FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.
The NBA has seen some woefully lopsided trades this decade: Tracy McGrady for Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, Vince Carter for three expired lottery tickets and a 15% off coupon at IHOP, and most recently, Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown and Marc Gasol. But Kwame appears in one more severely tilted trade: when the Wizards sent him to L.A. in a sign-and-trade for Caron Butler. The Lakers gave up Butler for the opportunity to pay Brown up to $9 million a year.
Butler, a cat who got along with Kobe famously despite a bad team effort in '04-05, was a young stud on his rookie deal. Washington ended up locking him in to one of the league's shrewdest contracts; to this day, the 'Zards can pay Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison eight digits because they're only pitching Caron seven.
Considering what Butler does on the court, it might be the best move on Ernie Grunfeld's resumé.
Not to be stereotypical, but there aren't too many souls in the NBA who can both pull of the nickname "Tough Juice" and land No. 34 on the all-time NBA free throw percentage list. I mean, here's the top six: Mark Price, Rick Barry, Steve Nash, Peja Stojakovic, Calvin Murphy (!), Scott Skiles. Dude has ink of the Grim Reaper and he could beat Dolph Schayes at a FT contest.
That's just the thing with 'Ron: he's not a thing you'd expect. A burly (6'7, 220) forward who can rebound, post up, steal as much as anyone, shoot jumpers for days, draw fouls, sink foul shots, defend, run, play slow, dunk on your head (YES I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU JOHN SALMONS, I SAW IT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES!), scoop under you with a reverse lay-up, guzzle a two-liter of Mountain Dew through a dozen McDonald's straws, mow your lawn, apologize for clipping the daisies by accident, and dunk your head again (DANG IT SALMONS WATCH THAT DUDE!).
Superlatives aside, Butler really is a wonder. Calling him a utility-man is a disservice due to today's standards for the common utility man; consider him a sane Gerald Wallace. I don't mean sane as in "boring" -- did I tell you about the Grim Reaper tat, the straws and the Dew? -- it's just that Caron's game has an imminent tangibility to it. Wallace has done those things he do, but you're always afraid it could disappear like an eyelash. Butler, I feel, could do this six more years non-stop.
So no, despite two straight All-Star hollers, Caron Butler doesn't roll off the tongue like T-Mac or A.I. But dude's a better performer at this point, a criminally undersung rascal deserving of your attention. Please people, respect Caron Butler. </self-plagiarism>
NBA Top 50
No. 50, Andris Biedrins, Warriors
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Caron is a superstar, and a role model.
I want to be him when I grow up.
Yet another very good player and good ranking.
This doesn't have to do with his basketball skills, but he's become a great person too. Down here in Heat land there isn't a player who we miss more. Ya it was worth it to trade him for Shaq and our championship, but man, we really liked him down here.
Is that for real? 10,000, Even 5,000 for a seat? U get the seat forever? Or just the season? Im from Australia and 150 bucks is alot for a seat to a AFL game.
Caron Butler looks like he fits in this area. He's an above average player, good in a lot of areas and possesses a good basketball IQ. He's also maybe the most indispensable player on a solid Wizards team, giving him a certain weight in the rankings.
What I don't understand is why he's so much higher than Iguodala. Statistically they're nearly exact replicas of each other:
Caron: 20.3 pts, 16.3 shots, 2.2 steals, 2.6 turnovers, 4.9 assists, .357 3% on 3.2 attempts.
Iguodala: 19.9 pts, 15.6 shots, 2.1 steals, 2.6 turnovers, 4.8 assists, .329 3% on 3.7 attempts
The three point shooting favors Butler slightly but in career percentage, Iguodala's got Butler beat .331 to .318.
Their biggest difference is the rate at which they get to the free throw and the percentage they shoot once there. Iguodala has been as high as a very good 7.3 while Butler's high is a pedestrian 5.2. Butler shoots a much higher percentage though Iguodala isn't horrible--he shot 82 percent in 2006--so the number of made free throws are similar though Iguodala is drawing more fouls.
