1. LeBron James – Not only better than Kobe Bryant, but also the best player in the entire league. The gap between him and the next on the list is huge.
2. Dwayne Wade – After two injury-plagued years, Wade has had back-to-back healthy years the last two seasons. A healthy Wade remains one of the best talents in the league.
3. Dirk Nowitzki – Early signs pointed to Dirk staying in Dallas. Now, the picture has become slightly more cloudy. At 32 years-old, Dirk has declined some from his late-20s peak. Nevertheless, finding a more dangerous offensive player on the court than Nowitzki remains a difficult task.
4. Chris Bosh – Bosh’s age and health give him the edge over the more dominant Amare Stoudemire. 6’10” Bosh leaves something to be desired on defense, but he is a dominant scorer and rebounder who can be relied on to carry a heavy load.
5. Amare Stoudemire – During the 2007-2008 season, Stoudemire’s offensive numbers were off the charts. He missed significant time in the following season, and he did not fully bounce back this year. Still, Stoudemire is one of the best big men in the game. He also has a few more years left on the right side of 30. If he stays healthy, Amare could end up as the second-best player to come out of this free-agent class.
6. Carlos Boozer – While Boozer falls slightly short of Bosh and Stoudemire on offense, he makes up for it with superior defensive value. On the verge of 29, Boozer showed no signs of slowing down in 2009-2010.
7. Paul Pierce – With Doc Rivers staying on to coach, it is assumed Pierce will be returning to attempt another championship run with the Celtics. Pierce still has plenty of offense left in his 32-year-old body.
8.J.J. Redick – Redick was dynamite this season as an offensive specialist. Like Pierce, Redick will likely remain with his original team. He is a player that every other NBA team should be coveting.
9. Nazr Mohammed – This 32-year-old journeyman is back on the market. He is a hit-or-miss player, but can be relied on to bring above-average rebounding and defense off of the bench.
10. Ian Mahinmi – With only 188 career minutes, Mahinmi makes for a bizarre choice to finish the list. Yet, as a cheap option off of the bench, Mahinmi has excelled for the Spurs when given a chance. He has a career field goal percentage of 61.2%. In addition, Mahinmi has averaged 23 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks per 36 minutes over his young career. It would be a relatively risk-free gamble for a team to add him to their bench.
All stats from: http://www.basketball-reference.com/
