Peak Tandem: Magic Johnson/Duncan or Bird/Hakeem

mdonnelly1989 · Post #1 » by **mdonnelly1989** » Sat Jul 30, 2022 11:30 pm

Both at Peaks which combo would you rather have?

Magic Johnson/Duncan or Bird/Hakeem

henshao · Post #2 » by **henshao** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 2:12 am

Always must I choose my favorite child on this board

Given what we saw Magic do alongside Kareem, and Larry do alongside Mchale, obviously either duo here is a perennial championship threat. Defensively the difference is rather slight so I'll just be lazy and say you get better spacing with Bird and Hakeem with roughly equal creation therefore I pick them. 3 warm bodies and we're good

Cavsfansince84 · Post #3 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:13 am

Magic/Duncan by a bit. The only caveat being that in today's league Bird's 3 pt shooting becomes more of a factor but Magic also developed a 3 pt shot so I am ok with taking his duo.

euroleague · Post #4 » by **euroleague** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:24 am

Kind of a strange combo. I'd prefer Bird/Duncan or Magic/Hakeem to either of those combos.

iggymcfrack · Post #5 » by **iggymcfrack** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:24 pm

Magic's better than Bird, Duncan's better than Hakeem, and Magic's a better fit with a star center than Bird. Seems like a slam dunk.

Samurai · Post #6 » by **Samurai** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:43 pm

I think Magic's peak was either 87 or 89 (won MVP both years) but might lean to 87 since he was also Finals MVP that season. So if 87 was "peak" Magic, he only shot 21% on 3's that season. He didn't have his best distance shooting season until 90 when he shot 38%. He didn't really become a decent 3-point shooter until after his peak. If we are building this fictitious team around the peak duo in today's game (OP didn't specify which era), that 21% will stick out like a very sore thumb. Since Magic's best 3-point shooting days do not align with his peak year, I would take Bird/Hakeem.

capfan33 · Post #7 » by **capfan33** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 5:51 pm

I feel like Bird and Hakeem are a bit more synergistic even though it's close. I like the inside out combo they have offensively and they also are probably better defensively in a 5on5 context.

No-more-rings · Post #8 » by **No-more-rings** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:49 pm

I have Hakeem as the best peak of the 4, but I feel Magic unlocks more from Duncan than Bird would do for Hakeem.

Cavsfansince84 · Post #9 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:01 pm

Samurai wrote:I think Magic's peak was either 87 or 89 (won MVP both years) but might lean to 87 since he was also Finals MVP that season. So if 87 was "peak" Magic, he only shot 21% on 3's that season. He didn't have his best distance shooting season until 90 when he shot 38%. He didn't really become a decent 3-point shooter until after his peak. If we are building this fictitious team around the peak duo in today's game (OP didn't specify which era), that 21% will stick out like a very sore thumb. Since Magic's best 3-point shooting days do not align with his peak year, I would take Bird/Hakeem.

If its meant to be today though I think it makes the most sennse to use the year which would translate the best.

JordansBulls · Post #10 » by **JordansBulls** » Mon Aug 1, 2022 2:53 am

euroleague wrote:Kind of a strange combo. I'd prefer Bird/Duncan or Magic/Hakeem to either of those combos.

But that wasn't the question.