The Real Big Three Rankings: Update Two
The first round of our Big Three Rankings showed that Miami's trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh really weren't the "big three" of the NBA - they were topped by Paul Gasol, Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant of the Lakers and Deron Williams, Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson of Utah (measured by total Win Shares). Well, since that time, things done changed. Miami has gone on tear, thanks in no small part to the Three Amigos, and, subsequently, James-Wade-Bosh find themselves atop our latest Big Three Update.
(All stats as of Jan 6th. Rankings based on top three Win Share earners per team. Number in brackets is team's ranking in previous update)
| 1 | (3) | Miami | LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh | 18.5 |
| 2 | (1) | Lakers | Pau Gasol-Lamar Odom-Kobe Bryant | 15.5 |
| 3 | (7) | New Orleans | Chris Paul-David West-Emeka Okafor | 15.3 |
| 4 | (8) | Boston | Paul Pierce-Ray Allen-Kevin Garnett | 14.0 |
| 5 | (2) | Utah | Deron Williams-Paul Millsap-Al Jefferson | 13.5 |
| 6 | (5) | San Antonio | Manu Ginobili-Tony Parker-Tim Duncan | 13.1 |
| 7 | (6) | Atlanta | Al Horford-Josh Smith-Mike Bibby/Jamal Crawford | 12.1 |
| 8 | (12) | Chicago | Derrick Rose-Joakim Noah-Luol Deng | 12.0 |
| 9 | (4) | Dallas | Dirk Nowitzi-Tyson Chandler-Jason Kidd | 11.9 |
| 10 | (11) | Oklahoma City | Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook-Serge Ibaka | 11.3 |
| 11 | (10) | Orlando | Dwight Howard-Jameer Nelson-Brandon Bass | 11.2 |
| 12 | (13) | Memphis | Rudy Gay-Zach Randolph-Marc Gasol | 10.9 |
| 13 | (9) | New York | Amar'e Stoudemire-Wilson Chandler-Danilo Gallinari | 10.7 |
| 14 | (21) | Clippers | Blake Griffin-Eric Gordon-DeAndre Jordan | 10.3 |
| 15 | (20) | Portland | LaMarcus Aldridge-Andre Miller-Wesley Matthews/Marcus Camby | 10.0 |
| 16 | (15) | Denver | Nene-Chauncey Billups-Arron Afflalo | 9.8 |
| 17 | (29) | Philadelphia | Elton Brand-Thaddeus Young-Jrue Holiday | 9.3 |
| 18 | (23) | Minnesota | Kevin Love-Luke Ridnour-Michael Beasley | 9.1 |
| 19 | (16) | Houston | Kevin Martin-Luis Scola-Brad Miller | 9.0 |
| 20 | (14) | Phoenix | Steve Nash-Grant Hill-Jason Richardson | 8.3 |
| 21 | (19) | New Jersey | Devin Harris-Kris Humphries-Brook Lopez | 7.9 |
| 22 | (30) | Golden State | Monta Ellis-Stephen Curry-Dorell Wright | 7.5 |
| 23 | (17) | Charlotte | D.J. Augustin-Tyrus Thomas-Gerald Wallace | 6.6 |
| 24 | (18) | Indiana | Mike Dunleavy-Danny Granger-Roy Hibbert | 6.4 |
| 25 | (22) | Toronto | Amir Johnson-Jose Calderon-DeMar DeRozan | 6.4 |
| 26 | (25) | Detroit | Rodney Stuckney-Tayshaun Prince-Charlie Villanueva | 5.9 |
| 27 | (24) | Milwaukee | Andrew Bogut-Brandon Jennings-Ersan Ilyasova/John Salmons | 5.7 |
| 28 | (26) | Washington | JaVale McGee-Kirk Hinrich-Nick Young | 5.7 |
| 29 | (28) | Sacramento | Beno Udrih-Francisco Garcia-Omri Casspi | 5.4 |
| 30 | (27) | Cleveland | Anderson Varejao-Daniel Gibson-Antawn Jamison | 5.2 |
Some interesting findings from the rankings:
- the Clippers might still suck, but their future's so bright they gotta wear shades. Their top three win producers are all 22-years-old or less, and they are getting better as the season progresses - they jumped seven places in our rankings from 21st to 14th.
- the Sixers are our top gainer this update, going from second last (29th) to 17th this month. They're led by a resurgent Elton Brand, who is having his best season since 2006/07.
- that's no typo in regards to Denver's top three producers - Arron Afflalo has more Win Shares this season than "star" Carmelo Anthony. Melo is having his worst year since 2005/06 - perhaps he has something on his mind?!
- the oddest names on this list? Other than Afflalo, that would probably be DeAndre Jordan, Kris Humphries and Beno Udrih, who are outproducing big name teammates of theirs.
