NBA Vine Top 10 Small Forwards January 2008

Senior writer Lang Greene releases the NBA Vine's Top 10 Small Forwards for January 2008. King James reigns supreme on the throne. Carmelo Anthony and Caron Butler round out the top three, while Hedo Turkoglu makes the squad in the midst of a career year.

LeBron James # 1

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Vine: It remains to be seen if James can single handedly take the Cavaliers back to the finals. It is not probable, but we learned last year not to underestimate his skills. This year, James leads the league in fourth quarter points scored. A hint of maturity. A sign of dominance.

Carmelo Anthony #2

Denver Nuggets

The Vine: Will Carmelo ever get out of James' shadow? Are we the only ones that feel like the Melo & AI duo is working? Both LeBron and Dwayne Wade have taken their teams deep into the playoffs. We are guessing the criticism of the Nuggets star will quiet down if his team can make a strong run.

Caron Butler # 3

Washington Wizards

The Vine: Butler's offseason regimen included shooting over 700 jumpers daily. The results are clearly evident as Butler has demonstrated increased range and confidence in his stroke. Better for Wizards fans is that his improved play has helped keep the team relevant with Gilbert Arenas sidelined.

Paul Pierce # 4

Boston Celtics

The Vine: Pierce is still the Celtics leading scorer, even with the acquisition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Speaks volumes about Pierce's ability to find his scoring niche.

Josh Howard # 5

Dallas Mavericks

The Vine: Howard rounds out the top 5, continually elevating his game and joining the elite level. Before Dirk Nowitzki's recent surge, it was Howard carrying the Mavericks in scoring earlier this year. Since coming into the league in 2003, Howard has improved his scoring average every year going from 8.6 as a rookie to a career best 20.4 this season.

Gerald Wallace # 6

Charlotte Bobcats

The Vine: On paper you would have believed when the Bobcats acquired Jason Richardson that Wallace's production would have decreased. Wrong. His points, assists, minutes played and three point accuracy statistics have all improved this season.

Richard Jefferson # 7

New Jersey Nets

The Vine: After a strong start to the year, RJ's production has dropped off somewhat recently. Jefferson has the potential to be ranked higher on this list, but his low rebounds per game totals drag the former Arizona star down a peg.

Andre Iguodala # 8

Philadelphia 76ers

The Vine: Playing as the main man in Philly, AI2 has been able to show that last year's performance was not a fluke. AI2 is an all around threat, capable of scoring 20, grabbing 10 rebounds or dishing out 10 assists. Mr. Versatility.

Rudy Gay # 9

Memphis Grizzlies

The Vine: The Grizzlies are down this year, but the emergence of Gay as a legitimate franchise type player is promising. The knock on Gay leaving UCONN was that he may be too passive and non-assertive. Sometimes the scouts are just plain wrong.

Hedo Turkoglu # 10

Orlando Magic

The Vine: Two words. Career year. One topic for debate is whether Turkoglu's improvement has helped Dwight Howard's game more, or vice versa.