Is Klay Thompson overrated?

[Coxy]

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

[Bandito]

if you add enough qualifiers anyone can be a top player. Why do I need to play this which other SG is better game with you? He is a top 1-2 two-way SG, ya. Where does he rank as a guard? How does he rank as a wing? SG is a dying breed for a reason. You are screwed if you tie up your salary cap to a non-impact one.

He stunk it up for 2 Finals game and scored 9 freaking points the most recent game. "Just having a few off games"? You make it sound like we can have another finals shot soon. Oh it's his first finals blah blah. Exactly why I say Klay gets the pass around here. For many players, your first chance might be your final chance. We just paid $70 million and we expect more from him in critical games. I'm not saying he needs to lock down Lebron and drop 40. Just don't score 9 and try to get some FTs if your shots aren't falling. Isn't it a fair expectation?

You keep mentioning the 9 points in game 4, but we won by 20 and Klays defense was a big part of that. Delly and Smith combined for 5/26 shooting and 2/17 on 3's, Klay had a +15 for the game.

No need for extra "qualifiers"...I'm talking the best shooting guards in the NBA. All of a sudden ranking players by position is "extra qualifiers"? Lol.

And even funnier is that you, yourself, called him a "top 5 SG", so you're using the same qualifiers I am. How about some support for your case instead of back peddling? All I asked was for you to name 3 better 2's in the NBA.

If you shoot well and can either handle or pass well, SGs can be a big PG. If he doesn't only just shoot and is atheletic and can defend strong wings, he can be a SF. Do you notice teams are built around all-around wings (SF) and PGs who can do more than one of score/pass/handle/rebound and play 3 and D SG? Because it's harsh to say but it's true that players are SG because they can only do certain things well. Klay shoots great and defend well on the ball much better than a typical 3-D guy and he's immediately a top 2 SG. but that's also because he cant rebound to save his life and his handle sucks and doesn't assist. There's a reason SG is a shallow position.

Ya I call him a top SG, but if he's not doing more than guarding JR I expect him to be better on offense. You get what I mean don't you? You don't think that's a fair expection?

If he shoots better in Game 3 - well I have to dwell on his shooting because other than on-ball D that's all Klay does - we wouldn't be 2-2 as of now.

If he made one of his close misses from 3, we're looking at 5-9 from the field and 2-4 from 3. He didn't have his most efficient game offensively, but knocking a player for being unselfish in a 20 point win is silly. He, like Curry, draws a ton of attention which helped to free Iguodala and co to do their thing.

Curry is 1A and should continue to be the guy we focus most on getting open looks. Klay is doing what's asked of him, if more opportunity comes his way on offense, great. If not and we win anyway, great. He's an all star on a championship caliber team, he's the 2nd best SG in the NBA. He's not overrated, he's rated right where he should be.

I'm not going to get into an importance of position debate, the topic question was not "is shooting guard an overrated position in today's NBA?". The topic was regarding Klay being overrated, which he clearly isn't. People consider him an all star caliber player and the 2nd best SG in the NBA, and he is.

[Bandito]

See Klay has fanatic fanbois defending all aspects of his deficiencies.

Excuse me, Klay fanboy? Far from it. And nowhere did I defend "all aspects" of his game, I defended the notion that he's overrated, based on a couple bad games. I pointed out that knocking him for not getting to the line in a game where we were trying to keep up the tempo, is a foolish take.

Klay has room for improvement, and he has improved drastically to get to where he's at. He will never be a 6-7 guy with PG skills, or a physically imposing 3 who eats the glass. He's never going to be the type who lives at the line, because if you haven't noticed, those guys are either ball dominant guards/wings who spend a ton of time in iso, or bigs. That doesn't make him overrated, he's as good at what he does best as anybody in the NBA, and he's getting better at polishing the rough edges of his game.

[likashing]

I would rank Klay ahead of Beal though. I rank Klay behind Butler now after seeing him go against Lebron.

See how the list consisted of small guys who can't play PG, and also guys aren't good/big enough to be forwards.

Arguing on "the best SG" is the same as arguing my turtle runs faster than yours. A player is a pure SG not by choice, it is because of the many other things they suck at.

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

[Coxy]

I would rank Klay ahead of Beal though.

