SI's Rankings for NBA's Best 21 And Under 1) LeBron James -Cleveland Cavaliers "King James" is not only the best NBA player under 21, he may just be the best player on the planet. After a strong rookie season, James kicked it into second gear last season, averaging 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game. And he?s still two months shy of his 21st birthday. 2) Carmelo Anthony - Denver Nuggets After winning the national championship in his only year at Syracuse, Anthony produced a promising rookie season. But last year the Nuggets forward took a minor step backward, running into off-court problems and clashing with new coach George Karl. The two are back on the same page this year, and 'Melo should improve on his career averages of 21 points, six rebounds and three assists per game. 3) Chris Bosh - Toronto Raptors One of the few silver linings in the dark cloud that is the Toronto Raptors, Bosh averaged 18 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors last season. In only two years, the 21-year-old has become the face of the franchise and one of the best big men in the Eastern Conference. 4) Dwight Howard - Orlando Magic The only high schooler in NBA history to start all 82 games his rookie season, Howard proved the Magic made the correct move in drafting him No. 1 overall in 2004. The Atlanta native averaged 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks per game as a rookie. At only 19, he?s shown the kind of ability that should make him a dominant post player for years to come. 5) Andre Iguodala - Philadelphia 76ers The Sixers were more than happy to scoop up the forward from Arizona when he fell to No. 9 in the ?04 draft. He began paying dividends immediately with his NBA-ready defense and versatility. At only 21, he is a solid third option for the Sixers behind A.I. and Chris Webber, and should improve on the nine points, six rebounds and three assists he averaged as a rookie. 6) Josh Smith - Atlanta Hawks He posted solid numbers for a high schooler last season (10 points, 6 rebounds a game), but his true value was on the defensive end, where he matched up against all five positions and opened eyes with a 10-block performance against the Mavericks in December. In the 53 games after that breakout performance, Smith blocked a shot in all but five contests and earned a reputation as one of the toughest defenders in the league. Any high schooler who earns a reputation on defense before offense deserves. 7) Al Jefferson - Boston Celtics The Celtics weren't expecting immediate results when they drafted Jefferson out of high school with the 15th overall pick in 2004. But Jefferson proved a quick study and was able to score at ease at various points last season. Although his numbers aren't that impressive -- 7 points and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes per game -- it was enough for Celtics boss Danny Ainge to trade Antoine Walker to the Heat to expand Jefferson's minutes. He is a key cog in the Celtics rebuilding effort this season. 8) J.R. Smith - New Orleans Hornets Here's a scary thought: Smith was set to join Rashad McCants, Marvin Williams, Shawn May and the rest of North Carolina's national championship squad last season, but opted for the NBA instead. He proved his value by averaging 10 points, two rebounds and two assists in his rookie season. He scored more than 15 points in 10 of the Hornets? last 18 games, including a 33-point, six 3-pointer effort against Memphis in late March. The Hornets are a young team, and Smith should be a fixture for years to come. 9) Luol Deng - Chicago Bulls Critics claimed he should've stayed more than one season at Duke, but the 20-year-old native of Sudan proved he was NBA-ready as he helped the Bulls catapult back into the playoffs for the first time since the departure of Michael Jordan. He spent much of last season starting at small forward, averaging 12 points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. Though a thumb injury ended his rookie season prematurely, Deng is healthy once more and ready to help the Bulls advance to the playoffs again. 10) Chris Paul - New Orleans Hornets Though he was the second point guard taken in last year's draft (after Utah's Deron Williams), Paul appears to have quickly adapted to the NBA game. He played two seasons at Wake Forest and was a consensus First Team All-America as a sophomore. He will start at point guard for the Hornets and is many experts' pre-season pick for Rookie of the Year. 11) Sebastian Telfair - Portland Trail Blazers His leap to the NBA straight from high school was widely criticized, but the Coney Island native emerged from of the shadow of his cousin, Stephon Marbury, with a strong rookie season. Though his numbers last season weren't spectacular (7 points, 3 rebounds per game), he came on late in the year as his minutes increased. Point guard is the toughest position for a young player to learn in the NBA, but Telfair has the ability to become the next great New York City guard. 