| RANK | PLAYER | RUNDOWN | LAST |
| 1 |  |
NIKOLA VUCEVIC, C, ORLANDO: Walton is right. Vucevic takes over the top spot in the rankings after a 25-point, 13-board performance at Cleveland, and a 17-point, 19 rebound masterpiece in a win over Portland. That win snapped Orlando’s 12-game losing streak. | 3 |
| 2 |  |
PAUL GEORGE, F, INDIANA: George leap-frogs into second on the list after an absurd 26-point, 14-rebound, 5 assist line against the Raptors on Saturday. He also will be in Houston this weekend, playing in the big game. | 2 |
| 3 |  |
JRUE HOLIDAY, G, PHILADELPHIA: While Holiday and George are the best players on this list – The Jruth also is headed to Houston – they were pretty good last season, too. Jrue drops to third after getting schooled by Chris Paul in a blowout loss to the Clips on Monday night. | 1 |
| 4 |  |
GREIVIS VASQUEZ, G, NEW ORLEANS: Once again, Walton is right. Vasquez has put up double-digit assist numbers in three of his last four games. He now trails Chris Paul by 0.1 assists per game in the race for the active lead. | – |
| 5 |  |
OMER ASIK, C, HOUSTON: After a prolonged absence that irked our readers, Asik returns to the top five after an eight-game stretch in which he ripped down 15.5 rebounds per game. As Ralph Lawler might say, “Omer OH-MY.” | – |
DROPOUTS: Jimmy Butler, G, Chicago.
FIVE TO WATCH: David Lee, F, Golden State; Larry Sanders, F, Milwaukee; Jimmy Butler, G, Chicago, Kemba Walker, G, Charlotte; Byron Mullens, C, Charlotte.
PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Most Improved | MVP | Rookie | Heisler’s Power Rankings | Sixth Man
Kels Dayton is a freelance writer whose work has also appeared in SLAM Magazine. You can check out more of his work at RoundballDaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoundballDaily.
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Keis, nice list. It is funny how everybody assumes Nic Vucevic is not that good; even you, to your credit, rank him number 1, but add the comment that players 2 and 3 are better players. I wonder. People do not like change. Remember, Vuc is not getting the minutes of the other premiere centers, and it takes a while for his teammates to have confidence in him, to dump the ball down low and let him score. Scoring by the way, is his best attribute. Another city’s color commentator remarked the other day that Vuc has this attitude on the court as if he should get EVERY single rebound. Doug Collins literally put him on the bench in Philly after the first 3rd of the season, last year, and then gave him away, so he could play a kid from Temple, who is horrible. He gave away, for free, a bigger, stronger, healthy Bill Walton. We shall see who is the best on your list, time will tell, if Vuc gets the minutes. Anyway, my compliments on your fine articles, btw.
Thanks a lot Kevin. I appreciate it. You make an excellent point; he doesn’t get the respect he deserves. You could make a great case that he should have been an All-Star, yet virtually no one has mentioned that. I think he will end up winning the Most Improved Player award, and that should give him some recognition. Beyond that, he’s just going to have to keep playing like this. Eventually, people will be forced to take note.
This is absolutely hysterical!! I read it three times! I may read it again!
Thanks a lot Mike!