I think Butler may be higher because he's thought of as a complete player while most consider Iguodala to lack an outside shot. True but Iguodala's also not horrible from outside, he's improved. Still, with the stats so similar across the board, I can't see why Iguodala is 23 slots lower than Caron.
You obviously didn't get the memo that per-game stats aren't being used much in this exercise because they're very limited.
Let's try this again:
Butler: 18.4 pts/36, 6 reb/36, 4.4 ast/36, 50.1 eFG%, 55.8 TS%, 9.8 REB%, 21.9 AST%, 20.7 PER
Iguodala: 18,1 pts/36, 5 reb/36, 4.3 ast/36, 49.5 eFG%, 54.3 TS%, 8.2 REB%, 20.3 AST%, 19.0 PER.
So basically, Butler is better than Iguodala at everything. Hence, the placement.
Pradamaster, you looked at the per 36 numbers and concluded that Butler is definitively better by 23 spots. Wow, Butler's a 0.3 pts better scorer and his assist% trumps Iguodala by a whopping 1.6 percent. I think Butler is a slightly better player but the emphasis is on slightly. Butler at 26 and Iguodala at 49 makes it look like the gap is pretty wide and it's not. I wasn't saying that Butler is being overrated, more so that Iguodala is being underrated.
The point is, there is not one area in which Iguodala is better than Butler. Not one. Defense, perhaps, but that's about it, arguably they're pretty similar.
Not to mention that the Wizards played at one of the slowest paces in the league last year, while Philly was much more up and down. Pace-adjusted, those per-36 numbers favor Butler even more.
23 spots in the grand scheme of things isn't very much. There are 450 roster spots in the NBA. The gap isn't very wide when you think of it that way.
Yes, Caron's got Iguodala beat in the numbers if you're being really technical. Yes the numbers say Caron scores more, has more assists and so on but the differences are so marginal, they're essential even. Besides rebounds and free throw percentage, there is no stat that Caron blows Iguodala away.
And about pace, that's more of a team statistic. Even though Philly played faster, Iguodala still scored 19.9 points on 15.3 shots and Butler 20.3 points on 16.3 shots. Butler's not suddenly going to score more on a point to shot basis if the Wizards played at Philly's pace. Butler's assists look better with the slower pace but Iguodala averaged 5.7 assists in 2007. He's a very good passer and no way inferior to Butler when it comes to passing. The shooting numbers shouldn't be too affected, etc...
In terms of their on court contributions, they're essentially the same. Stylistically, I wouldn't analogize them to each other. I'd say Caron is more similar to Joe Johnson. Same size, not great athletes, slightly above, good shooters, not great at getting to the line, good playmakers, good all around. Iguodala, the way he moves and plays, he's like what a good healthy of Larry Hughes ought to play like.
lol @ yall disputing who's better... seriously baron davis is better than both igoudala and butler yet he was ranked 30th... but to tell the complete truth, butler gets the edge... he didnt have a pg like miller running the show and didnt have the defense that the sixers had. butler also played well in the playoffs, something that igoudala didnt do. so in that section i agree. But still, baron is still better than both those players so w/e
Nice, arguing about who's better by statistical decimal points. You guys sound like a bunch of kids trading Pokemon cards.
No, Iguodala is very good and has the potential to be even better in the future. I guess I'm not disputing that.
What I'm disputing is mostly the idea that 23 spots is a big gap. It's not in the grand scheme of things, considering there are 450 players in the NBA. If Butler and Iguodala switch teams, their clubs would be pretty similar. Still, it seems about right to put Butler slightly ahead of Iguodala in ranking the best players in the league considering that Butler is a little better than Iguodala in every relevant category.
Pace is a team stat, but it's still relevant for discussion with individuals. As Ziller mentioned in his Corey Maggette and Tracy McGrady posts, being able to create shots is a skill. Last year, both of these guys were clear #1 options when they played, yet Butler was able to create more shot opportunities in fewer team possessions AND hit a higher percentage of those shots. The difference isn't huge, but there's a difference.
As a Heat fan, it's nice to see Caron rocking it up there with the black president. He was awesome in Miami and it sucked when we had to give him up. Scary to think of what he and Wade together more than Wade's rookie(and Butler's sophmore) season.