Who knew that Buddy could've replaced Klay & been called an all-timer instead of Klay

[3ba11]

Buddy Hield confirms that Klay/Pippen are replaceable and carried, while Wiggins already proved it in 2022.

Great chemistry & system allows secondary players like Klay, Buddy, Wiggins and Pippen to play well, otherwise they're nobodies in the annals of history - winning sidekicks are the most overrated players in history by virtue of getting inflated by the winning spotlight..

Of course, a great system is only possible if the 1st option has a skillset that allows great ball movement and system - a ball-dominator like Luka, Lebron or Harden simply don't allow ball movement systems to be run, while goat jumpshooters like Curry or MJ do.

Indeed, we see that Klay was inferior to Hornacek across the board (see first post below).

[3ba11]

.
Regular Season

Hornacek'.... 17.7 PER.. 2.9 bpm.. 0.153 ws/48.. 42.1 vorp on 33,964 min.. 15/3/5 on 58.2 ts
Klay............ 16.4 PER.. 0.7 bpm.. 0.110 ws/48.. 14.4 vorp on 20,380 min.. 19/3/2 on 57.5 ts


Playoffs

Hornacek'.... 16.5 PER.. 3.1 bpm.. 0.145 ws/48.. 14.1 vorp on 4766 min.. 15/4/4 on 57.5 ts
Klay............ 14.4 PER.. 0.7 bpm.. 0.091 ws/48.... 3.1 vorp on 4570 min.. 19/3/2 on 56.0 ts

[DJMcDonald]

Kelly Oubre

[3ba11]

Kelly Oubre

exactly - that troll made the point that ALMOST anyone can replace klay, and now we see that the spirit of that post was correct - maybe not oubre, but nearly anyone can replace a secondary producer like Klay or Pippen.. A guy like Pippen never played above a prime Larry Nance or Iguoudala caliber, but the winning spotlight inflated him to all-time status and media accolade.. And now we see that Buddy Hield is better than Klay in this system, and could've won in Curry's heyday just like Klay did.

[SouBeachTalents]

[3ba11]

Buddy would NEVER be enough help for Luka or Lebron, but it's enough for Curry because Curry's skillset emits great CHEMISTRY and ball movement.

Similarly, Kobe won with a sidekick that was worse than Bosh or Love because his skillset emits great chemistry and allows a system like the triangle.. If he was a dumb ball-dominator like Luka or Lebron, then the chemistry would be weak and Pau wouldn't be enough help.

[Neal Romer]

Put Lebron on the 2010s and 2020s Golden State Warriors, how many championship

[3ba11]

Put Lebron on the 2010s and 2020s Golden State Warriors, how many championship

1 title because he went 1 for 6 with AD so far, and he went 1 for 4 with Love or Wade (except the Allen miracle)

So he's a one-off guy that mostly loses regardless of cast.. He's a "1 for 4" guy.

His higher losing frequency is due to a high-scoring, ball-dominant skillset - this skillset scores a high volume of unassisted buckets that leave teammates standing around in spot-up roles, so the team has weak chemistry and can't compete effectively on the championship level...

Actually, Lebron's weak chemistry cannot win without greater talent than Klay - Lebron needs franchise guys at sidekick like Wade, Kyrie or AD, so Klay isn't nearly enough help to compensate for the weaker chemistry of bron-ball.

[SouBeachTalents]

Put Lebron on the 2010s and 2020s Golden State Warriors, how many championship

I can answer that

[ralph_i_el]

Is defense no longer part of basketball? That was like 40% of prime Klay's appeal.

[ralph_i_el]

Buddy would NEVER be enough help for Luka or Lebron, but it's enough for Curry because Curry's skillset emits great CHEMISTRY and ball movement.

Similarly, Kobe won with a sidekick that was worse than Bosh or Love because his skillset emits great chemistry and allows a system like the triangle.. If he was a dumb ball-dominator like Luka or Lebron, then the chemistry would be weak and Pau wouldn't be enough help.

You would really take Kevin Love over Pau on your team?

[3ba11]

You would really take Kevin Love over Pau on your team?

Love was considered easily superior to Pau, prior to joining Lebron

So was Bosh

it's the historical record - Kobe won with a 2nd option that was worse than Lebron's 3rd options

Infact, Jamison was 14th for MVP in 2008 and a 2x all-star, while Pau was only 1x all-star and never an MVP candidate... So Jamison was considered on-par with Pau.

[bdonovan]

Klay was one of the best all-time guard defenders. At his prime, he really could guard everyone on the court. He could keep centers from knocking him over, and fast enough to cover any guard. After his injury, both his ability to create and guard suffered. For reasons I can't explain, his basketball IQ plummeted as well.

Offensively I've always thought he owes his greatness to Curry. He would be good anywhere else, but be considered a legend because of the way Curry plays.

[Full Court]

Klay was great back in the day, but he's been washed for a few years now. Hield is better than Klay now, but I'd take prime Klay over Hield any day.

[3ba11]