My gut reaction was "come on, win something first" but it certainly is a rarity for two Hall of Famers - or in this case, two likely top 50 players of all time - to team up in the same backcourt and rarer for them to have one of the best bench players in the league backing them up. Knight is semi-irrelevant in the discussion but he is probably marginally better than the average fourth guard. So I guess if not them, who's better? Bob Cousy / Sam Jones / KC Jones is a pretty ridiculous trio. They didn't have or need a real fourth guard but if you were to cheat and grant them rookie Havlicek as a SG it's the clear winner to me. Even without him...this might still be my pick. Isiah Thomas / Joe Dumars / Vinnie Johnson / Gerald Henderson is pretty nice, and is layed out similarly in role to our guard rotation, though Dumars isn't quite Harden/Paul's equal. Steph Curry / Klay Thompson / Shaun Livingston / Leandro Barbosa / Ian Clark is deep and has a reasonable player-by-player comp to our squad. Walt Frazier / Earl Monroe / Henry Bibby / Dean Meminger / Jim Barnett is explosive and high-scoring with a title ring, but was a lottery team without Willis Reed. Eddie Jones/ Nick Van Exel / Kobe Bryant seemed on track to be great at the time, but they broke up quickly and neither Jones or Nick went on to ever play for a contender, so they're pretty unheralded.
Note that I said "average fourth guard", not "average fourth guard of an all-time great backcourt." The fourth guards on average teams last year were guys like Langston Galloway, Emmanuel Mudiay or even MCW. I'm half convinced you're right myself but "average fourth guard" isn't far off from "benchwarmer" in the first place.
Here are a few worthy mentions: 1.) Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and B. J. Armstrong 2.) Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. 3.) Byron Scott and Magic Johnson (Worthy also played small forward) 4.) Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter. 5.) Kobe Bryant and anyone he played with 6.) Run TMC: Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond & Chris Mullin I would definately put the Harden /Paul combo ahead of the Run TMC teams with Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond & Chris Mullin. However, until Harden and Paul make it to the finals, I would put the back-courts lead by Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson / Byron Scott or Clyde Drexler ahead of the current Rockets back-court. As good as Magic Johnson was, Byron Scott was the leading scorer on the Lakers team that went to the finals and beat the Celtics and Pistons. Since Worthy also played small forward, it is tough to beat a Lakers team that had Magic, Scott and Worthy. No offense to Russell Westbrook, but Clyde is still probably the best rebounding shooting guard in the history of the NBA as well as one of the best open court players in the history of the NBA. The only thing separating Clyde from Jordan and Kobe are the number of NBA championships. Honorable mention: the Lakers team with Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest. Kobe was just that good and Artest was a defensive Juggernaut.
I understand what you meant, and Knight is not even that good. He was the second worst PG in the league the last time he played and THEN tore his ACL. Low efficiency, high usage, awful defense. Net negative. At least those players you named don't use enough possessions to actively hurt the team and play better defense. EDIT: Mudiay actually might be as bad because he's pretty high usage. But his defense is still better than Knight's although he's pretty terrible himself.
I imagine they'll try to run Knight at the 2 a lot of the time. That could potentially cover up some of his deficiencies. Run him with Paul or JH at the 1 you can get Knight in positions where he is much more effective. I think the calculus was almost purely financial but there is at least a chance he responds to this situation in a positive way.
2007 champs Parker (Finals MVP), Ginobody and (starting SG) Finley getting no love. I love it! The question is "Best Guard rotation". Pippen, Mullin and Worthy aren't supposed to count. (I mean, heck, Larry Bird also started at SF with HOFer Dennis Johnson, and prime Danny Ainge.) And you need to mention three, not two, guards (hence, "rotation"). So, despite arguments to muddle things that Pippen could play point-forward, the majority of guard minutes went to MJ, BJ and Paxson (who started for 1st two rings, and was backup PG in 3rd). Then Ron Harper replaced BJ as starter, and Kerr took the Paxson role. But that was all Russell. He won all those rings, and that's why he's GOAT center instead of Hakeem. (Or so the argument goes.) j/k Seriously though, it's hard for me to include a guard rotation that doesn't include the best player on the team. (Not to mention, were Sam and KC even better than Heinsohn?) Only Cousy is considered Top 50, and Rockets have two guys who will end up ranked higher than him. Cousy, Sam and KC are more comparable to Pecker, Ginobody and Finley (starter), as rotations who don't include the best player on the team. (I've never been a fan of 7 players making HOF all because they played together and dominated a league that only had 8-10 teams. So, imo, doubtful Sam and KC even make HOF except for contributing to a dynasty.) I mean, Bill Sharman was a HOFer, lulz. One of the 7. The Three-peat '59, '60 and '61 team of Cousy, Sam, KC and Sharman = GOAT because they are 4 HOFers, right?! j/k But, too bad Eric Gordon didn't play on a dynasty in a league of 8-10 teams, with 6 other HOFers, he'd make HOF, too.
i think finals argument is subjective/irrelevant since officiating and injuries can play a role more significant than the quality of play i mean they were on their way to the finals when the refs literally stopped calling legit fouls out of blue...it has nothing to do with basketball
too late ... and what made the other Kobe-era guards most noteworthy is because someone had to pass to Shaq and Gasol, since Kobe wasn't going to.
You can say the NBA is just not a fair league with a history of questionable officiating. Doesn't mean those who were favored did not deserve it. It is what it is. The Rockets were not the only team. Those Kings against the Lakers......and so on. Champs were always favored. Why watch it unless you have accepted it?
Clyde, Sam, & Kenny with Vernon too for a while None ringers Kidd, Nash & Johnson. I think Finley was on that Sun team too. Marley
No, I get what you are saying. I would take Harden and Cp over John Lucas and Lewis Lloyd despite my intense love for sweet lou
I think you do a disservice not listing the Spurs. Manu, Parker and a slew of amazing role players over the years including FInely, Barry, Mills, Hill - any one of those make a great third guard. I'd rank the Spurs as the top guard rotation - people under-rate how good Parker and Geno were. They were so unselfish and played incredible D - so they were never going to put up the crazy scoring numbers - that wasn't the spurs system. But man, they could have on any other team.
