1. Al Jefferson, Celtics
Pardon me while I pull a Rob Neyer here. Let's do a side-by-side comparison of two players, whom we'll call "Player A" and "Player B"

Player A: 20.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 53.1-percent shooting
Player B: 19.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 54.7-percent shooting

Which player is doing better? Player B, right? Now suppose I told you that Player A is Elton Brand … and Player B is Al Jefferson since the All-Star break. Yes, really. And if you do this same exercise with any of the game's other top power forwards -- excluding the holy hoops trinity of Dirk, Duncan and KG -- you'll find Jefferson can hang with any of them.

It's been slow and painful at times, but Big Al has arrived. The 22-year-old has finally reduced the turnovers, fouls and defensive lapses enough to allow his dominating post skills to shine, and as a result he's been one of the few bright spots in a painful Celtics season. However, we may not see any more of him this year. Jefferson has a sore knee and since the Celtics want Greg Oden, er, I mean since the Celtics don't want to risk worsening his injury, it's possible they'll shut him down.



2. Tyson Chandler, Hornets
Enjoy P.J. Brown's expiring contract, Bulls fans. The Hornets will be content with a double-double every night from their 7-foot-1 24-year-old. Chandler could always rebound and defend, but what has to have Nokes fans really excited is his offensive development.

The notoriously all-thumbs center is hanging on to enough passes to get himself a few extra dunks every night. As a result he's averaging 12.7 points on scalding 65.4 percent shooting since the All-Star break. After putting up just one double-double in his first 13 games as a Hornet, he did it in 20 of his last 25 outings before excusing himself seven minutes into last night's game against Seattle. And believe it or not, he has the highest Rebound Rate of any player averaging more than 20 minutes a game.



3. Walter Herrmann, Bobcats
The Argentine forward languished at the end of the bench for most of the season, struggling to adjust to a new league and develop comebacks to all the Fabio jokes he hears on the road. But it appears he's gotten the hang of it.

Herrmann is shooting 58.6 percent since the All-Star break and has taken over a starting forward role thanks to Sean May's injury … unexpectedly making him the Bobcats' best rookie this season. He's also fueled one of the best stretches of the Cats' largely disappointing campaign -- they're 6-5 since he cracked the rotation in mid-March. Wednesday night's win over Washington was his fourth straight 20-point effort, and he's made more than half his shots in all four.



4. Renaldo Balkman, Knicks
Isiah Thomas has made more than his share of mistakes, but folks who were killing him for drafting Balkman got it wrong. The injury to Quentin Richardson has given Balkman more opportunity to prove it, and the high-flying rookie is making himself heard.

Since the All-Star break, his 40-minute averages are 14.0 points, 11.4 boards and 2.0 steals on 61.3 percent shooting -- including a 17-point, 16-rebound outburst in a losing effort against Philly Wednesday night. And check out that 20.36 PER since late January -- he's not a scorer, but he fills the stat sheet in so many other ways that he's still been a star.



5. Nene, Nuggets
After being roundly criticized for giving the Brazilian big man a six-year, $60 million deal in the offseason, the Nuggets may be getting the last laugh. He's been looking sprier with each passing week as his ne-knee recuperates from last year's season-ending injury, to the point that his stats this season are well ahead of what he did in his first three pro seasons.

Since the break, he's averaging 13.5 points, 8.3 boards and shooting 59.0 percent, and he's still gaining steam -- witness the 28 and 12 he hung on the Kings Wednesday night.

Posted by JohnWallace44:

1. Al Jefferson, Celtics
Pardon me while I pull a Rob Neyer here. Let's do a side-by-side comparison of two players, whom we'll call "Player A" and "Player B"

Player A: 20.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.2 bpg, 53.1-percent shooting
Player B: 19.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg, 54.7-percent shooting

Which player is doing better? Player B, right? Now suppose I told you that Player A is Elton Brand … and Player B is Al Jefferson since the All-Star break. Yes, really.

So almost every team in our own division has as good a young big man as we do?
Toronto-Bosh
Boston-Al
NJ-Kristic (at least tied with Curry)
Philly-Dalembert PLUS a shot at Oden or Hibbert

And they didn't even have to give up four picks to get these guys!