NBA All-Value Team

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Apr 8, 2011

NBA All-Value Team

Landry Fields

The steal of the 2010 NBA draft, the second-round pick from Stanford won the Knicks' starting shooting guard spot in October and hasn't looked back. Fields leads all NBA guards in rebounding (7.0) while shooting better than 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. He's also held his own defensively guarding the league's great wing scorers. Who else provides their team with the most bang for their buck in the NBA? Read on for SI.com's entire NBA All-Value team (which does not include former first-round picks who are on their rookie contracts). All stats and records are through Feb. 28.

Gary Neal

Leave it to the Spurs to find a 26-year-old undrafted rookie who immediately has stepped into the rotation of the best team in basketball. Neal, who played three years in Europe, is among the league's top 20 three-point shooters (42 percent) while averaging nine points in 20 minutes a game. Even better for the Spurs: They have him under contract for well under $1 million next season, too.

Marc Gasol

Though his production has dipped this season, Gasol is still averaging 11.8 points (on 51.5 percent shooting), 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks for the playoff-contending Grizzlies. He's set for a nice raise when he becomes a free agent after the season.

David West

He makes more than anybody else on this list, but West is the rare efficient 20-point scorer without an annual eight-figure contract. He's long been the only reliable frontcourt scorer for New Orleans, which runs the risk of losing the two-time All-Star in the offseason because West can opt out of the last year of his contract (worth $7.5 million) and become a free agent.

Shaquille O'Neal

Keeping Shaq healthy remains problematic, but consider what the big fella has provided for the veteran minimum: 9.3 points (on 66.2 percent shooting) and 4.9 rebounds in 20.7 minutes. The Celtics might need that kind of production -- along with some inspired defense -- from Shaq in the playoffs after dealing center Kendrick Perkins at the trade deadline.

Grant Hill

After injuries wrecked his prime, Hill is showing no signs of slowing down in his late 30s. The 38-year-old starting forward is averaging 13.8 points (on 49.2 percent shooting) in 30.5 minutes while posting his best Player Efficiency Rating since 2006-07. Only six players have averaged at least 13 points at that age: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Karly Malone, Reggie Miller, Robert Parish and John Stockton.

Dorell Wright

Scan the list of league leaders for three-pointers made or three-point percentage and you'll spot veteran bargains; Philadelphia's Jodie Meeks ($762,000), New York's Shawne Williams ($854,000), Miami's James Jones ($1.1 million on a restructured deal) and the Lakers' Shannon Brown ($2.15 million) could all occupy spots on this list of best values. But we'll focus here on Golden State's Wright, a seven-year veteran who leads the NBA with 142 three-pointers while averaging a career-high 16.5 points (more than double his previous best). Wright stands as one of the best free-agent signings of the 2010 offseason.

Chuck Hayes

The Rockets are leaning on Hayes more than ever in the absence of Yao Ming, and the 27-year-old starting center has delivered. Hayes has always been a willing and able defender despite being undersized, but this season he's also averaging career highs of 7.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 56.2 percent shooting.

DeJuan Blair

Blair slipped to the second round of the 2009 draft in part because of concerns about his knees. San Antonio, however, has made good use of the undersized Blair as a starting center and one of the league's best per-minute rebounders.

Tracy McGrady

Last season, McGrady led the overpaid list with a $22.5 million salary and a game severely diminished by knee problems. Now, playing for the veteran minimum, he's been a rare bright spot during the Pistons' miserable season. The 31-year-old McGrady may not have his old burst, but in 28 starts he's averaged 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

J.J. Barea

The undrafted 6-foot guard from Northeastern plays a key role off the bench for one of the league's deepest teams. The five-year veteran is averaging career highs of 9.3 points and 3.6 assists, and he's been shooting the ball exceptionally well from the field and from deep over the last six weeks.

Marcus Thornton

Thornton provided even more value last season when, as a rookie second-round pick making $458,000, he averaged 14.5 points for the Hornets. But he fell out of favor this year with new coach Monty Williams, and New Orleans shipped him to Sacramento at the trade deadline. Thornton figures to play a bigger role with the rebuilding Kings, as he demonstrated in scoring 29 points in a victory against the Clippers on Feb. 28.

Glen Davis

One reason the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins (a good value himself at $4.5 million): They had come to rely on Big Baby playing the crunch-time minutes in the frontcourt with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Davis' scoring, toughness and ability to hold his own defensively against bigger players will be critical to Boston's postseason hopes.

Kris Humphries

The seven-year veteran is enjoying a career season -- just in time to cash in as a free agent this summer. Humphries leads New Jersey in double-doubles and ranks second in the NBA in rebounding percentage, behind Kevin Love. And only Love has improved his rebounding average more than Humphries, who is grabbing 9.4 this season after being at 6.5 last season.