Do you think Harden would have reached those peaks if he stayed a 6th man behind Durant and Westbrook? Dumbasses would probably still be saying Westbrook is better.
Is it really that hard for you to vizualize how Manu could have done similar to Harden if he had went to become a number one option on another team, specially under a coach like D'antoni? Sure, Manu probably wouldn't have averaged a 37 ppg/10 apg season. He's too smart to ball hog like. But he could have easily averaged 25, 7 and 7 while making folks around him much better and saving himself for the playoffs.
Again, all part of the system. It's obvious that your AST% will be higher than the norm when the entire offense revolves around you dribling the air of the ball 90% of the time. When you have other playmakers on your team, you won't hog most of the assists.
Same thing with TS%. When you are told to shoot as many 3's as you like and you are a good free throw creator (as was also Manu) you will tend to have a higher TS% the more chances you get to hog the ball.
Not necessarily, but most times. Specially if the player is good. Manu was that good as to increase his metrics when he was asked to do more. The stats prove it.
It's really your problem, not mine, that you can't realize just how good a player Manu actually was, after seeing him play for so long.