How good would Adrian Dantley be today?

[iamgine]

Lets say you give prime Dantley 3 months to train and acclimate to modern NBA rules and then time travel him. Lets say you put him on the Nets or Memphis or something, would they be a contender?

[Xiao Yao You]

Hard to say. He had a set shot out to around 20 feet. Without a jump shot I'm not sure how well he extends out to the 3 point line. But I always heard he was actually more like 6'2 so in a smaller league where you can't touch the offensive player he'd be hard to stop on the drive or in the paint. One of the best ever at drawing fouls even without flopping and throwing his arms into an opponent. Would have to think he'd be even better today rather he could shoot a 3 or not

[FKAri]

Contender? With those teams? Hell no.

[Im Still Ballin]

He'd put up the same numbers. Maybe even a little better. Just too skilled, too crafty.

[Im Still Ballin]

Hard to say. He had a set shot out to around 20 feet. Without a jump shot I'm not sure how well he extends out to the 3 point line. But I always heard he was actually more like 6'2 so in a smaller league where you can't touch the offensive player he'd be hard to stop on the drive or in the paint. One of the best ever at drawing fouls even without flopping and throwing his arms into an opponent. Would have to think he'd be even better today rather he could shoot a 3 or not

I'm trying to think of a player today that he would most resemble in play style.

I feel like he'd operate from the same areas on the court (elbow and mid/low post) as Embiid while also taking a similar amount of shots. He'd be right up there with Embiid and Jokic for number of post-ups per game despite his smaller stature.

But he'd face up from the nail more often, using the threat of his lethal mid-range to blow by guys to get to the rim and draw fouls. Explosive first step. Kind of like Houston Harden but 20 ft in.

[Kblaze8855]

He would realize that at his height, he will be expected to shoot threes, but I can’t just give him skills he didn’t have and consider it the same player. He’d be an undersized ball stopper you can’t guard one on one just like he was then but with a lot less help D inside.

A lot of teams don’t really value the shots he mastered, but it has been shown that coaches will look the other way so long as the ball goes in the basket.

He was a natural scorer, but nothing else, and I don’t see anything that would keep him from still being one. He was strong but not an amazing athlete so I’m not sure who he defends at his size when the long guys today will take him outside and not just let him mask his size with tenacity and a good base inside.

I think hes a negative defender on day one but he might give you a crazy efficient 28-30 a game as you lost.

Im talking like….62-65%.

Wouldnt contend on the teams in question though.

[Im Still Ballin]

If you can fit him in their lineups, Orlando would be a team he'd help a lot. They've got the big, versatile perimeter defenders and good defensive rotations to cover up his defensive shortcomings. And he'd carry their offense from terrible to a respectable mark.

[dankok8]

Dantley was a worse player than his stats show. He put up gaudy scoring numbers on blistering efficiency but his teams had mostly mediocre offenses because he wasn't willing/able to create for others. Oh and he was a defensive liability. Would fans overrate him today because of his scoring? Probably but realistically he would be a top 15 or so player like he was back then.

[Im Still Ballin]

Dantley was a worse player than his stats show. He put up gaudy scoring numbers on blistering efficiency but his teams had mostly mediocre offenses because he wasn't willing/able to create for others. Oh and he was a defensive liability. Would fans overrate him today because of his scoring? Probably but realistically he would be a top 15 or so player like he was back then.

The mechanics of his creation would look a little different today with all the floor spacing. His drive-and-kick approach is a more viable strategy today than it was back then. The passing opportunities are so much more abundant: spot-up shooters at the three-point line, and wide cutting lanes to pass to.

It's not out of the question he could get as many assists per game as Embiid. Like 5-7 instead of the 4 or so back in his prime during the '80s.

His impact could grade out to something like Luka or Haliburton. Like a Houston James Harden but less of a playmaker and more of an efficient, diverse scorer.

[Xiao Yao You]

Dantley was a worse player than his stats show. He put up gaudy scoring numbers on blistering efficiency but his teams had mostly mediocre offenses because he wasn't willing/able to create for others. Oh and he was a defensive liability. Would fans overrate him today because of his scoring? Probably but realistically he would be a top 15 or so player like he was back then.

You're going to have a bad offense with Eaton in it no matter how good your other guys are not mentioning some of the other crap he played with

[ShawkFactory]

The mechanics of his creation would look a little different today with all the floor spacing. His drive-and-kick approach is a more viable strategy today than it was back then. The passing opportunities are so much more abundant: spot-up shooters at the three-point line, and wide cutting lanes to pass to.

It's not out of the question he could get as many assists per game as Embiid. Like 5-7 instead of the 4 or so back in his prime during the '80s.

His impact could grade out to something like Luka or Haliburton. Like a Houston James Harden but less of a playmaker and more of an efficient, diverse scorer.

I don't think so. I think he'd be more akin to Donovan Mitchell.

[Im Still Ballin]

I don't think so. I think he'd be more akin to Donovan Mitchell.

I don't mean stylistically; more so, a very strong offensive player who the numbers say is a negative defender. Hence why I said impact. Like a +6 to +8 per 100 possessions on offense but a -1 per 100 possessions on defense. Luka has a +7.5 offensive EPM and -0.5 defensive EPM; Tyrese has a +7.6 offensive EPM and -1.5 defensive EPM.

[FKAri]

I've had some time on my hands lately. And I don't know why I choose to spend so much of it on ISH but anyway. I'm way too young to have seen Dantley or "AD" live but he is one of those guys I've seen quite a bit of tape on. Along with a lot of Knicks games from this time(The Bernard King and Michael Ray teams).

I think AD's talent is being underrated and his ability to transition to today's game is being overrated. Given OP's scenario, AD would struggle mightily. 3 months does not overcome 40 years of basketball development particularly for such a skill based player. So this is unfair to him. The things that made him shine are based on years of honing in how to exploit opponents. He also had a very slow release and a poor handle for today's standards. Didn't have long range and the space he operated in can be closed off easier in today's NBA. He was a capable defender but an unwilling one. Not only did he not pass he frequently broke sets to get his shot(A big no-no back then which is a big part of his bad rep, but that happens all the time today and no one cares).

His talent: He was a very smart player and an extremely naturally talented scorer with his own style. These kind of players don't really exist anymore for reasons that are complicated. I did mention that be broke sets constantly which is totally fine for today's free flowing NBA. He wasn't as much of a ball stopper as labelled so much as a black hole. I guess it's a meaningless distinction for some. At the end of the day just because his game wouldn't translate perfectly today doesn't make him any less talented at what he was. What about if he grew up in today's era? Well then he wouldn't have been the AD we know because his game would've developed completely differently.