[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

Who are the top 5, single, most important players to their teams?

– Lebron James – Lebron is his team. He is the reason we watch the Cavs. Without Lebron, what are the Cavs? Shaq and shooters with Mo running the team? They would be ok, but not like they are now. Lebron gives this team something that only 1 other team in the league has: an unstopalble player.

– Kobe Bryant – The Lakers would be good without Kobe. They would be better than alot of teams in the NBA without him, however, he is the face of the team and the unquestioned leader. He, like Lebron, is an ustopable player.

– Dwayne Wade – Without Wade, the Heat are nothing. He may do for his team than Lebron or Kobe do for thier team. He does more of the scoring, ball handling, rebounding, and dropping dimes for the Heat, as far as percentages go, than Lebron or Kobe do for thier respective teams.

– Chris Paul – Paul, like Wade doe more for his team than even imaginable. He is small in person but a giant for his franchise. What would the Hornets be without Paul? Struggling to find an identity and maybe a new home. Paul has kept this team afloat for years now.

– Blake Griffin – I know this isnt expected, but hear me out. Blake gets the nod over guys like Pierce, Roy, and Howard because of Blake could be what resurects the Clippers. If Griffin is successful, so are the Clippers. If he flops, look for the Clippers to go else where, change their name, colors, and everything else, and start over. Griffin can bring the Clippers to the top of the NBA or he can run them into the ground.

Honorable Mention:

Dwight Howard
Paul Pierce
Kevin Garnette
Chris Bosh
Brandon Roy
Kevin Durant
Chauncy Billups
Carmelo Anthony
Danny Granger
Joe Johnson
Steve Nash
Amare Stoudamire
Derrick Rose
Deron Williams
Dirk Nowitzki
Yao Ming
Tim Duncan
Gilbert Arenas

[Spurs2020Participant]

the cavs would struggle to make the playoffs without him.

he was the mvp from the team with the best regular seadson record and led his team in points assists rebounds and steals, and was was behind on blocks by less than .2 a game…..

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

My bad flash. I didnt have a list or anything. I was just naming people off the top of my head. You are right though. He deserves to be mentioned. Also, this isnt a contest post. Its just an informative discussion.

[RickyRubio9Participant]

I’d put Dwayne Wade above the list, we saw what happened without him. 15 Wins?! LeBron’s Team would still be good and so would Kobe’s, but those two are the reason the teams are considered Elite

[youngmagParticipant]

Was going to say Brandon Roy but Heat without Wade would be runner up for first pick in the next draft.

[MagikKnickParticipant]

I think Hornets without Paul would be the absolute worst team in the NBA, worst than a Wade-less Heat

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I say it’s Chris Paul. He can’t even get 5-10 mins of rest a game without the team’s offense falling apart.

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

I agree with MagikKnick and tezo. W/O Paul, their team falls completly apart.

[Dtay2152Participant]

i know you guys have said it but chris paul is so important to his team. i dont know if anybody out there can score without paul setting them up. he is also a real good defender. i think brandon roy the reason why the blazers are becoming a force his penetration into the lane opens up room for all portlands shooters. he is also a great passer and completely unselfish player always looking to set up his teamates until its time to take over in the 4th, which he does regularly. roy is also an underated defender

[torontoraptors10Participant]

I think you probably named all the superstars on each team lol

[eprizzle14Participant]

Biedrins. If he’s not on the floor ther already depleted frontcourt who be worse (no shot at Mikki Moore, Brandon Wright,Turiaf)

[QHaynes20]

The best Answer is Chris Paul IMO

The Cavs can make the playoffs without LBJ IMO because they have some ok players. Trust me, Without Paul- The Hornets would win like 15-25 games

[Toronto16Participant]

