dankok8
02-22-2021, 01:11 PM
It includes their regular and playoffs stats as well as other factors that are important in assessing peak play.
I gave everyone defensive marks as follows:
A+ GOAT-level defender
A all-time great defender
A- great defender
B+ all-league defender
B solid positive defender
B- somewhat positive defender
C+ slightly positive defender
C neutral defender
C- slightly negative defender
D+ somewhat negative defender
D solid negative defender
F total defensive liability
I also ranked team success as follows:
A won multiple championships
B won one championship
C played on strong contenders
D played on weak contenders for championships
F played on non-contending teams
I added + and - to the letter grades for team success as I saw fit to adjust for certain factors that I felt were significant.
I decided to use 5-year stretches to define peaks. 3 years is too short and gives players with short peaks too much benefit of the doubt and most greats can’t maintain their best form for more than 5 years. I don’t want to include years that are clearly worse because then it isn’t a peak article anymore. 5 years seems like a nice middle ground.
This list contains 3 point guards, 4 shooting guards, and 3 small forwards and covers the entire NBA history since the merger in 1955.
Three guys that were close to making the list are:
2006-2010 Dwyane Wade
1977-1981 Julius Erving
1961-1965 Elgin Baylor
Wade was injured for two of the five years. Dr J is just a step below other players here statistically. This being an NBA-only list also hurts Dr J who had his best years in the ABA. Baylor like Wade had his peak years cut down by injuries and just wasn’t the same player post 1963. He was also much less efficient than most of his contemporaries when it came to scoring the ball.
Along with the rankings for every player I also tried to cover ranges and mention the highest rankings I could envision for these players. This I feel is informative because weighing factors like statistics, defense and team success is somewhat subjective.
Without further ado:
#10
2016-2020 James Harden
S: 31.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 8.5 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.7 bpg on 61.4 %TS (+5.9 rTS), 4.9 topg in 36.7 mpg
P: 29.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 7.4 apg, 2.0 spg, 0.7 bpg on 57.6 %TS (+2.1 rTS), 4.4 topg in 37.4 mpg
Position: SG
Defensive Grade: C+
Team Success: C+
Championships: None
Major Accolades: MVP in 2018
Team ORtg: 113.2 (+4.2 rORtg)
Notes: Harden is one of the most ball-dominant players ever but has anchored one historically good offense, the 2018 Houston Rockets. This was also one of the best teams never to win a title so he gets a C+ for team success instead of a straight C. His defense was probably a D+ in 2016 where he was actually a negative defender but he has steadily improved to the point where he is a somewhat positive defender around B- these days. His overall defensive grade for this five-year stretch I deemed a C+. I think when committed on the defensive end he is capable of giving more than a few other players on this list. He actually made some clutch defensive plays in the 2020 playoffs.
Ultimately I ranked Harden #10 because of his weak playoff numbers especially his +2.1 rTS which is the lowest scoring efficiency relative to league average of all candidates here. I also can’t overlook his average-ish defense in a field of a lot of positive defenders and his high assist numbers are largely a result of holding the ball a lot and not necessarily being a top tier passer. Finally he didn’t have major team success to give me much of a pause. Ultimately he beat out a few guys on the honorable mentions list simply by being more healthy. Harden’s durability is probably his most underrated trait.
#9
2014-2019 Kevin Durant
S: 27.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 5.3 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.2 bpg on 63.7 %TS (+9.0 rTS), 3.0 topg in 35.3 mpg
P: 29.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.2 bpg on 60.2 %TS (+5.5 rTS), 3.2 topg in 39.1 mpg
Position: SF
Defensive Grade: B
Team Success: A-
Championships: 2017, 2018
Major Accolades: MVP in 2014; Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018
Team ORtg: 113.7 (+5.5 rORtg)
Notes: Durant is the only player on this list whose peak spans six years because he was hurt in the 2014-2015 season playing just 27 games and then missed the playoffs. I felt obliged to extend his peak to a sixth year. He played on an all-time great Warriors team for the last three years of this stretch. I gave Durant an A- for team success instead of a straight A because he only started winning when joining the Warriors.
I gave him the nod over Harden because despite joining the Warriors he did win 2 titles while making a case for himself as the best player in the world. He’s also notably more efficient scoring the ball and is a much better defensive player probably peaking close to an all-league defender. When I put it all together, I’d rather have Durant than Harden. I think a case can be made for Durant to be a couple of positions higher but having to join an already pre-made team and his relative lack of playmaking hurts him compared to a few other players on this list. His off-ball skills make him an ideal piece on very talented rosters but he is not the best floor-raiser.