See how the list consisted of small guys who can't play PG, and also guys aren't good/big enough to be forwards.

Arguing on "the best SG" is the same as arguing my turtle runs faster than yours. A player is a pure SG not by choice, it is because of the many other things they suck at.

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

Don't sleep on Beal. That guy is seriously good. He's got a much better floor game than Klay with the outside shot to go with it. He also stays focused, unlike the Space Cadet who always looks like he's thinking about the best combination of doughnuts to go along with his banana milkshake during games.

[Bandito]

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

Yikes, talk about grass is greener syndrome. Beal is a nice young player but definitely hasn't eclipsed Klay yet. No way is Wade better at this point in his career. One could make an argument for Butler, they were pretty close to neck and neck this year and Butler is more well rounded, but Klay has a much more trustworthy resume. I'm guessing 8/10 NBA GM's, if not more, would take Klay over Butler.

[GQ Hot Dog]

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

Here's my list(from guys you mentioned, what about Wiggins or Oladipo?):

1. Harden
2. Klay
3. Butler
4. Wade
5. Hayward
6. Beal
7. Kobe
8. Middleton
9. Monta
10. Derozen
11. Korver

Harden is a generational offensive talent in his prime so he unquestionably gets the top spot.

Butler I can see being above Klay but for me Klay's ability to shoot the three, attack the bucket and score efficiently everywhere in between trumps Butler's offensive game. They're both good to great defenders with Butler being stronger and Klay being quicker, I'd probably take Butler over Klay. It's kind of a wash for me but considering the position, offense is a bit more important in my mind.

How do you get Beal and Wade over Klay? Obviously in his prime Wade is better but missing 20 games this season means a lot in my book and both him and Kobe suffer because of it. Beal? Not nearly as efficient a scorer and not a better defender. I'm curious how you value him so highly? Has also been injury prone, only 63 games this year, 73 last and 56 his rookie season.

[Bandito]

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

Here's my list(from guys you mentioned, what about Wiggins or Oladipo?):

1. Harden
2. Klay
3. Butler
4. Wade
5. Hayward
6. Beal
7. Kobe
8. Middleton
9. Monta
10. Derozen
11. Korver

Harden is a generational offensive talent in his prime so he unquestionably gets the top spot.

Butler I can see being above Klay but for me Klay's ability to shoot the three, attack the bucket and score efficiently everywhere in between trumps Butler's offensive game. They're both good to great defenders with Butler being stronger and Klay being quicker, I'd probably take Butler over Klay. It's kind of a wash for me but considering the position, offense is a bit more important in my mind.

How do you get Beal and Wade over Klay? Obviously in his prime Wade is better but missing 20 games this season means a lot in my book and both him and Kobe suffer because of it. Beal? Not nearly as efficient a scorer and not a better defender. I'm curious how you value him so highly? Has also been injury prone, only 63 games this year, 73 last and 56 his rookie season.

Hayward is definitely a 3, pretty sure he was talking about Eric Gordon, otherwise Hayward would have to be higher IMO.

[Coxy]

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

Yikes, talk about grass is greener syndrome. Beal is a nice young player but definitely hasn't eclipsed Klay yet. No way is Wade better at this point in his career. One could make an argument for Butler, they were pretty close to neck and neck this year and Butler is more well rounded, but Klay has a much more trustworthy resume. I'm guessing 8/10 NBA GM's, if not more, would take Klay over Butler.

Well we'll have to agree to disagree, because o strongly disagree with almost everything you said here.

[Coxy]

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

Yikes, talk about grass is greener syndrome. Beal is a nice young player but definitely hasn't eclipsed Klay yet. No way is Wade better at this point in his career. One could make an argument for Butler, they were pretty close to neck and neck this year and Butler is more well rounded, but Klay has a much more trustworthy resume. I'm guessing 8/10 NBA GM's, if not more, would take Klay over Butler.

Well we'll have to agree to disagree, because i strongly disagree with almost everything you said here.

[bakesale]

Shouldn't this be moved to the klay Thompson thread?


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[Coxy]

The Space Cadet is a little overrated, but that's OK, he's the perfect running mate for Steph, the brother of splashes.

My SG list.

1. Harden
2. Butler
3. Beal
4. Wade
5. Klay
6. Middleton
7. Kobe
8. Derozan
9. Gordon
10. Korver
11. Monta

Edit - Forgot about Wade.