Atlanta – Al Horford. The future of his team
Boston – Kevin Garnett. The defensive catalyst
Charlotte – Gerald Wallace. The best player on the team
Chicago – Easily Derrick Rose
Cleveland – Lebron James by 100 miles
Dallas – Dirk Nowitzski. Still can bring it
Denver – Carmelo Anthony. Still young, and a match-up nightmare
Detroit- I’m guessing Rodney Stuckey, since they basically traded Chancey to give him room
Golden State – Anthony Randolph. So much potential in this guy
Houston – Without Yao maybe Luis Scola
Indiana – Danny Granger. Blossoming star
LA Clippers – Blake Griffin. This is they guy their looking to, to turn the franchise around
LA Lakers – Kobe Bryant.
Memphis – OJ Mayo. The future of this team
Miami – Dwyane Wade.
Milwaukee – Andrew Bogut I guess, now that Redd is getting older.
Minnesota – Al Jefferson. If he stays healthy, he’ll be an allstar this season.
New Jersey – Devin Harris. With Vince gone, he’ll have a bigger load to carry
New Orleans – Chris Paul. Currently the best PG in the NBA.
New York – I have no idea. I would say David Lee, but they aren’t treating him like he’s important this off season at all. Maybe Wilson Chandler.
Oklahoma City – Kevin Durant by a mile
Orlando – Dwight Howard. Probably the best centre in the league right now.
Philadelphia – Andre Iguoadala. Best play maker on his team now that Andre Miller is gone.
Phoenix – Right now it’s still Nash.
Portland – Brandon Roy, but don’t forget about Greg Oden. He’s gonna have a breakout season.
Sacramento – Close between Tyreke Evans and Kevin Martin, but I’ll go with Martin.
San Antonio – I’m gonna have to go with the younger Tony Parker over Duncan. Please don’t roast me for that.
Toronto – Chris Bosh. One of the best PF’s in the league.
Utah – Deron Williams. Crazy he’s never made it to an allstar game.
Washington – The injury prone Gilbert Arenas.

[JNixonParticipant]

DWYANE WADE!

[QHaynes20]

I disagree with the GS one…I would go Monta Ellis

[bobbybParticipant]

Cp3 for sure, but a very tight second D- Wade, most others teams would still make playoffs without their star except for these 2 teams

[llperez]

I think you could scratch Kobe and Griffin off the list right away. It comes down to Lebron, Wade, and Paul. I’m tempted to say Paul, but I think Darren Collison will give him a legit backup pg who could ease things when Paul is out. So between Wade and Lebron, I would probably say Wade is more valuable just a little. Lebron has more help and has more finishers. Wade has to be the creator, distributor and finisher every time. He also has to defend the other teams best player.

[R-Dot-13Participant]

Chris Paul, no question.

[McWinningParticipant]

i know Blake will be good but this isnt possibly its who will help their team right away and hes not in the conversation yet and i think he will be a great player. and Mayo should be up there hes turned this franchise around and has them headed to being a great team.

[Henry25Participant]

though i still think LeBron and Kobe are the best players in the league, its obvious that both of their teams would still be okay without them. Not contenders but they would be in that 6-7th seed group. However u take Chris Paul off of the HOrnets and Wade off of the Heat, and my god the drop off would be huge. As much as i love Beasley, there is no way he is ready to lead a team. And the Hornets just aren’t a very good team at all. But a great point guard can make even marginal players look really good and that exactly what Paul does.

[unaznizedParticipant]

I’m actually going to have to disagree with Blake Griffin being the most important player on the team. I’m gonna go with Baron Davis. I think Griffin will have a good season this year (and I picked him for ROY), but how well or how poorly he plays will not be the factor that it comes down to if the clippers are going to make the playoffs, it’ll come down to the hands of Baron Davis.

The reason some experts are so high on the Clippers is because Baron Davis is rejuvinated as well. He’s really exited for the upcoming season with the addition of Blake Griffin. People expect Baron to play hard night in and night out and for him to be on the same page of Dunleavy. With Baron’s new attitude, they expect the Clippers to be a much improved team (like the way Baron led the warriors).

But if anytime during the season Baron starts dogging it, the Clippers have only a slim chance of winning ball games. Based on last year, he wasn’t very happy when he found out Elton Brand wasn’t returning. During the season, he wasn’t happy that Dunleavy wouldn’t allow him to play the way that would bring out the best in him. So when when the Clippers started going down last season, Baron started forcing up shots, not giving full effort, and just not adapting to Dunleavy’s system.

Another reason he is so important to the Clippers is because they don’t have many playmakers on their team right now. He’s the leader of a team with many young players. Their backup PG is Sebastian Telfair. If anytime he gets hurt during the season, they’ll have a lack of leadership and playmaking that I can’t really see translating into wins.

Blake Griffin doesn’t have to be a superstar for his team to be successful, just play consistently (16 points and 8 rebounds a game will do). But all in all, the x factor for this team will be Baron Davis.

[esperanzafleet69Participant]

gotta be chris paul then granger… imagine how terrible those teams would be without those 2

[blackflash234Participant]

Where’s Chris Bosh?

Edit: Why are manz taking away my point for? Chris Bosh wasn’t on the original list of honourable mention and the guy that created this thread added him to list without saying edited or anything indicating that he just added Chris Bosh to the list because he forgot to add him.

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