Which NBA Players Have The Most Trade Value?

According to Bill Simmons, three of our favorite players rank in the top 50:

17. Tony Parker
16. Manu Ginobili

We're sticking them in such high circles partly out of respect (six rings combined) and partly because San Antonio's organization, to its never-ending credit, values chemistry and goodguymanship (I just made that word up) over everything else.

Here's the defining why-the-Spurs-win-and-keep-winning story: They gave away Luis Scola this summer not just for luxury tax reasons, but because they were afraid that Scola, a No. 1 scoring option for Argentina's national team as well as the Euro leagues, wouldn't be able to adjust to playing 20-25 minutes a game as a supporting guy on a great team. They didn't even want to take the chance that he'd mess them up. So they shipped him out. What's even more fascinating is the Spurs have won four titles (and counting) with a specific strategy that nobody else emulated until Boston voyaged down the same defense-character-chemistry path this season. And the Celtics are 20-2 right now. Hmmmm.



3. Tim Duncan

His finishes in the Trade Value column: No. 2 (2001), No. 3 (2002), No. 1 (2003), No. 2 (2004), No. 1 (2005), No. 3 (2006), No. 3 (2007). Now that's impressive.

I wonder what makes Simmons so sure that Scola would have played 20-25 minutes a game as a Spur. He's averaging less than 19 for the Rockets. When you exclude his three 20-point performances around Thanksgiving, Scola is averaging just 4.3 points and 4.1 boards in less than 17 minutes a game. Scola has been struggling lately, scoring just 13 points in the last five games.

By the way, is it just me, or is Houston looking less and less like a contender, let alone a playoff team? Who would have thought that they would be in the #10 spot after 24 games, trailing Portland, Golden State and New Orleans?

Don't bother reading the rest of the article. Bill Simmons is a hack.