Kahn's latest power rankings.

1. Shaquille O'Neal, Miami Heat: One of the best ever, and he's promising to reinvent himself with Heat.

2. Yao Ming, Houston Rockets: The next best thing, taller, better shooter, needs to develop his upper body.

3. Brad Miller, Sacramento Kings: He has surprising shooting range, great passing ability and is a good rebounder; durability is the big question.

4. Jamaal Magloire, New Orleans Hornets: He is becoming more dominant every year on both ends of the floor, and his first trip to the All-Star Game last February won't be his last.

5. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland Cavaliers: Although not strong, he can score on anybody, rebounds decently and will occasionally block a shot.

6. Erick Dampier, Dallas Mavericks: After a very ordinary career, Dampier came on with bests in scoring, rebounding and blocks to get a fat new contract.

7. Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons: He's by far the most undersized center in the league, but he is also the toughest, the best rebounder and right there among the best shot blockers.

8. Marcus Camby, Denver Nuggets: Lost in the amazing turnaround of the Nuggets last season and the promotion of Carmelo Anthony was the value of Camby on the boards and blocking shots. He's the key to their success.

9. Theo Ratliff, Portland Trail Blazers: He's the best shot blocker in the game when he's healthy and a good offensive rebounder who can make a difference.

10. Eddy Curry, Chicago Bulls: On paper, he's in the top five. He has all the requisite physical skills, but he has to prove he cares enough to actually compete on a nightly basis.

11. Rasho Nesterovic, San Antonio Spurs: He does all the things a guy next to Tim Duncan needs to do: hit open jumpers, block shots and rebound. He just needs to do it more.

Also receiving consideration: Mark Blount, Boston Celtics; Vlade Divac, Los Angeles Lakers; Mehmet Okur, Utah Jazz; Michael Olowokandi, Minnesota Timberwolves; Alonzo Mourning, New Jersey Nets.

http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/7660511

I'm sorry, but Dampier ahead of B Wallace!?!?

To me Camby is still the most deadly out of all listed.....I think Camby's ability to run the court and start the break off a rebound or block shot is a crazy asset to have.....

I miss him so much



I think Nazr is just as good as some of the guys in the honorable mention.

I think Dan Gadzuric is gonna be good soon too....that dude can fly in the open court, he can hit the jumper, and is energetic....like he's on Xenadrine.

[Edited by - enyspree on 09/10/2004 07:22:55]

Exactly! I just pointed out in the No More KT thread that just about every other team needs a center.

Heck, even Detroit needs a center!

Yao has a bigger impact but for crying out loud... didnt Ben's team just beat Shaqs team for the title in 5 games (should have been 4)???

Ben's knock is simply that he's that bad on offense. What he does however is rebound on offense and give his guards more shots. Most important and not in the box score is the number of balls he tips back out to his own guys that result in open jumpers.

This list would look a lot better if guys like Duncan and J O'neal (who play center sometimes) are considered. Watch where Malone goes this year too. He's said to be considering Miami, SA, and Minnesota. If he goes to Miami, obviously he'd start at PF next to Shaq. But what if he goes to SA or Minny? Would they bring him off the bench? Or, would they start him and move their current all-star PFs Duncan/KG to center?

FOR GOD'S SAKE GET BIG Z!! I'd be willing to throw my old college roommate into the trade as a sex slave!!

rather then just ranking them if I could add any to my roster with a snap of fingers here's how it would go (this takes into consideration age and current contract)
1)Shaq. Bottom line w/ Marbury, TT, Crawford, Houston and co we have a shot at winning 3 titles in 4 years.
2)Yao - see Shaq
3)Brad Miller- at 28 does it all. Though, good skills, physical and did I mention tough. This guy could have been a Knick of the 90s
4)Dalembert- hardworking, dirt cheap, ultra athletic, most upside of whole group
5)Jamaal Magloire- See Dalembert

I certainly conceed there may be better players right now, but in building my team this would be my list.
Big Ben- great but he's 6'8 and 30.
Dampier- contract's scary and hasnt done enough at 29 for me
Big Z- just too slow for my group
Camby/Ratliff- love them both but run/jump athletes on the wrong side of 30 also
Nesterovich- great player for the Spurs, only problem is we dont have Tim Duncan.

There's a slightly different take.