Lets say Manu at the peak of his powers is dropped into todays NBA.

[Kblaze8855]

27 year old prime 2005 Manu. For the record he took 10 shots a game that season. But hes dropped into todays hands off, freedom of movement, pick and roll spamming, spacing before all else, no such thing as a bad shot unless its a 2 pointer, #washedking doing 11 assists a night, run and gun, guys doing Shaq and Jordan numbers in 29 minutes league. Hes placed there instead of say....Bradley Beal. Bradley for the record has taken 20 shots more times this season(32) than Manu did in his entire 1257 game career.

You have Manu on a team that scores 116ppg and gives up 120. THe Ball is in his hands. What do you expect to happen stats wise?


This guy in this league:






https://youtu.be/SZ9d6Vjxu_w









Lead the league in assists? 30ppg?

Something more modest?


Peak Manu on the Wizards in place of Bradley Beal.

Your expectations.

Go.

[Gotterdammerung]

Manu Ginobili would post crazy numbers in today's NBA, but he was also all-too fragile.

A smart coach would limit his minutes to 25-30 per game, curtailing the potential ceiling of his numbers. Granted, he would explode for more career highs than he used to on a loaded team that played ball-control in those 00's Spurs teams.

[superduper]

There's a reason why a bunch of these players from the past would post insane numbers in todays NBA. People thinking this is the most superalien era of all time need a reality check.

[Manny98]

Manu is talented and would easily be a top 10 maybe even a top 5 player in todays NBA but he doesn't have the motor to average 30ppg for a entire season

[Whoah10115]

Manu would be better than Harden.

Me thinks.

I think 27PPG and 7-8APG with the ball always moving. 33MPG would get him there.

[Reggie43]

He is a dude who just plays the right way so his numbers wont improve drastically aside from improving his efficiency with the softer rules.

[Pushxx]

I think he'd be just about as good, maybe slightly better because of sports medicine. He was amazing then and he'd be amazing now.

[90sgoat]

He'd look a whole lot like Luka Doncic.

[ShawkFactory]

Manu is and always has been an unselfish player who doesn’t feel the need to press matters unless it’s absolutely necessary.

People saying he’d score 27-30 or whatever are out of their minds. He certainly could do that, but he wouldn’t. That’s not in his nature.

[Phoenix]

Manu didn't really have that 'I'm gonna take 20 shots a game' mentality. I suppose you could argue that his prime was spent on a team that also had prime Duncan and the Spurs system wasn't built on that kind of shot-jacking, but I've never looked at Manu and thought 'man, put this guy in X era and he's dropping 30 a night'. He was never the focal point of the defense nor did he ever demonstrate the durability for such a role over a season. He may be a 23/9/5 guy on the right team today, if anything the spacing would allow him to better showcase his passing than scoring. You could realistically make him a straight up PG today and he'd be in the top 3 for assists.

[Spurs m8]

It's funny he gets compared to Harden....Harden is 1 tenth of the player Manu was overall.

If Manu was as selfish as Harden in todays game he would average in the 40s ppg with 10+ assists

Manu was a smart player...harden is dumb as a brick

[iamgine]

We already have Manu. His name is Joe Ingles.

[red1]

he was as good if not better than harden but I dont know if he could put up with hardens usage


Id expect 32 points 9 assists 5 rebounds something flashy like that

[Im Still Ballin]

Manu would be better than Harden.

Me thinks.

I think 27PPG and 7-8APG with the ball always moving. 33MPG would get him there.

This... Manu is a "in the flow" guy. He's not a high-volume big-numbers type of operator. Even on his own team, he's going to be reserved compared to the Hardens/Beals/Trae Youngs.

It's kind of like Durant, LeBron or Kawhi now. It's a casual dominance. Measured. Mature.



But maybe I'm misinterpreting the point of this thread... Could he do the numbers those high-volume guys are doing today? Absolutely.

If he went all-out maxed volume... His statline would probably be close to 30 points a night, with 8-10 assists.

[brooks_thompson]

Manu’s more like a Jimmy Butler guy. His stats will never tell the full story, no matter how good or how bad the team he’s on.

[superduper]

Manu is possibly amongst the greatest players in terms of highest impact who gave absolutely zero shits about stats.

[eliteballer]

Manu is talented and would easily be a top 10 maybe even a top 5 player in todays NBA but he doesn't have the motor to average 30ppg for a entire season

I'd say around 25 ppg, with probably 7-8 dimes.

[BarberSchool]

We have all heard the phrase:

“That player was clearly ahead of his time”

Dudes who grew up watching Manu tried to copy him so much, that when they came of age and went pro, it changed how the game was played.

Manu was his gen’s Pistol Pete, setting next-gen standards that seemed flashy, but upon a second look in slo mo, were actually incredibly efficient and deadly ways to dissect defenses, both with the ball and without, and ESPECIALLY when passing the ball.

In Manu’s particular case, that was both good (euro-step slashing/finishing/fast break play, next-gen pick and roll reads, every SG/SF being able to play point guard at any time, etc) and bad (flopping too much, nagging refs, artificially seeking contact on drives)

We can blame what we hate in Harden and others on Manu, yet also thank him for being a pioneer and setting new creative standards that modernized aspects of the game.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

In 47 games Duncan or Parker missed from 05-11, Manu averaged 27/7/5 on 61 TS

He was way more than capable of putting up big numbers with his skills. And it's far easier to score in today's league

Manu would be a top 10 scorer, top 5 passer and one of the better perimeter defenders in the league too

Only question like always for him is durability. A healthy Manu would carve today's league up and be the best SG for sure