Here's my list(from guys you mentioned, what about Wiggins or Oladipo?):

1. Harden
2. Klay
3. Butler
4. Wade
5. Hayward
6. Beal
7. Kobe
8. Middleton
9. Monta
10. Derozen
11. Korver

Harden is a generational offensive talent in his prime so he unquestionably gets the top spot.

Butler I can see being above Klay but for me Klay's ability to shoot the three, attack the bucket and score efficiently everywhere in between trumps Butler's offensive game. They're both good to great defenders with Butler being stronger and Klay being quicker, I'd probably take Butler over Klay. It's kind of a wash for me but considering the position, offense is a bit more important in my mind.

How do you get Beal and Wade over Klay? Obviously in his prime Wade is better but missing 20 games this season means a lot in my book and both him and Kobe suffer because of it. Beal? Not nearly as efficient a scorer and not a better defender. I'm curious how you value him so highly? Has also been injury prone, only 63 games this year, 73 last and 56 his rookie season.

Klays ability to attack the bucket? Are we talking about the same player? That's Klays biggest weakness on offense mostly. Butler is a stud at it.

I'm a huge fan of Beal. I think he'll jump into superstardom next season. He's everything i want Klay to be, just younger and still raw.

Wade is still a monster.

Don't get me wrong, I love Klay, but he is what he is because of his demeanor. He's a space cadet and when he thinks, he fails, and he tries to think too much. When he doesn't think though, look out.

[DreDay]

He's probably 3rd around Hayward/Butler levels. I still have healthy Wade above him, healthy Wade on this team would absolutely kill the league (Kind of like what we've done but better ).

[GQ Hot Dog]

Hayward is definitely a 3, pretty sure he was talking about Eric Gordon, otherwise Hayward would have to be higher IMO.

Wow, never crossed my mind he could be including Eric Gordon in a top 10(11) list. Completely honest miss on my part.

Gordon Hayward definitely has played his career as a 3 thus far but after a lot of consideration I thought there was an argument to be made that his natural position is as a SG. He makes up for his rather poor shooting with being an above average playmaker.

[Bandito]

Since rating the best 2 guards is too many "qualifiers" in some peoples eyes, let's just rank the best wings in the NBA, 2 or 3.

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kawhi Leonard
4. James Harden
5. Klay Thompson

Any beef with that top 5? Don't even start with the black hole that is Carmelo Anthony. He's a less efficient scorer than Klay at this point in his career and plays no defense. Klay has surpassed him.

[GQ Hot Dog]

Klays ability to attack the bucket? Are we talking about the same player? That's Klays biggest weakness on offense mostly. Butler is a stud at it.

I'm a huge fan of Beal. I think he'll jump into superstardom next season. He's everything i want Klay to be, just younger and still raw.

Wade is still a monster.

Don't get me wrong, I love Klay, but he is what he is because of his demeanor. He's a space cadet and when he thinks, he fails, and he tries to think too much. When he doesn't think though, look out.

Yeah but Klay's improved leaps and bounds attacking the bucket and you can't say he's poor.

Doing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxA3pDKNas

and this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agRAK0qy5GY

is no longer rare for Klay anymore. I mean, can you honestly say you remember Klay being able to do this before this year? Did you ever think he would have this ability before this year? I think your characterization of Klay as a "space cadet" is hyperbole. When Curry's been out or off, Klay's scoring has carried us a number of times this playoffs.

Beal can't carry a team with his scoring.

If you're going to be ranking Beal based on what you project he's going to be, it's only fair that you do the same for Klay since he too is clearly still improving. Attacking the bucket is part of Klay's learning curve and he's only going to get better.

[Bandito]

He's probably 3rd around Hayward/Butler levels. I still have healthy Wade above him, healthy Wade on this team would absolutely kill the league (Kind of like what we've done but better ).

Healthy Wade hasn't been seen in a couple years, and healthy Wade is entering his age 34 season. His game was always dependent on his superior athleticism, no doubt his athleticism declined, and it's been years since he was a good defender. He's a shell of what he once was.

Klay was better this season (not even arguable), and Klay is trending upward while Wade is trending sharply downward. Knowledgable Heat fans wouldn't even rank Wade ahead of Klay at this juncture.

