I think these are silly hypotheticals (switching players and expecting same progression/performance) Who's to say if Kawhi started his career having to carry the offensive load he wouldn't be a better offensive player (really what you mean is ISO player, when in reality you don't need great ISO players to make great offense)? Is it his fault he happens to fall into a team that likes to pass the ball? Is it his fault he's on a team coached by Pop? You can also say if you would have put Harden on the Spurs last year, they wouldn't win 67 games because Harden doesn't make them the best defense in the NBA, he doesn't always play within the team concept, doesn't rebound as well, doesn't shoot as well off catch and shoot 3s...
Sure, Harden has never been as active off the ball as Kawhi. He's never approached 44% anywhere from 3, he's never played as good defense as Kawhi... Spurs had an elite offense last year along with by far the best defense in the league, no knock on Harden, I was just saying switching players is silly, but IF you switched them, I don't think the spurs offense improves by more than their defense suffers switching Harden in for Kawhi, thus they don't win as many games. It's not a crazy thing. LMA is a better offensive player (arguable) than Draymond Green, but if you switched them The Warriors wouldn't be as good with LMA.. that doesn't mean green is a better player even though I think he is.
Maybe I should clearify more: high jumping abilities, explosiveness, speed to outrun your man, not just contact and euro step, and not talking about strength. Sure I am not talking about the average athleticism, every NBA has at least some Even late Battier and Scola had athleticism. You got to have more expectations when your supposedly best player is arguably Top 5. Name one guy that is less athletic than him in the Top 5? I am referring to the best 5 or best 8 and boy, all the other guys have either godly shooting abilities or godly athleticism. He is the only guy that gets by with step back shots, euro steps and heavily drawing contact, trying to throw his body at players. Nobody does that except for Harden! Manu has not been Top for a very long time.
I'm really curious how Spurs and Thunders fans rank Kawhi and WB against Harden Anyone who thinks Kawhi is more valuable than Harden, why don't you post a poll on the Spurs board if they would trade Kawhi for Harden straight up. If majority won't then I put $10 in the tip jar if majority would then you put $10 in the tip jar. Same with WB on the Thunders board
What's to say? Ability.. skillset... Kawhi doesn't have the capability to do so in a situation like that because he has clear limitations to his offensive game. No I don't simply mean one on one scoring. He's not a great shot creator He's not a playmaker... He's not an elite ball handler... He's just serviceable. And thus a large part of his offensive production is reliant on others creating for him.
Believe me when I tell you this. I will never make a tip jar bet based on the opinion that the Spurs fan base has on the Rockets. Its not relevant and certainly not based in anything that resembles facts. Why would I ever except the opinion of a fan base that thinks David Robinson and Tim Duncan were better than Dream? I wouldn't. Regardless which team you think had the most injuries, both teams were killed with injuries all season. The difference between Harden and Westbrook is simple. Harden got his team the 2nd best record in the West and a trip to the WCF while Westbrook couldn't even get his team in the play-offs. Check mate. Now, you can go back to your Spurs fan board and troll them if you want. I'm through arguing with you.
Spurs wouldn't trade for him because of his ego, lack of consistent shooting and being a poor defender. Hardens skill is iso and drawing fouls. Leonard can shoot better, defende better and finishes at rim better because of his athletic ability. Leonard also is better at scoring in the post and can be thr #1 option on offense. Harden is cool but he is a product of high volume shooting and freethrows. No star players should score more than 60% of their points at FT line or be neutralized just by making them attack the rim from a different side of the court. Harden has both of these issues
Pop would trade for Harden. He would actually make him better and convince him to play his brand of basketball.
You can expect homerism from any fan base. However, any fan base tends to be impartial when they have no horse in the race. You know you'd lose the bet which is why you're using the flimsiest of excuses to run away. You know you're arguing a losing position. The difference between the 2015 Rockets/Thunder was simple. When Dwight got hurt, DMo became a serviceable replacement, and when DMo got hurt, Dwight was healthy. So during the entire course of the season, there was always a serviceable center on the roster. When Durant got hurt, OKC didn't have a serviceable replacement for him. Westbrook had to step up. Like I said before, you can't win this argument.
Whether or not a team peoples Kawhi or Harden depends on what they are looking for. For example, the Spurs already have a go-scoring star in Aldridge. They need a player like Kawhi to complement that. Kawhi is NOT expected to be a primary option like Harden, a position I believe he would absolutely fail at. The top 5 players always have the ability to carry their teams by consistently generating points, which is the only way teams win. At the end of the day, it's not defense that wins, it's offense. I simply do not see that ability with Kawhi and while I do see it with WB, he is incredibly inefficient at it.
yeah I'm just curious just $10 anyway.. so you gonna post the polls in spurs and thunders boards or know someone who can?
This doesn't make sense. We know Harden lacks on defense, but the MVP typically is the person that puts their team over the top. All NBA is typically two way player or best player at that position. Dennis Rodman in my book was an MVP caliber player and his offense was worst than Harden's defense.