#8
1962-1966 Oscar Robertson
S: 30.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 10.9 apg, ? spg, ? bpg on 56.8 %TS (+8.4 rTS), ? topg in 45.0 mpg
P: 30.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 9.2 apg, ? spg, ? bpg on 56.2 %TS (+7.8 rTS), ? topg in 47.0 mpg
Position: PG
Defensive Grade: C+
Team Success: D+
Championships: None
Major Accolades: MVP in 1964
Team ORtg: 98.4 (+3.9 rORtg)
Notes: Anchored the league’s best offense for the first four years of this stretch. I had a hard time grading his defense given the dearth of footage but he isn’t mentioned as a great defender and given his size relative to other guards and a huge offensive load I figured slightly positive defense is probably in the right ballpark.
I considered 1961 and 1967 but ultimately this was the best stretch. His team success is only a D+ and that’s what brings him down in these rankings but I can consider a much higher spot for Oscar because his teammates weren’t special and he was up against the greatest dynasty ever in the 1960’s Celtics in two of the Royals’ best years in 1963 and 1964. Oscar was such an offensive dynamo that I can see a case for him as high as #3 or so on this list if we are willing to give him a pass for the lack of team success. And like I explained you can argue he deserves a pass with his teams clearly much less talented than the Celtics. As a pure offensive force, Oscar has almost no match. But for me his lack of team success is a really major flaw because it’s worse compared to any other player on the list.
#7
2015-2019 Stephen Curry
S: 26.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 6.5 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.2 bpg on 64.8 %TS (+9.9 rTS), 3.1 topg in 33.3 mpg
P: 27.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.3 bpg on 61.6 %TS (+6.7 rTS), 3.5 topg in 37.0 mpg
Position: PG
Defensive Grade: C
Team Success: A+
Championships: 2015, 2017, 2018
Major Accolades: MVP in 2015 and 2016
Team ORtg: 114.2 (+6.2 rORtg)
Notes: Curry anchored an all-time great offense. He has amazing gravity thanks to his unbelievable shooting and with him on the floor, teammates often find themselves wide open. Even prior to Durant joining, the Warriors were unbelievably great offensively thanks to Curry.
The reason he doesn’t rank higher on this list is that he’s probably the worst defensive player. In fact given his small size and relatively thin frame he is a straight-up liability in certain matchups like facing bigger guards in the post. If you value his offensive game very highly and construct the right team around him he can be argued as high as #3 on this list.
I gave everyone defensive marks as follows:
A+ GOAT-level defender
A all-time great defender
A- great defender
B+ all-league defender
B solid positive defender
B- somewhat positive defender
C+ slightly positive defender
C neutral defender
C- slightly negative defender
D+ somewhat negative defender
D solid negative defender
F total defensive liability
I also ranked team success as follows:
A won multiple championships
B won one championship
C played on strong contenders
D played on weak contenders for championships
F played on non-contending teams
I added + and - to the letter grades for team success as I saw fit to adjust for certain factors that I felt were significant.
I decided to use 5-year stretches to define peaks. 3 years is too short and gives players with short peaks too much benefit of the doubt and most greats can’t maintain their best form for more than 5 years. I don’t want to include years that are clearly worse because then it isn’t a peak article anymore. 5 years seems like a nice middle ground.
This list contains 3 point guards, 4 shooting guards, and 3 small forwards and covers the entire NBA history since the merger in 1955.
Three guys that were close to making the list are:
2006-2010 Dwyane Wade
1977-1981 Julius Erving
1961-1965 Elgin Baylor
Wade was injured for two of the five years. Dr J is just a step below other players here statistically. This being an NBA-only list also hurts Dr J who had his best years in the ABA. Baylor like Wade had his peak years cut down by injuries and just wasn’t the same player post 1963. He was also much less efficient than most of his contemporaries when it came to scoring the ball.
Along with the rankings for every player I also tried to cover ranges and mention the highest rankings I could envision for these players. This I feel is informative because weighing factors like statistics, defense and team success is somewhat subjective.
Without further ado:
#10
2016-2020 James Harden
S: 31.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 8.5 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.7 bpg on 61.4 %TS (+5.9 rTS), 4.9 topg in 36.7 mpg
P: 29.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 7.4 apg, 2.0 spg, 0.7 bpg on 57.6 %TS (+2.1 rTS), 4.4 topg in 37.4 mpg
Position: SG
Defensive Grade: C+
Team Success: C+
Championships: None
Major Accolades: MVP in 2018
Team ORtg: 113.2 (+4.2 rORtg)
Notes: Harden is one of the most ball-dominant players ever but has anchored one historically good offense, the 2018 Houston Rockets. This was also one of the best teams never to win a title so he gets a C+ for team success instead of a straight C. His defense was probably a D+ in 2016 where he was actually a negative defender but he has steadily improved to the point where he is a somewhat positive defender around B- these days. His overall defensive grade for this five-year stretch I deemed a C+. I think when committed on the defensive end he is capable of giving more than a few other players on this list. He actually made some clutch defensive plays in the 2020 playoffs.
