On his blog, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has published a post "All Stars by the Numbers" that will probably create a lot of discussion. Let's just say the results are "interesting" to say the least, since despite LeBron being on top and basically in a league of his own the names are not in the usual order you would expect. And some names you wouldn't expect at all.

Cuban doesn't completely explain how the Mavs - who have long been known to rely heavily on quantitative analysis under his ownership - came up with this system over what he claims have been eight years of work (!), only that "at its most basic its a plus minus system" with a ton of advanced factors. Interesting: It seems to incorporate the quality of the lineup the other team uses, which most statistics don't.

One more point, these numbers don’t reflect necessarily the best players in the league, but what they do reflect is the players that are being best put in a position to succeed and are delivering.

Only Blazer in the top 30: LaMarcus at #20.

But we meet another old acquaintance: Sebastian Telfair. And even in the top 10, the man traded for Brandon: Randy Foye. Mhm, why don't the Timberwolves win more?

It's a pretty wild mix of players that rank high in this system, from smalls and bigs to stars and complete role players. Some fans, teams, players (and their agents) will love the results, others will dispute them as nonsense. Like I said, this will create some discussions...