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January 4, 2007
Davis Sports Deli.com's
NBA Top 25 Under Age 25
By: Patrick Crawley, Aaron Fischman & Joshua Fischman
In watching the NBA this season, Aaron, Joshua and I couldn't help but get excited by all the young talent in the league. From the size and athleticism of LeBron James to the inside dominance of Dwight Howard to the innovative ball movement and court vision of Chris Paul, the young players of the league are factoring prominently in the success of their respective teams. For evidence, just look at the recent improvement of Dwight's Magic or Chris' Hornets and the poor performance of the Cavs without LeBron.
Seeing as the players under 25 are some of the most exciting to watch, our crack team of analysts wanted a forum to measure the success of these players against one another. As such, we decided to create the Davis Sports Deli's Top 25 Under 25 list (the best 25 players in the NBA under age 25).
The Top 25 Under 25 list is a compilation of the efforts of Aaron, Joshua and myself. After a great deal of research and analysis, each of us develops a list of the Top 30 players in the league under age 25. In determining our individual lists, each of us uses a subjective rating system based on current statistics, future potential and the ability of a given player to reach that potential. For instance, a player like Gerald Green would score high on the potential scale but, with poor numbers the past few seasons, he doesn't do well in terms of the other two criteria. As such, you won't see Gerald Green on our list anytime soon.
After each of us has built his individual list, we compile the data and average the rankings for each player listed. If two players are tied with the same average ranking (say Player A and Player B), we take whichever player is ranked higher on the majority of the individual lists. So, let's say Player A is ranked 12th on my list, 11th on Aaron's and 11th on Joshua's (whereas Player B is 13th, 9th and 12th respectively). Both have the same average ranking, but Player A is higher on more lists, and therefore gets the nod over Player B.
With the average rankings determined, our team pares down the list to the Top 25 and lists them here on the site along with age, previous ranking and a few comments about his skill and potential. We update the Top 25 list on the Friday of every other week (so...every two weeks). We take recent play and injuries into account as well an increase or decrease in numbers. Player movement is documented in the "Movement" section along with + or - indicators. Once a player has his 25th birthday, he will graduate from our list. Graduates and runners-up will be posted directly after the Top 25 list.
Without further ado, here it is: the Third Edition of the world famous Top 25 Under 25 list. We hope you enjoy it.
If you'd like a reference for comparison, feel free to take a look back at our Top 25 Second Edition. Don't worry, it's free.
Rank |
Player |
Prev. Rank |
Age |
Movement |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. |
(1) |
23 |
-- |
Saves his best for Quicken Loans Arena. When at home, he averages 30.8 pts, 7.2 reb and 8.1 ast per game. Needs to improve FT shooting though (currently 71.3%). | |
2. |
(3) |
22 |
+1 |
Assist-to-turnover ratio is better than 10:1 in the last six games (73 ast : 7 to). During that stretch New Orleans is 5-1. | |
3. |
(2) |
22 |
- 1 |
Has increased his scoring average from '06 by 5 ppg (to 22.6) but hasn't sacrificed his FG% to do so. He's still shooting over 60% from the field. | |
4. |
(4) |
23 |
-- |
Has really found his shooting stroke lately (shot 45% from the field in Dec), but can't catch CP or Dwight just yet. | |
5. |
(5) |
23 |
-- |
His three-point shooting has dropped significantly (32.5% 3P in Dec) and the Jazz are playing mediocre (losing 3 of the last 6). But D-Will did drop 20 assists against Philly. | |
6. |
(6) |
23 |
-- |
Happy Birthday to Big Al (who turns 23 today). He's becoming Mr. Consistency for Minnesota these days (averaging 20.6 points and 12.2 boards per game). | |
7. |
(7) |
23 |
-- |
His numbers are down from '06-07, but that's because he's been playing less minutes after the injury. To compensate, he has put together his own All-Star campaign. | |
8. |
(8) |
22 |
-- |
Recently he has been shooting better and turning the ball over less. But he's also been fouling way too often (averaging 3.4/game this season). | |
9. |
(11) |
23 |
+2 |
A smooth operator operating correctly. Roy picked up the scoring slack when LaMarcus was out (he's up to 19.3 ppg now) and fueled the Blazers winning streak. | |
10. |
(9) |
23 |
- 1 |
Iggy is really starting to click offensively (19.9 ppg in Dec). He only dropped because of Roy's stellar play for the hot Blazers. | |
11. |
(12) |
19 |
+1 |
Durant is already an elite scorer, but he must improve his shot selection. It doesn't help that his bonehead coach (Carlesimo) has given him the green light this whole season. | |
12. |
(10) |
21 |
- 2 |
Gay dropped in this edition, but there's plenty of time for this 21-year-old to crack the Top 10 again. | |
13. |
(15) |
22 |
+2 |
This Dukie returned to form in December. Unfortunately, he's still quite prone to injury (example: the strained achilles he suffered in the January 3 Bulls-Blazers game). | |
14. |
(13) |
22 |
- 1 |
Seems to be a bit hesitant since returning from plantar fascitis. Needs to be more consistent to stay ahead of Bynum. | |
15. |
(18) |
20 |
+3 |
In 19 games this season as a starter, Bynum is averaging 13.7 pts and 10.2 reb per game and is shooting 64%. In 2 years, he and D-Howard will have epic battles. | |
16. |
(14) |
24 |
- 2 |
Mini-Mart is still injured and time is running out. He turns 25 (and graduates from this list) on February 1. | |
17. |
(16) |
21 |
- 1 |
Well, the Hawks are still playing above .500 and Williams is still contributing in a substantial way. But he's got a long way to go before he gets to the Top 10. | |
18. |
(22) |
22 |
+4 |
Monta has really stepped it up since Stephen Jackson returned. Credit Don Nelson for giving him more playing time. | |
19. |
(20) |
24 |
+1 |
Like Deng, he has experienced a bit of a renaissance lately. He is still The Man in Chicago when it comes to taking the last shot, he's just not as effective at it. | |
20. |
(17) |
24 |
- 3 |
Lost about 5 points on his scoring average in December and is blocking fewer shots. The downward slide continues. | |
21. |
(N/R) |
24 |
+7 |
Hey everybody look, it's Devin Harris, back from the Top 25 bone heap. Good thing, too. It'd be a shame for him to graduate as an honorable mention (sorry, Eddy Curry). | |
22. |
(22) |
23 |
-- |
He's a different player from night to night. Some nights he's good for 17 pts and 9 assists, other nights he goes for 4 and 4. He's like a 6'1" teeter-totter. | |
23. |
(19) |
21 |
- 4 |
Ouch. Sorry Andris, hope that fall didn't hurt too much. By the way, it's not really his fault that Nellie only uses him as a rebounding specialist. He only gets 7.2 shots/game. | |
24. |
(N/R) |
20 |
Debut |
Horford's ranking rises as he has recently begun to score more. His rebounding numbers continue to astonish (9.5 boards/game). | |
25. |
(N/R) |
20 |
Debut |
Edges out Andrew Bogut (his Milwaukee teammate) thanks to a 12.1 ppg average in December. But nobody really knows how old Yi is. So this feels a bit illegitimate. |
On the Cusp: Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee), Travis Outlaw (Portland), Rajon Rondo (Boston), Linas Kleiza (Denver) and Sebastian Telfair (Minnesota).
Graduated: Mo Williams of the Milwaukee Bucks. It's a shame, too. Mo had a terrific December, averaging 17.1 points, 6.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. Mo graduates our list as the 24th ranked player under the age of 25. Had he stayed 24, he would have moved up higher.