No, it is not a close call. All I heard is Cassell was a very, very good player. although I do not know this Smith guy very much, but I do not think he was bad either.
Smith/Cassell simply because of Cassell. The guy is a bball genius. He dominated on offense when he was at Minnesota despite being old and slow. What he lacked in physical gifts was completely overcome by his IQ, which was, well, extraterrestrial...
It was hard to note when Cassell's prime was. He took a bunch of teams to the playoffs after the Rockets. I thought he was at his best with the Bucks, the year he was #2 in the league in assists while still dropping mid range jumpers on everybody in the league. However what he did with the Clippers is legendary, basically Brett Favre of last year's Vikings.
Yep and also remember his 40% career 3 point shooting and his overall 48% percent shooting along with his almost 7 assist per game. What does him leaving the league at 31 matter?
This is early Kenny, not the 3 point shooter later in his career <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZIBdp4DrwDw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZIBdp4DrwDw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0YHItFncBFE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0YHItFncBFE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Kenny was not a good PG, but he was perfect for a Hakeem led team because he could really feed off of him and hit those wide open shots. He was also a serious wuss, and Derrick Harper owned him..... He was great for his years in Houston, and then died quickly once Dream was no longer Dream. DD
I guess your going to ignore his time in Sac Town and 90-91 when Dream got hurt? Not saying AB WON'T be better but I'd take Kenny RIGHT now. Kenny's numbers declined when he got to Houston because of Dream and then even more when Sam came along.
Taking into account that they would be playing with Dream, I go with Smith/Cassell. Those two can spot up and shoot all day... not to mention Sam was pretty good at creating his own shots. I'm just not too sure the duo of Brooks/Lowery (mainly Lowery) would make their open looks. Defensively both duos aren't that great (Lowery being the best defensive player out of all of them).. but when you got Dream back there you can afford to cadillac a bit.
Cassell is better than any of the players listed. That's reason enough to take Cassell/Smith over Brooks/Lowry. Though if we're talking about 93-96 Cassell/Smith without hindsight, then it might be closer.