NBA Top 50: Baron Davis (No. 30)

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

Baron Davis, the second biggest name to change hands this summer, quieted a ton of critics the past two seasons. The eternally injured point guard stayed mostly healthy in Golden State, and actually played 82 games last year. (!) He took over a rudderless team, became it's best scorer and passer, starred as the best position-weighted rebounder on the team, and played decent defense in big moments (like the Dallas series in '07).

Those are the things he figures to add to a Clippers team who suffered through Brevin Knight, Sam Cassell, Smush Parker and Dan Dickau last season. Upgrade city. And while Davis will ignite the offense to some degree, don't expect him to turn a woeful team golden just yet. He's good, but he isn't a savior.

The one Davis does without parallel (besides hilarious web videos): score. Last season, he was the top per-minute scoring point guard in the league. He'll usually fall behind only Gilbert Arenas. Part of it is a matter of taking a ton of shots, which Baron does. As I argued in the Corey Maggette piece, getting shots is a skill. There are plenty of NBA players who prove this by not being able to get shots. Davis can and will shoot from anywhere on the court. As long as the shooting efficiency stays relatively buoyant, and so long as he isn't killing his teammates by not getting them open looks ... it's a relative bonus.

Of course, the efficiency borders on un-buoyant, which makes Baron's passing so vital. Despite a surrounding roster good at getting its own opportunities, Davis turned out consistently great assist numbers in Oakland, dropping a dime per every 2.5 FGAs of his own. He wasn't a selfish cat. Many of those came on kick-outs to an open Stephen Jackson or Al Harrington, and others were drop-offs to Andris Biedrins. In L.A., the kicks to Cuttino Mobley, Tim Thomas and Eric Gordon should work well. The drops to Chris Kaman, maybe. But just as Monta Ellis existed mostly as a D.I.Y. slasher, Al Thornton doesn't figure to be a major Davis beneficiary.

One of the things brought up most often about Davis: his size and strength. He uses it well on offense, often slipping himself into the post (no point guard dribbles into post position better than Davis -- it's Paytonesque). But where you'd think the brawn matters most -- on defense -- it's ambiguous. We have seen Baron get good stops, and his length has been good for a large measure of steals in the gamble-heavy Nellieball system. But it's not consistent, and Davis isn't quite the rebounder we make him out to be. He was tremendous by Golden State standards, but a dozen or so point guards rank above him leaguewide in rebound rate. He's good, but he's no Jason Kidd on the boards.

Of course, all the science won't matter unless Mike Dunleavy and Baron start off on the right foot. I mean, Davis even feuded with Don Nelson, who gave him carte blanche for two years. Dunleavy's a more stingy, more controlling boss. From the outside, I'd advise patience for both parties: Davis has to realize this isn't going to be as fun as Oracle '07, and Dunleavy needs to accept the occasional pull-up 25-footer. Few players go from awesome to disconnected as quickly as Baron; losing his attention would be instant death for an otherwise underwhelming Clippers team.