Dwyane Wade

Don't get me wrong. Dwyane Wade is one of the best players in the NBA. I ranked him as the 5th best player at the end of last season and as the 4th best player now. Yet, somehow, I believe he's overrated. First, let's talk about Wade's positives. He's a great scorer. His career average is an impressive 25.3 ppg including a league leading 30.2 last season. For his career, he piles up 6.6 assists a game (an assist per game more than Chauncey Billups). He grabs nearly 5 rebounds on a given night from the shooting guard position. He also adds 1.8 steals and a block per game.

He's made the All-Defensive 1st Team twice. He also was deservedly the 2006 Finals MVP, willing his team to victory, particularly late in the 4th quarter of Game 3. Of course, his team won the championship that season. In addition to the numbers and the awards, Wade has made a ton of spectacular dunks and blocks. He's also risen to the challenge for the national team in '06, '07, and in the Olympics in '08.

All of that is great. But it doesn't tell the whole story and, in some cases, is even misleading. Wade dominates the ball on offense. If Dwyane Wade isn't holding the ball for the majority of a particular possession, it's probably because Miami's on defense. As much as he has the ball, of course his numbers are going to be great.

The question becomes: Is Wade dominating the ball the best thing for Miami? The reality is that he should be more of a team player. He's often excused for his ball-hogging because it's pointed out that his teammates aren't very good. At this point, he doesn't have championship teammates, but the team should be better than it’s been. Michael Beasley is a good offensive player, who suffers in Miami's offense. Jermaine O'Neal isn't the star he used to be, but he's often ignored. The difference between Steve Nash's ability to make a player better and Wade's becomes obvious when you look at Shawn Marion's career path.

Wade should be the go-to-guy for Miami, but he needs to learn how to make his teammates better. It was a slow process for Kobe Bryant as well, something Bryant has picked up only in the last three years. One of Wade's big problems over the last two seasons has been his determination to shoot an insane amount of three-pointers despite his paltry shooting average. Also, he can play great defense when the effort is there, which rarely occurs. He's a numbers guy on defense, often gambling for blocks and steals instead of being in position.

In a bit of revisionist history, some have considered the 2006 Miami Heat to have been "Dwyane Wade's team." Wade averaged the most amount of points, and his numbers were better, but the team was at the very least co-led by Wade and Shaq. It wasn't until Game 3 of the Finals that Wade put the team on his back. Shaq had a miserable Finals and Wade deserves a lot of credit for coming through in the clutch, but throughout the season, those roles were not nearly as defined. The bottom line is that Wade is a great player whose garish numbers are deceptive to a degree.