Just last decade, the NBA was dominated by the big men, like Shaquille o'Neal and Tim Duncan. Play was slow, highly dependent on the guys under the paint. Today, however, is a different story. Most teams play uptempo basketball, trying to run the floor every time they can.
But what has happened to the center position, or all the other positions in basketball? Surely, the meta, or the traditional line-up, as called in MOBA games, has changed around the league. After all, large men like Shaq can't run for 36-40 minutes per game.
Evidently, the strongest position in the league today is at the point guard position. Bannered by MVP frontrunner Stephen Curry, the 1 is easily the hardest position to guard in the league. Every championship contender must have an elite point guard to win (an exception might be the LBJ-led Miami Heat, who was without an All-Star caliber PG. Sorry, Mario Chalmers). Golden State obviously houses Curry, while the defending champs, the Spurs, have All-Star Tony Parker. In the East, the top 3 teams today, the Hawks, the Raps, and the Wizards, have star-talent floor generals in Jeff Teague, Kyle Lowry, and John Wall, in that order.
Checking the statistics, however, we see that most floor generals do not show off in the statistical aspect of the league, particularly in the Player Efficiency Rating of the NBA. Of the top 20 players in the league in terms of PER, only three point guards enter the list: Oklahoma City's electric PG Russell Westbrook , Curry and Los Angeles Clipper Chris Paul. A lot of other point guards missed this list, such as Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, amongst others.
The other guard position, the shooting guard, isn't much better, with only one player reaching the top 20: Houston Rockets guard James Harden (#4). Not even Golden State sharpshooter Klay Thompson, or emerging Chicago Bull Jimmy Butler made the list.
However, while not as stacked as the previous position, the 2 is still quite strong, aside from the men mentioned above. Current Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic was an NBA Third Team member, while perennial Sixth Man contender Jamal Crawford (a.k.a J. Crossover) has been a steady source of output for the fluctuating Clippers. And let's not forget the greatest SG to play in this era, Kobe Bryant, who's standing at #3 in the all-time scoring list, surpassing Michael Jordan this season.
To the frontcourt we go! The small forward position might as well be the most famous around the league, and its a no-brainer why. The three houses the elite players of the league in LeBron James of Cleveland, and Kevin Durant of Oklahoma. However, these two, including another elite in Carmelo Anthony, are the only ones who have crashed the top 20 in PER ratings. That is because despite the presence of top-tier players in this position, the small forward is not really stacked. The other notables around this position are Utah Jazz star Gordon Hayward, and Spurs defensive ace Kawhi Leonard.
The power forward position might be the the most efficient position in the league today, and with good reason. Most of these big men take high-percentage shots (an exception might be Portland big man LaMarcus Aldridge, who relies on an nasty outside jumpshot to get points. How he does it, I don't know), which lead to higher field goal percentages and high PER ratings. Seven of the top 20 in PER all play the 4 spot usually. Leading the power forwards, and practically everyone in the league today, is New Orleans star Anthony Davis. Other members are Aldridge, high-flyer Blake Griffin, Pau Gasol, Utah Jazz stalwart Derrick Favors, DPOY candidate Tim Duncan, and Brandan Wright.
A lot of people tend to say that the center position is currently the weakest in the NBA. Without a bunch of All-Star centers in the league today, the 5 has obviously declined from its former glory. However, a resurgence of centers has emerged today, with Miami Heat stalwart Hassan Whiteside leading the way for these big men. Other centers who emerged at the top 20 are Nikola Vuvecic of the Orlando Magic, emerging big man DeMarcus Cousins of Sacramento, Memphis big man Marc Gasol, Al Horford of the Atlanta Hawks, and another emerging star in Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz.
To be fair, every position has its own stars. However, some positions just tend to be deeper (i.e point guard spot), while others just have a bevy of All-Stars at the top, but are really shallow (small forwards, say hi!). --GS--