12) Charlie Villanueva - Toronto Raptors Despite the collective groan from the entire city of Toronto when Raptors GM Rob Babcock selected Villanueva No. 7 overall last June, the Raptors rookie was solid in the preseason and has made people forget what they were concerned about in the first place. He'll see more playing time than fellow rookies Rashad McCants and Deron Williams, and along with 21-year-old Chris Bosh, should be a building block of the Raptors franchise for years to come. 13) Trevor Ariza - New York Knicks Isiah Thomas proved to be a shrewd judge of talent when he selected Ariza with the 46th pick of the 2004 draft. The 20-year-old former UCLA Bruin earned a spot in the rotation and averaged 6 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes last season. Although other teams tried to pry him away from the trade-happy Knicks GM, Thomas refused to move Ariza, which should make new coach Larry Brown happy throughout the season. 14) Travis Outlaw - Portland Trail Blazers Critics scoffed when the Blazers picked a high schooler named "Outlaw," with the No. 23 pick in the 2003 draft, but Outlaw has proven the Blazers wise in making the pick. Though his career averages of 5 points and 2 rebounds in two years aren't screaming future MVP, Outlaw was one of the few Blazers kept off the trade table this offseason and should play a bigger role under new coach Nate McMillan. 15) Deron Williams - Utah Jazz The Jazz surprised some people by taking Williams over Chris Paul with the second pick in last year's draft, but Williams should excel in Utah where coach Jerry Sloan knows a thing or two about developing point guards. At Illinois, Williams was the first player in Big Ten history to lead the conference in assists three straight seasons. After a strong pre-season, Williams won the starting job in Utah and should be a fixture at the point for years to come.
Chris Paul tenth? Trevor Ariza and Travis Outlaw better than Deron Williams? The rookies are getting too little credit.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bobcats:</div><div class="quote_post">How old is this article?</div> I don't know exactly but can't be too old because it mentions that LBJ is 2 months shy of his 21st birthday which is now under a month away.
Go to the link and please look at the date in the URL. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedi.../content.1.html
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting N4S:</div><div class="quote_post">Recent. 11/03/05 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedi.../content.1.html</div> That's a month ago. No wonder Paul and Deron Williams were that low.
This is old, obviously Bosh and Howard would be ahead of Carmelo and Chris Paul would be after those guys if it was newer.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">This is old, obviously Bosh and Howard would be ahead of Carmelo and Chris Paul would be after those guys if it was newer.</div> I'd have to disagree strongly with that statement. Melo isn't really doing anything that he hasn't done before, but is having a solid year. Bosh leads Melo only in categories where he should because he is a forward (rebounds, fg%). Bosh barely scores more than Melo, but Bosh is pretty much the lone star on his team, especially considering Jalen's shooting slump. Not to mention that Melo is sharing the ball (and rebounds) with 'Dre, Boykins, Camby, Kmart, etc. Once you take team records into account, I'd easily rank Melo over Bosh.
Carmelo is a fine player, don't get me wrong, I'm just not very pleased with him. He's made too few strides from his rookie year till now. His defense is still quite weak, his passing is the same, he's improved his shot selection a little, but is shooting quite dissapointing percentages, and he's just not impressing me.
josh smith at #6??? what kind of joke is this all he got is dunks and blocks, he stays in one spot and just get ready for the block defensively and offensively he cannot shoot he just waits for his chance to get a dunk.... j.r. smith should be ranked higher than him and btw good thread good find
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting rookie789:</div><div class="quote_post">josh smith at #6??? what kind of joke is this all he got is dunks and blocks, he stays in one spot and just get ready for the block defensively and offensively he cannot shoot he just waits for his chance to get a dunk.... j.r. smith should be ranked higher than him and btw good thread good find</div> i agree JR is a very skilled outside shooter as well as one of our newest high flyers in this league
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Carmelo is a fine player, don't get me wrong, I'm just not very pleased with him. He's made too few strides from his rookie year till now. His defense is still quite weak, his passing is the same, he's improved his shot selection a little, but is shooting quite dissapointing percentages, and he's just not impressing me.</div> His passing has improved a lot. Also, he hasn't improved his shot selection a little, it's improved a lot under George Karl, and it's shown in his shooting percentages and his shots per game.
I've been very impressed with Deron Will this year. I watched him at Illinois a ton and I knew the kid had potential.
^^i'm impressed with DW as well...only thing is, i didn't see the potential...i thought utah was making a huge mistake taking him at 4. he's already better than i thought he'd be several years from now.
i think chris paul is too low, but you gotta realize he's not saying these players will be better its that they are better now... outlaw was a bit of a stretch and probably should swap places w/ deron
