andre Iguodala | 76ers | SG | 6 |
| 33 | Al Jefferson | Jazz | PF | 11 |
| 32 | Al Horford | Hawks | C | 2 |
| 31 | Stephen Curry | Warriors | PG | 9 |
| 30 | Tim Duncan | Spurs | PF | 10 |
| 29 | Josh Smith | Hawks | PF | 9 |
| 28 | Manu Ginobili | Spurs | SG | 5 |
| 27 | Tyreke Evans | Kings | PG | 8 |
| 26 | Rudy Gay | Grizzlies | SF | 6 |
| 25 | John Wall | Wizards | PG | 7 |
| 24 | Danny Granger | Pacers | SF | 5 |
| 23 | Monta Ellis | Warriors | SG | 4 |
| 22 | Joe Johnson | Hawks | SG | 3 |
| 21 | Paul Pierce | Celtics | SF | 4 |
| 20 | Steve Nash | Suns | PG | 6 |
| 19 | Zach Randolph | Grizzlies | PF | 8 |
Notes
• Rankings are based solely on projected ’11-12 performance.
• Contributors to this list include: Maurice Bobb, Shannon Booher, David Cassilo, Bryan Crawford, Sandy Dover, Adam Figman, Jon Jaques, Eldon Khorshidi, Ryne Nelson, Doobie Okon, Ben Osborne, Quinn Peterson, Dave Schnur, Abe Schwadron, Dan Shapiro, Irv Soonachan, Todd Spehr, Tzvi Twersky, Yaron Weitzman, DeMarco Williams and Ben York.
• Want more of the SLAMonline Top 50? Check out the archive.
LATEST NEWS & RUMORS
View all »- SLAM Radio: Epitaphs Out East
- Avery Bradley to Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
- Jeff Van Gundy Blasts Orlando Magic for Handling of Stan Van Gundy’s Firing
- JR Smith Arrested in Miami Due to License, Then Released
- Kicks: Derrick Williams’ Birthday Sneaker Scavenger Hunt
- Are the Orlando Magic Ready to Trade Dwight Howard?
- Layup Lines: Survival of the Fittest
- Video: Dwyane Wade Was Proud to Wear Hot Pink Pants
- Russell Westbrook Still Bothered By 42 Points Tony Parker Scored on Him
- View All »


Either this or Aggrey Sam’s piece on Boozer.
I agree though, Kevin Love over Z-Bo?
Never that. Same with LA.
Bosh you could make a case for.
Griffin will be better than all of them, right now one on one he couldn’t dream about stopping Randolph though.
Also, 8 PFs better than Randolph?
Who the hell are they? Cause I’d say there’s only two – Dirk and Pau.
Maybe 3 cause for me it’s too close to call between him and Bosh.
Kevin Love be tryna play wit the knobs on the stereo nahmeans.
Kevin Love can’t adjust the heat controls.
Kevin Love aint built for windshield views.
Kevin Love in the back with the child locks.
Kevin Love needs permission to crack the window open.
Zach Randolph pushes back his seat and takes Kevin Love’s legroom nahmeans.
- pau
- zbo
- la
- amare
Which isnt true at all. Whats he ever done in his career?
1x all star. That’s it.
And, I totally understand why he wrote it.
Plus he can hit the jumper and owns the boards? Nah, Bosh is very good, but what ZBo brings to the table is what Miami desperately needs. Nobody would be demanding that LeBron post up if ZBo was on the squad.
Only you (and I’m sure AllenP too) caught on to what I was doing, though.
1. Dirk
2. Griffin
3. LA
4. Amar’e
5. Pau
6. Zach
7. (tie) Love/Bosh some use stats as an argument when it is convenient and then when someone (Love) puts up good stats, stats are meaningless… be consistent guys… Anyway, I still feel stats are overvalued, and anyway; one mustn’t forget that Bosh put up great (not as great as Love’s) stats on a bad team as well… now David Westesque stats on a good team… I’d still take Love over Bosh… I don’t necessarily think the Wolves would win more with Chandler than Love either. Chandler is a good player but he benefitted as much from playing with Dirk as Dirk benefitted from playing with him.
ZBo improves MIA a lot but at what cost to their defense?
On second thought, forget what I just said. If Chicago is maintained it’s rank as the top defense team with Booooooooozer in the lineup, I’m pretty sure MIA can do the same.
Zach Randolph on the Heat would only have Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem. Maybe Ericka too, I guess.
Let me find out nbk’s some ol’ Big Ghost readin type o’ dude, nahmean?!
For a guy that can jump out of the gym and knows a thing or two about timing considering the amount of boards he gets, 45 blocks on the season is pathetic.
Derrick Rose, who is 7 inches shorter and also not known for defense, had more blocks than that last year.
But what more do I want? Defense.
It’s what’s gonna separate the good players from the GREAT ones.
A wise man once said; “to whom much is given, much is expected”.
Dirk
zbo
Pau
Bosh
La
B.griff
Amare
Love
Is he better than K. Love? Probably. Is it ridiculous close? Absolutely. K Love is the superior rebounder. ZBo is a superior offensive force. K Love is a slightly better passer. And uh, I really don’t know who is worse on defense. That’s the way it breaks down. So, why is ZBo so much better?
2 LA
3 Z-Bo
4 Pau
5 BG
6 BO$H
7 KLove
8 Amaré
He still puts up the same stats in the same way he used, just the team has changed.
Instead he was traded for Tim.
Tim Thomas, that is.
WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????
i dont think Dirk n ZBo be really be compared
they are so different
but personally i wud pick Z-Bo over Dirk
seriously dirk is redirkulous OFFENSIVELY we all know that
but offensively ONLY
if it wasnt for brandan haywood tyson chandler and shawn marion
hes prolly another allen iverson
talents unstoppable but no ring as for blake n klove
they are really talented but for now
Z-Bo is bettter than them in many ways
blake is explosive so what
its only a matter of time where he breaks his leg or injures himself like T-Mac grant hill etc.
n klove we already know he neeeds improvement defensively as well
he has had trouble guarding quicker n stronger PF
n he doesnt seem to defend finesse type of pf like chris bosh
Loves’s PER is way higher at 4th, and unless they play in different leagues Love is much better night in and night out.
Comments