Best 23-and-under players...

[tlloyd34]

ESPN did an article today about the NBA's best players 23-and-under. 13 columnists voted.

Dwight ranked #2 behind Lebron.

You can also read each contributor's reasons for their votes. The best quote is from Jalen Roden for his reasoning for picking Josh Smith as his "Wild Card":

Scary upside and crazy athleticism. Among the league's leaders in blocks and steals, he's also a good defender.

Aren't blocks and steals defense?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=Under23-Intro

[Optimus_Steel]

No Gortat.......

[eyriq]

A good argument can be made for taking Dwight over LBJ just based on the past dominant teams being built around big men, out side of Jordan. That is the kicker because LBJ can appear Jordanesque at times, just ask the Pistons. I'd still seriously consider taking Howard first though, regardless.

[MoMM]

Aren't blocks and steals defense?

Nopz, Steven Hunter was a good shotblocker, but an awful defender, for exemple.

You can try to block and steal a lot of balls and be right 20% of the time, but 80% you leave the other player free to score (random percentagens), so you will have high spg/bpg, but you arent a good defender, IMO.

[sportsrock37]

Wow, Joakim Noah with a vote.

[EasternMagic]

monta is on the bottom? bellow greg oden and andrew bynum

[UCFJayBird]

yea, steals and blocks have a lot to do with defense, but they're not everything. Usually it's an indication of your athleticism and reflexes more than your defense (which is mostly hard work). Allen Iverson led the league in steals for many years I believe, but I wouldn't exactly call him a great defender.