NBA's Best players of the decade: who's next?

The 10 players who deserve recognition as NBA All-Decade Team members were listed in this space last week.

With 10 years of statistics, awards and accomplishments to draw from, it was relatively easy to come up with a group that included Shaquille O'Neal at center, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan at forward and guards Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash as the first team, with Yao Ming, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and Chauncey Billups as the second teamers.

This week's challenge was more difficult, however, as it is all speculation. The teens won't even begin for a few days, but, hey, it's never too early to predict who will be the 10 best players of the next decade.

By the time that 2020 comes, there may have been a couple of players that would be considered "All-Decade" who aren't even in the NBA yet.

Perhaps University of Kentucky freshman guard John Wall, generally expected to be the prize of next June's NBA draft, will be on such a list. There may even be a sophomore or junior in high school right now who could rise up and be so great in less than a full 10 years in the association that they could be All-Decade.

But for our purposes, we'll look just at the pool of players who are already in the league who should still be making an impact 10 years from now. That's why Kobe Bryant, for instance, won't quite make it even though he's still playing at the top of his game and should still be an All-Star for another few seasons. With 14 years of NBA mileage on his body already, chances are Kobe won't be in the league a decade from now.

Without further ado, here's a list of who will be the top 10 NBA players the next 10 years:

FIRST TEAM

Dwight Howard, center

Howard, who turned 24 earlier this month, is already the best center in the NBA. The Orlando Magic star, who led his team to the league finals last season, should be a double-double machine no matter where he ends up playing during the next 10 years. So far, he's been remarkably durable, too — especially for a big man. He's missed only three games in his five-plus years in the NBA.

LeBron James, forward

The Cleveland Cavaliers' superstar has been such a big name in the sport for so long that it's sometimes easy to forget just how young he is. King James will turn 25 on Wednesday and should have at least another 10 good years in him as a versatile 6-8 forward who has the skills to play any position on the court. James, the reigning league MVP, should add a few more of those trophies to his mantle before the next decade is over.

Kevin Durant, forward