If y'all had watched as many Heat games as Warriors games this year, highly doubtful you'd be ranking Wade ahead of Klay. You're basing "healthy Wade" on " prime aged Wade"...he's neither anymore.

[GQ Hot Dog]

Since rating the best 2 guards is too many "qualifiers" in some peoples eyes, let's just rank the best wings in the NBA, 2 or 3.

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kawhi Leonard
4. James Harden
5. Klay Thompson

Any beef with that top 5? Don't even start with the black hole that is Carmelo Anthony. He's a less efficient scorer than Klay at this point in his career and plays no defense. Klay has surpassed him.

Hmm. 1 and 2 are obvious.

Leonard? Do you think his defense makes up for being an underwhelming offensive player? I think he's going to improve but Harden's offense is up there with Durant's, I think he gets the nod. If you base the rankings on how each guy does the two things most valued from a wing, scoring and perimeter defense, I order them:

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. Harden
4. Leonard
5. Klay
6. Butler

Edit: And I wanted to put Klay above Leonard because of how good he is offensively but Leonard is the best defensive wing on the planet, better even than Lebron.

[Coxy]

Klays ability to attack the bucket? Are we talking about the same player? That's Klays biggest weakness on offense mostly. Butler is a stud at it.

I'm a huge fan of Beal. I think he'll jump into superstardom next season. He's everything i want Klay to be, just younger and still raw.

Wade is still a monster.

Don't get me wrong, I love Klay, but he is what he is because of his demeanor. He's a space cadet and when he thinks, he fails, and he tries to think too much. When he doesn't think though, look out.

Yeah but Klay's improved leaps and bounds attacking the bucket and you can't say he's poor.

Doing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFxA3pDKNas

and this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agRAK0qy5GY

is no longer rare for Klay anymore. I mean, can you honestly say you remember Klay being able to do this before this year? Did you ever think he would have this ability before this year? I think your characterization of Klay as a "space cadet" is hyperbole. When Curry's been out or off, Klay's scoring has carried us a number of times this playoffs.

Beal can't carry a team with his scoring.

If you're going to be ranking Beal based on what you project he's going to be, it's only fair that you do the same for Klay since he too is clearly still improving. Attacking the bucket is part of Klay's learning curve and he's only going to get better.

As a top 6'7 G/F with solid handles, his attacking of the basket is below average at BEST. Those dunks ARE rare. He should be doing that a number of times per game, but he doesn't. I usually love highlight dunks, but I'd rather see more attacking the basket with players in front of him and scoring with And1's. He can't do it, it's not his game. I've never seen him go up strong at a shot blocker, take contact, adjust in the air and finish. He has no confidence to do it. Maybe he will learn to, but right now he's a shooter and a very rare dunk finisher. As a main scoring weapon, this frustrates me. His Klayups are a real thing.

Beal absolutely finished better than Klay, and YES he can carry a team with his scoring. Just watch him, he's awesome. His display in these playoffs were nuts. Such a talent.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajDvGnl-ehs[/youtube]

[Bandito]

Since rating the best 2 guards is too many "qualifiers" in some peoples eyes, let's just rank the best wings in the NBA, 2 or 3.

1. Lebron James
2. Kevin Durant
3. Kawhi Leonard
4. James Harden
5. Klay Thompson

Any beef with that top 5? Don't even start with the black hole that is Carmelo Anthony. He's a less efficient scorer than Klay at this point in his career and plays no defense. Klay has surpassed him.

Hmm. 1 and 2 are obvious.

Leonard? Do you think his defense makes up for being an underwhelming offensive player? I think he's going to improve but Harden's offense is up there with Durant's, I think he gets the nod. If you base the rankings on how each guy does the two things most valued from a wing, scoring and perimeter defense, I order them:

1. Lebron
2. Durant
3. Harden
4. Leonard
5. Klay
6. Butler

Edit: And I wanted to put Klay above Leonard because of how good he is offensively but Leonard is the best defensive wing on the planet, better even than Lebron.

Tough call between Harden and Kawhi, butI wouldn't categorize Leonard as underwhelming offensively. I think his defense is as good and as valuable as Harden's offense is, and his offense is better than Harden's defense. You could go either way with that one and make a good argument, depends what you value more.