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26. Rajon Rondo
Number of 23-and-under point guards in NBA history who started for consecutive 60-win teams: Zero. Stay tuned. Also, he made a sneaky statistical jump from last season to this season: 10.6 ppg, 5.1 apg, 4.6 rpg, 1.7 steals and 49.2 percent FG, to 11.2 ppg, 8.3 apg, 5.1 rpg, 2.0 steals, 50.4 percent FG. Factoring in the typical jumps as players get older (as well as better free-throw shooting), we might see the following peak season for Rondo some day: 16.1 ppg, 10.8 apg, 7.2 rpg, 2.5 steals, 55.4 percent FG. It's in play. We also should mention that he's a good defensive player and immensely fun to watch. All Suns fans will now light themselves on fire with a framed photo of Bob Sarver dunking off a trampoline.

14. Paul Pierce
13. Dirk Nowitzki
Too much history with their respective teams, too much left in the gas tank. By the way, check out the 1998 draft again for old time's sake ... and remember that it was amazing Pierce fell to No. 10 at the time. You don't get many drafts in which the two future Hall of Famers went No. 9 and No. 10. Not to mention that Michael Olowokandi went first (FIRST!!!!), UNC's Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison were swapped for each other, Nowitzki's rights were swapped for (gulp) Tractor Traylor, Rashard Lewis fell to No. 31, and there was an entire All-Head Case Starting Five of '98 picks with Bonzi Wells, Ricky Davis, Keon Clark, Rafer Alston and Jerome James. Would you watch a documentary on the '98 Draft? I feel like I would.

11. Kevin Garnett
Add this to the "Tim Duncan is much greater than he gets credit for" files: KG is one month younger than Duncan. Garnett has played 1,048 regular-season games and 73 playoff games; Duncan has played 873 regular-season games, 155 playoff games and 128 college games. From a mileage/age standpoint, Duncan probably has 117,000 miles on him and KG has 112,500. But Duncan is more of an impact guy than KG at this point, which is less of a reflection on KG and more of a testament to Duncan. The guy is NOT aging. More on this in a second.

PPAW4Life wrote:KG is more athletic and has better range and shot. He's a better one on one defender and a better team defender. He's a better passer and a better ball handler. KG shoots free throws much better and is much more unselfish.

Duncan is only better at scoring in the paint.

The reason most people think Duncan is better is because he won rings earlier and had so much more success in the playoffs before KG. But championships are not won by one player....it takes a great team to win a 'ship. Duncan was just more fortunate.