The Top 50

The Final Cuts
As with the All-Star Game, season-ending awards and any of the arbitrary assessments of NBA players, there’s gonna be some close calls; a few guys who got left out and may or may not have deserved an inclusion. I thought a while about including these dudes, and maybe should’ve thought a while longer on some. Either way, here’s why a few faces you might’ve expected to see were no-shows:

Gerald Wallace - #51 for sure, and probably should’ve been higher. I’ll admit I goofed leaving him off; he could’ve probably taken any of the first five slots.

Andre Iguodala – He’s a terrific player and a sick dunker. I originally had him on the list, but I was having a tough time convincing myself he was the best player on Philly last year. I also just wanted to give Miller some respect as one of the most underrated PG’s in the league for years. Too bad he’ll never find out about it.

Corey Maggette – Yeah, he scored a lot on a shitty team last year, but I essentially took Jason Richardson over him because he’s been a more prolific player over his career. We’ll see if Maggette proves me wrong when he takes over J-Rich’s old post in Oakland this year, but a transition to the Warriors, an already erratic team in the midst of a transformation, might be rocky.

Chris Kaman – Just hasn’t been doing it long enough. He had a breakout season last year, but also missed a third of it while playing on the empty Clip. Stay healthy and continue beasting, he’ll be here in no time.

Josh Howard – First off he’s a Mav. I have a completely unavoidable bias against him because he plays alongside the Dirkster. But couple that with his not-so-closet drug use (“only during the offseason”) and subsequent disappearing act against the Hornets...unimpressive.

Kevin Durant – Easily could’ve (and probably should’ve) been included based on his amazing potential, but I tried focusing on where these guys are at now…and had easily cut a bunch of one dimensional 20-scoring swingmen.

Tyson Chandler – Killer defender, but 99% of his points last year came from Chris Paul alley-oops, which might be the easiest buckets in the L.

Ben Gordon & Luol Deng – Both of them kinda regressed in what were supposed to be huge seasons for them and the Bulls. Maybe it was those contracts, but something just didn’t seem correct.

Hedo Turkoglu – Because I felt he was overrated last year, in spite of his surprising comeback season. Plenty of guys on this list do what he does, only better.

Rashard Lewis – Because he Got Rich and Stopped Trying.