Ultimately I ranked Harden #10 because of his weak playoff numbers especially his +2.1 rTS which is the lowest scoring efficiency relative to league average of all candidates here. I also can’t overlook his average-ish defense in a field of a lot of positive defenders and his high assist numbers are largely a result of holding the ball a lot and not necessarily being a top tier passer. Finally he didn’t have major team success to give me much of a pause. Ultimately he beat out a few guys on the honorable mentions list simply by being more healthy. Harden’s durability is probably his most underrated trait.
#9
2014-2019 Kevin Durant
S: 27.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 5.3 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.2 bpg on 63.7 %TS (+9.0 rTS), 3.0 topg in 35.3 mpg
P: 29.4 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 0.9 spg, 1.2 bpg on 60.2 %TS (+5.5 rTS), 3.2 topg in 39.1 mpg
Position: SF
Defensive Grade: B
Team Success: A-
Championships: 2017, 2018
Major Accolades: MVP in 2014; Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018
Team ORtg: 113.7 (+5.5 rORtg)
Notes: Durant is the only player on this list whose peak spans six years because he was hurt in the 2014-2015 season playing just 27 games and then missed the playoffs. I felt obliged to extend his peak to a sixth year. He played on an all-time great Warriors team for the last three years of this stretch. I gave Durant an A- for team success instead of a straight A because he only started winning when joining the Warriors.
I gave him the nod over Harden because despite joining the Warriors he did win 2 titles while making a case for himself as the best player in the world. He’s also notably more efficient scoring the ball and is a much better defensive player probably peaking close to an all-league defender. When I put it all together, I’d rather have Durant than Harden. I think a case can be made for Durant to be a couple of positions higher but having to join an already pre-made team and his relative lack of playmaking hurts him compared to a few other players on this list. His off-ball skills make him an ideal piece on very talented rosters but he is not the best floor-raiser.
#8
1962-1966 Oscar Robertson
S: 30.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 10.9 apg, ? spg, ? bpg on 56.8 %TS (+8.4 rTS), ? topg in 45.0 mpg
P: 30.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 9.2 apg, ? spg, ? bpg on 56.2 %TS (+7.8 rTS), ? topg in 47.0 mpg
Position: PG
Defensive Grade: C+
Team Success: D+
Championships: None
Major Accolades: MVP in 1964
Team ORtg: 98.4 (+3.9 rORtg)
Notes: Anchored the league’s best offense for the first four years of this stretch. I had a hard time grading his defense given the dearth of footage but he isn’t mentioned as a great defender and given his size relative to other guards and a huge offensive load I figured slightly positive defense is probably in the right ballpark.
I considered 1961 and 1967 but ultimately this was the best stretch. His team success is only a D+ and that’s what brings him down in these rankings but I can consider a much higher spot for Oscar because his teammates weren’t special and he was up against the greatest dynasty ever in the 1960’s Celtics in two of the Royals’ best years in 1963 and 1964. Oscar was such an offensive dynamo that I can see a case for him as high as #3 or so on this list if we are willing to give him a pass for the lack of team success. And like I explained you can argue he deserves a pass with his teams clearly much less talented than the Celtics. As a pure offensive force, Oscar has almost no match. But for me his lack of team success is a really major flaw because it’s worse compared to any other player on the list.
#7
2015-2019 Stephen Curry
S: 26.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 6.5 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.2 bpg on 64.8 %TS (+9.9 rTS), 3.1 topg in 33.3 mpg
P: 27.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.9 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.3 bpg on 61.6 %TS (+6.7 rTS), 3.5 topg in 37.0 mpg
Position: PG
Defensive Grade: C
Team Success: A+
Championships: 2015, 2017, 2018
Major Accolades: MVP in 2015 and 2016
Team ORtg: 114.2 (+6.2 rORtg)
Notes: Curry anchored an all-time great offense. He has amazing gravity thanks to his unbelievable shooting and with him on the floor, teammates often find themselves wide open. Even prior to Durant joining, the Warriors were unbelievably great offensively thanks to Curry.
The reason he doesn’t rank higher on this list is that he’s probably the worst defensive player. In fact given his small size and relatively thin frame he is a straight-up liability in certain matchups like facing bigger guards in the post. If you value his offensive game very highly and construct the right team around him he can be argued as high as #3 on this list.