Docket #4.27
Remain seated and come to order. The Honorable AJ Mass presiding …

I'm going to get right to the heart of the matter this week … I was watching TNT and they were discussing the NBA MVP race, and I heard all the usual suspects mentioned: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, A.I. and Steve Nash. Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan … even Chris Paul and Dirk Nowitkzi also came up in conversation. But where was Jason?

The following list shows the Top Ten players overall in fantasy basketball this season, using our old reliable TCE rankings as our guide:

Name	Team	TCE Rating	Rank
LeBron James	CLE	22.4	1
Allen Iverson	PHI	21.73	2
Dwyane Wade	MIA	21.50	3
Shawn Marion	PHX	20.43	4
Kobe Bryant	LAL	20.42	5
Kevin Garnett	MIN	20.40	6
Jason Kidd	NJN	19.94	7
Chris Paul	NOK	19.54	8
Gilbert Arenas	WAS	19.51	9
Elton Brand	LAC	19.24	10

Now I realize that the fantasy numbers do not tell the whole story … but let's strip these numbers down further, shall we? Let's see who is really the most complete player by analyzing the Top Ten players when we eliminate each of the five major statistical categories. The following lists will show these leaders, as well as where their overall ranking using all five categories would be:

Name	Team	TCE Rating	Overall Rank
Jason Kidd	NJN	16.66	7
Brevin Knight	CHA	15.75	13
Chris Paul	NOK	15.63	8
Marcus Camby	DEN	15.27	15
Andrei Kirilenko	UTA	15.25	12
Shawn Marion	PHX	15.25	4
Kevin Garnett	MIN	15.16	6
Ben Wallace	DET	15.00	23
Baron Davis	GSW	14.89	11
LeBron James	CLE	14.88	1

Name	Team	TCE Rating	Overall Rank
Allen Iverson	PHI	19.97	2
LeBron James	CLE	18.56	1
Dwyane Wade	MIA	18.41	3
Gilbert Arenas	WAS	17.70	9
Kobe Bryant	LAL	17.60	5
Brevin Knight	CHA	16.96	13
Baron Davis	GSW	16.84	11
Chris Paul	NOK	16.77	8
Jason Kidd	NJN	16.06	7
Steve Nash	PHX	15.74	17

Name	Team	TCE Rating	Overall Rank
Shawn Marion	PHX	18.89	4
Elton Brand	LAC	16.93	10
Kevin Garnett	MIN	16.89	6
Marcus Camby	DEN	16.83	15
LeBron James	CLE	16.72	1
Gerald Wallace	CHA	16.69	16
Kobe Bryant	LAL	16.49	5
Dwyane Wade	MIA	15.78	3
Andrei Kirilenko	UTA	15.39	12
Allen Iverson	PHI	15.32	2

Name	Team	TCE Rating	Overall Rank
LeBron James	CLE	18.07	1
Kevin Garnett	MIN	16.84	6
Dwyane Wade	MIA	16.31	3
Allen Iverson	PHI	16.26	2
Elton Brand	LAC	16.23	10
Steve Nash	PHX	16.06	17
Kobe Bryant	LAL	15.50	5
Pau Gasol	MEM	15.40	22
Tim Duncan	SAS	15.06	20
Shawn Marion	PHX	14.97	4

Name	Team	TCE Rating	Overall Rank
LeBron James	CLE	21.54	1
Allen Iverson	PHI	21.53	2
Dwyane Wade	MIA	20.70	3
Kobe Bryant	LAL	20.02	5
Jason Kidd	NJN	19.54	7
Chris Paul	NOK	19.44	8
Gilbert Arenas	WAS	19.11	9
Kevin Garnett	MIN	19.00	6
Baron Davis	GSW	18.89	11
Shawn Marion	PHX	18.63	4

Now let's total up these five charts, weighting the categories as a kind of "degree of difficulty" (Since it's way easier to accumulate points, it's harder to be the best player without your points scored being included. Similarly, since blocks are much more difficult to come by, it's far easier to be the best player if blocks aren't factored into the equation.) Using this weighted system, we get the following composite ranks, and the factored placement total:

Name	Team	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	Total
LeBron James	CLE	10	2	5	1	1	14.8
Jason Kidd	NJN	1	9	--	--	5	14.8
Brevin Knight	CHA	2	6	--	--	--	14.8
Chris Paul	NOK	3	8	--	--	6	13.0
Allen Iverson	PHI	--	1	10	4	2	11.6
Marcus Camby	DEN	4	--	4	--	--	11.2
Dwyane Wade	MIA	--	3	8	3	3	10.8
Kevin Garnett	MIN	7	--	3	2	8	10.4
Shawn Marion	PHX	6	--	1	10	10	10.4
Kobe Bryant	LAL	--	5	7	7	4	8.6

As you can see, the MVP of the NBA should really come from one of our top three players: LeBron, Jason Kidd and Brevin Knight. Since the NBA MVP voters will take wins into consideration, we can eliminate Brevin. I fully expect LeBron to take home the trophy, but the Kidd deserves equal footing in the conversation, especially with the division title and the huge late-season winning streak the Nets have under their belt. Vote Kidd!

All rise … The Court has now adjourned!

AJ Mass is a fantasy expert for NBA.com. His column The Commish’s Court runs every Saturday as part of the NBA.com Premium Scouting Report. Contact him at thecommish@TalentedMrRoto.com.

The views expressed by the TalentedMrRoto.com represent only the views of the writers; they do not represent the views of the NBA or any NBA team.