10. John Salmons, Milwaukee Bucks
2010 Stats: 15.9ppg 3.4rpg 1.3spg
He's listed as a SG officially, but Salmons is a swingman so I'm going to give my self license to list him here. Salmons hasn't spent an entire season with one team since 2008 being bounce around from Sacromento, to Chicago then to Milwaukee. He is very undervalued. Since being traded to Milwauke Salmons has put up nearly 20ppg.
9. Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls
2010 Stats: 17.6ppg 7.3rpg 2.0apg
Deng is one of the more efficient scoring SFs in the league. After sitting out the majority of the 2009 season Deng came back strong. With the strengthening of Chicago's roster, Deng's role on the Bulls will likely be demoted from a team leader to a role player.
8. Ron Artest, Los Angeles Lakers
2010 Stats: 11ppg 4.3rpg 1.4spg
His numbers are the least impressive of any player on this list, but that's the sacrifice he made when he decided to join the best team in basketball. Ron kept the off-court and on-court antics to a minimum last season (other than that awful rap video). Any doubt that his addtion to the Lakers made them better was erased in Game 7 of the Finals. QB IN THE HOOUUSSEE!
7. Rudy Gay, Memphis Grizzlies
2010: 19.6ppg 5.9rpg 1.5spg
He doesn't get much notoriety but Rudy Gay has been an efficient and consistent player since his breakout season in 2008. Gay was part of Team USA's gold medal run in the 2010 FIBA World Championship and will compete for a spot on the 2012 Olympic roster.
6. Danny Granger, Indiana Pacers
2010 Stats: 24.1ppg 5.5rpg 1.5spg
Granger's heel injury caused him to miss 20 games last season and his numbers dropped. They are still pretty damn impressive though. A full productive season from the 2009 all-star could give Indiana a play-off berth.
5. Gerald Wallace, Charlotte Bobcats
2010: 18.2ppg 10rpg 1.5spg 1.1bpg
2010 was a breakout year for many players. The biggest breakout was perhaps Gerald Wallace. There aren't many SFs putting up power-forward numbers. Keeping these numbers consistent will make Wallace a dark horse candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.
4. Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics
2010 Stats: 18.3ppg 4.4rpg 3.1apg
Paul Pierce is one of the most underrated players of all time. He's a versatile scorer, tough defender and a consistent clutch performer. He's also an Academy Award winning actor.
3. Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets (for now)
2010 Stats: 28.2ppg 6.6rpg 3.2apg
If I was a betting man, I'd bet on Anthony wearing a different shade of blue in the near future. The Nuggets will be hard-pressed to part ways with one of the best scorers in the game arguably the best player in franchise history, but Melo has made it clear he wants to be in the Big Apple.
2. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
2010 Stats: 30.1ppg 7.6rpg 1.4spg 1bpg
In just his third season, Durant has a scoring title, gold medal (FIBA World Championship) and finished second in the MVP voting. Still, the talks of ranking him with Kobe and LeBron are ridiculously premature. However, if he meets the expectations set for him he could be the best player in the world and one of the greatest of all time.
1. LeBron James, Miami Heat
2010 Stats: 29.7ppg 7.3rpg 8.6apg 1.6spg 1bpg
I still refuse to talk about Miami until the season starts.
I just realized you linked up my initial post over the summer about Ron Ron's rap video (a song called champion he wrote a full year before winning a championship or even joining Lakers). I hope you know that was put on here with complete and total sarcasm. I never thought I'd see it again....
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