Camden wrote:"If Faried isn't skilled, what exactly is Young skilled at. He has a bad handle, isn't a good perimeter shooter, is undersized for the 4???????"
Faried's 100% dependent on athleticism and energy. If you can't recognize that Young is more skilled, than I don't know what players you're watching. Young's got an acceptable handle for a PF, terrific floater, can finish around the rim in a multitude of ways with each hand (left hand dominant) and is a decent shooter from mid-range. He's also a capable passer. I don't get why you think Faried's equally skilled.
"If you are going to dismiss guys like West because he is old and starting to tail off, doesn't that open up the argument for Bennett, Plumlee, TJones, etc. getting better?"
Well, West has already declined since the 18/9 player he used to be. Jones, Plumlee and Bennett have yet to prove that they're top-20 at their position, upside aside. Young's already shown he's better than them. Just take a glance at the box score. I am really high on Jones, though. He's ready for a breakout year, but you can't say he's better based of that. Has to prove it on the court.
"TD has been a PF since he came into the league, and Splitter is their C. Anthony Davis played some C due to Smith being out for the season, but do you really see him playing their this season with Asik on the team? Gasol will be playing next to Noah, who is a C. Gasol has played both depending on the roster, but no question where he will be slotted. Kanter logged 27 minutes a game at C for Utah, so I don't see how we can categorize Favors as a C. Favors may play there in their small ball lineups, but I guarantee you they see him as their PF on that team."
Go check their respective teams most used lineups with those players in them. They are all logging more minutes at center than power forward, and for most of them it's not even close. Notice you're speaking about what may or may not happen in the 2014 season. I did specify that what I'm basing this off of was last year's production. Davis was NO's center. Gasol was LA's center. Favors was Utah's center (Williams and Kanter next to him at power forward).
I am not sure what you are using for positioning, but you should understand that most sites that classify have no real determining criteria, so they may be using something as obvious as height. TD doesn't change his role or positioning regardless of who is on the floor. I have watched at least 50% of SA's games over the last ten years, so I know that to be fact. I can also tell you that Kanter is not a PF in any sense of the term. When he and Favors share the floor, Favors is the PF in that set.
You stated that Young was a top 10 PF, not a top 10 PF last year, and this is a discussion about the upcoming season so the fact that Gasol plays for Chicago, and Asik in NO now is what determines their positioning.
I am not sure what your criteria is for Young being better, but in player comparisons he seems to come out on the bottom end of things. Other than having a higher usage rate due to playing on the worst team in the league last season, his efficiency and %'s pale in comparison. Young is a solid player, but his PER is slightly over average for the league, and the only thing that stands out on his defense is his steals. He is a poor rebounder for his position, and has a low TS%.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&p1=youngth01&y1=2014&p2=farieke01&y2=2014&p3=joneste01&y3=2014&p4=westda01&y4=2014
