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Both 2nd round fodders. Might make the wcf but thats it. In the east though, might make the finals...
After looking at ESPN top 10 All-Time point guards list & seeing how high Chris Paul/Curry have ALREADY been put on a pedestal, it got me thinking about how Manu/Tony would have fared if they had to carry a team like Chris Paul in New Orleans.
Off the top of my head, a player that reminds me of Tony the most is Kevin Johnson as far as scoring efficiently by using speed to get to the rim & shooting mid-range jumpers (3s on rare occasions). Tony b/w 2012-14 put up similar numbers per 100 possession although Kevin Johnson had a court vision similar to Chris Paul & was a beast in the playoffs (when healthy).
Current player: John Wall (Tony has an inferior court vision but better mid-range)
As far as Manu, Latrell Sprewell in Golden State is the closest thing I could think of (esp. 96-97) as far as being a fierce compe or, wanting to take the big shots, being a excellent slasher while also dropping bombs from outside & the ability to be a playmaker from the 2 guard position. Sprewell/Manu are also about similar as far as their physical attributes. You also had Penny but he was lanky, a postup player & not a very good shooter from outside.
Current Player: Jame Harden (Manu was less physically imposing & didn't have as good a handle plus Harden is a better flopper)
Both 2nd round fodders. Might make the wcf but thats it. In the east though, might make the finals...
Joe Johnson status?
Joe johnson was an overpaid scrub imho. Both of them will have a legit window as one of the best players in the league due to their stats being inflated as the number 1 option. They will be regarded as those players who were good enough but didnt have the team to win it all.
They would have made it to a few all-star games but would have never gotten further then the second round.
They'd both have far better per-game stats, would be locks for the hall of fame, and would both have shorter careers.
Joe Johnson is really overrated. He's one of those guys that scores a good amount because he's on a team with mediocre scorers so he gets a lot of FGAs. Meanwhile coasts on D' and doesn't play that well as a 5 man team. Lots of inefficient solo ball. So he looks good but it doesn't help his team win more games necessarily.
Manu probably wouldn't have worked as a #1 due to being injury prone. Parker would have been one of those 23-25 PPG players on a team that doesn't go anywhere. Both players aren't #1s. They're #2's at best, and ideally share #2 status and have a real #1 lead them as Duncan did.
Manu would be the Latino Michael Jordan.
They would probably be a better version Derozan/Lowry which would be good for the 2nd best team in the East. If you swapped them for Billups/Hamilton they should able to replicate their success during their prime years.
Both would have a pretty solid career too but with probably no rings
The better question is what kind of career Manu would've had if he could stay healthy.
Latrell spreewell? He was good, but no where near the bb iq, court vision, or work ethic of manu.
i could see manu being similar to a poor man's magic.. Manu lacks the size and most likely the longevity.... Not sure how he would have done playing 35 minutes... Which adds the question: who is their coach? Because Pop would still have limited their minutes in similar fashion
Lol...Sean keeps wanting to call Andre Drummond DeAndre Jordan.
lol....wrong thread
MAGIC?Magic was a postup point guard & was NEVER known as a slasher.
BTW Sprewell in Golden State was a more undercontrol/higher Bball IQ/less freakish athlete version of Russell Westbrook.
Would Manu still be a HOF if he didn't win anything with the Spurs?
What does posting up have to do with it? I feel like manu makes a team better much like magic did... I'm not saying spreewell wasn't good, just no where near the mental player Manu is...
Magic was a guard... The question wasn't about style. I interpreted it as how they would have impacted their teams and likely heavier use... I believe had manu been THE guy, he would have been used much like he was '05-'07. He is a facilitator and a player that does a ton of little things to win a game, much like magic... Spree was a true compe or like manu, but was not nearly as smart and had a much bigger ego...
With the right guys around Manu could have lead a pretty damn good team in the nba. Probably not a championship team but I could see him leading a team to the nba finals ala Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, etc.
Manu is great at one of the most important requisites a franchise player should have: making his teammates better.
Agreed.MAGIC?
BTW Sprewell in Golden State was a more undercontrol/higher Bball IQ/less freakish athlete version of Russell Westbrook.
But Manu is a far better compe or than Pistol ever was, and more unselfish player than Pistol by far.
I kind of tend to agree on this. Specially bc many talented young players in the league cannot separate themselves from the pack nowadays until they learn this. I would name names, but will get a lot of hate in my back that is not deserving of a thread talking about Tony and Manu's careers.
Probably the knock on Manu is that if you had him be the guy night in and night out and bear a heavy minutes burden, he could have broken down earlier and sooner in his career, or more dramatically. But he would have had a flashy couple of years at least, and blazed high to the playoffs anyways.
Put Manu as the number one option of the 2004 2005 pistons and he would have win it all.
They're better than those two, come on man. Manu is significantly more intelligent than DeRozen and a much better playmaker. Lowry is just a 3pt chucker. . .scores pretty much the opposite way TP does. I think if TP or Manu still had Pop but not eachother or Duncan they would have higher stats than they had and still be a .500 team but no les and no playoff or 50+win streak.
Do you really think they're that bad?
What i was saying, put 2005 Manu as Pistons main option and remove hamilton, and they would have win it all. Spurs -Manu + Hamilton would have lost to Pistons +Manu - Hamilton.
SPREWELL??? DEROZAN??? Those are terrible comparisons and inefficient players compared to the elite efficiency of Manu.
In Basketball Prospectus Kevin Pelton would always list the most similar players strictly by numbers in each player profile and Manu's company was always elite with even friggin LARRY BIRD showing up. In 12/13 (the last edition) the others where Clyde Drexler, Jeff Hornacek and then maybe the less flattering Sam Cassel.
For Parker the most similar was Sam Cassell as well, Kevin Johnson, Rod Strickland and Sherman Douglas.
So they'd be basically as good as Chris Paul and Steve Nash.
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