Insider Special: MVP Watch

[Guest]

NBA MVP Watch: Brand belongs

with the elites

by Terry Brown

Thursday, December 5 Updated 10:58 AM EST

Elton Brand by any other name . . .

Power Forward, Los Angeles Clippers

November: 18.6 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.1 spg, 3.3 bpg, 51% shooting

Current MVP, San Antonio Spurs

November: 20.6 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 0.6 spg, 2.5 bpg, 46% shooting

I won't even say his name again, but rather try and make you forget that his former franchise, the one he led in scoring, shooting, rebounds and blocks for two straight seasons after it made him the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft, traded him away for the No. 2 pick in the 2001 draft because it thought it had gone as far as it could with a 6-foot-8 power forward who had no visible tatooes, gold chains or criminal record.

Power Forward, Los Angeles Clippers

Career: 19.3 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.5 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.8 bpg, 49% shooting

Highest-paid player in NBA, Minnesota Timberwolves

Career: 19 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 1.7 bpg, 48% shooting

Or that his current team, the one that he has led in scoring, shooting, rebounds and blocks for the last season and a quarter, failed to extend his rookie contract last offseason when he became eligible while four other players from that same class received maximum salaries because it, too, didn't believe that he was the franchise player who warranted the requisite money.

Power Forward, Los Angeles Clippers

This Year: 17.6 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.1 spg, 3.3 bpg, 48% shooting

Franchise Forward, Sacramento Kings

This Year: 21.9 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 4.7 apg, 2 spg, 1.6 bpg, 47% shooting

Is it really his fault that the teams he has played for have had no former or current all-stars beside him on the squad or that those teams were also the lowest in payroll those same years resulting in franchises that have compiled a 78-187 record, winning only 29 percent of the games that he has been on an NBA roster?

Power Forward, Los Angeles Clippers

2000-01: 20.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 3.2 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.5 bpg, 47% shooting

MVP Candidate, Dallas Mavericks

2000-01: 21.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.2 bpg, 47% shooting

He continues this season with a team that will, in all likelihood, fail to make the playoffs as its sole returning all-star on pace to lead the entire league in blocked shots and offensive rebounds and double-doubles if not for a single game with a bum knee in which he played anyway because duty dictated such.

Power Forward, Los Angeles Clippers

Last Year: 18.2 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1 spg, 2 bpg, 52% shooting

Maxed-out Forward, Miami Heat

Maxed-out Forward, Golden State Warriors

Maxed-out Forward, Denver Nuggets

Maxed-out Forward, Portland Blazers

Maxed-out Forward, Seattle Sonics

Last Year Ave: 13.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.5 bpg, 45% shooting

There are 29 starting power forwards in the game today and another three dozen or so on the bench. More teams have decided to base their future on that position than any other. As a group, they are the most visible, talked about group in the NBA. The names today, though, have been changed to protect the not so innocent, Brand not being one of them.

The Top 10 Contenders

1. Tracy McGrady, Orlando Magic

Numbers: 31.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.2 bpg, 48% field, 39% three, 82% line

Beef: There is renewed meaning in the game today because some lanky kid from Mount Zion Christian Academy decided that there wasn't a player between him and the basket who could stop him.

2. Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers

Numbers: 29.9 ppg, 4 rpg, 4.8 apg, 2.7 spg, 0 bpg, 41% field, 23% three, 79% line

Beef: Didn't want your respect last year as the reigning MVP. Doesn't need it this year when there is the distinct possibility that it could happen again.

3. Gary Payton, Seattle Sonics

Numbers: 21.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 10.3 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.3 bpg, 47% field, 35% three, 75% line

Beef: Read this roster again. Take away the jumper and all you'd have left is one 34-year-old point guard playing as if he were 10 years younger with two kids in diapers, one on the way, a car with bald tires and a fridge on the fritz with a job that paid on commission only. When, exactly, was the last time we had a player capable of 40 points and 18 assists in the same season?

4. Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets

Numbers: 21.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 8.3 apg, 2.1 spg, 0.1 bpg, 45% field, 37% three, 88% line

Beef: Who would have thought being called the second-best point guard in the NBA would be an insult. As a matter of survival, having his most productive scoring season in career and still not as prolific as mentor.

5. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

Numbers: 28.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 6.7 apg, 2.2 spg, 0.9 bpg, 45% field, 29% three, 78% line

Beef: Almost as many triple-doubles as wins making it hard to decide if we should crucify or christen him.

6. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

Numbers: 21.1 ppg, 13.7 rpg, 5.7 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.4 bpg, 44% field, 33% three, 75% line

Beef: Averaging more assists than the team's point guard, more rebounds than the team's starting center and has more steals than the next two highest teammates combined while leading the team in scoring with the only other legitimate scorer on the team, Wally Szczerbiak, having missed 15 of 19 games. And if you thought that was a mouthful, you should try reading aloud his boxscore one night.

7. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks

Numbers: 21.7 ppg, 11 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.9 bpg, 44% field, 35% three, 85% line

Beef: Would love to run a hypothetical with Dirk on the Nuggets or Bulls or Cavs for one full season and see what this 7-footer really could or could not do. Bet the Nuggets and Bulls and Cavs wouldn't mind, either.

8. Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics

Numbers: 24.9 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.8 bpg, 37% field, 26% three, 78% line

Beef: It may be habit that his name is here and not teammate Antoine Walker, who is averaging more steals, three-pointers and minutes, as many assists, but less points and rebounds. Flip a coin and do as you will.

9. Steve Francis, Houston Rockets

Numbers: 23.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 6 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.7 bpg, 44% field, 35% three, 80% line

Beef: How many Top 20 individual categories can you cram in one 6-foot-3 point guard? It's the Top 16 team category, though, that will keep him on this list.

10. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

Numbers: 20.7 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 3 apg, 0.8 spg, 2.5 bpg, 45% field, 0% three, 64% line

Beef: By reputation alone. Only wish I had the courage to bump him completely off the list in place of someone more deserving at this point in the season, someone who hasn't been torched by a 7-foot-6 rookie.

10. On second thought . .

Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana Pacers

Numbers: 18.6 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, 0.6 spg, 1.2 bpg, 47% field, 0% three, 73% line

Beef: What would this list be without at least one O'Neal on it. No, not that one. The one on the team with the Eastern Conference-leading record of 14-3. He gets Yao in less than two weeks.