New Team: Harden/D-Rob vs Curry/Pippen

[Matt15]

Which duo would you rather build around in todays league?

[rk2023]

Curry and Pipp. If I get a synergistic second option whom also provides a ton of defensive utility - I don't mind them being the worst out of the four players (let alone if they're paired with, clearly, the best first option here).

Pippen has all of this in spades. I think Pipp's athleticism, positional/motion awareness (as seen co-orchestrating the triangle), connective passing would make him a highly impactful player off of very arguably the GOAT off-ball mover in NBA History (as is common knowledge, Steph is quite synergistic in his own right).

[wafflzgod]

give me curry/pippen. agree with much of what rk said

[DonaldSanders]

Curry/Pippen. Curry is the best player and has shown to synergize well with a strong #2 who is focused on all-around play.

Harden has struggled in the playoffs at times and would steal a lot of D-Rob's thunder.

[Colbinii]

Curry/Pippen. Curry is the best player and has shown to synergize well with a strong #2 who is focused on all-around play.

Harden has struggled in the playoffs at times and would steal a lot of D-Rob's thunder.

Curry and Pippen have also struggled in the playoffs at times.

Weak one-sentence argument.

[DonaldSanders]

Curry/Pippen. Curry is the best player and has shown to synergize well with a strong #2 who is focused on all-around play.

Harden has struggled in the playoffs at times and would steal a lot of D-Rob's thunder.

Curry and Pippen have also struggled in the playoffs at times.

Weak one-sentence argument.

Guess you struggle reading as there is more than one sentence in the post.

Harden has struggled much more often, which you know, but you're having a rough morning or something

[rk2023]

Curry/Pippen. Curry is the best player and has shown to synergize well with a strong #2 who is focused on all-around play.

Harden has struggled in the playoffs at times and would steal a lot of D-Rob's thunder.

I think Harden and D-Rob would be a better fit than you may be implying. Harden, for all his criticisms, is a great lob-passer and (on film, atl) appears to be a formidable driver in his prime. I could see his game synergizing well with someone like Robinson whom would be maximized as a primary off-ball big

[DonaldSanders]

Curry/Pippen. Curry is the best player and has shown to synergize well with a strong #2 who is focused on all-around play.

Harden has struggled in the playoffs at times and would steal a lot of D-Rob's thunder.

I think Harden and D-Rob would be a better fit than you may be implying. Harden, for all his criticisms, is a great lob-passer and (on film, atl) appears to be a formidable driver in his prime. I could see his game synergizing well with someone like Robinson whom would be maximized as a primary off-ball big

I don't disagree that they'd be a good fit. Both would likely fit well, but Curry is the better player and the only proven championship #1 of the group. Pippin is a proven #2, and while DRob certainly would be I don't have the confidence in Harden that I do in Curry & the system you can build around him. Plus the lack of drama & continuity Steph brings, easy call for me.

[penbeast0]

I'd go with Robinson/Harden IF (and it's a real if) I was convinced Harden would want to stay with the team. Great as Scottie Pippen was, his impact is dwarfed by Robinson much more than Harden falls behind Curry. But Harden's recent history makes his willingness to stay a major concern.

[Colbinii]

Curry/Pippen. Curry is the best player and has shown to synergize well with a strong #2 who is focused on all-around play.

Harden has struggled in the playoffs at times and would steal a lot of D-Rob's thunder.

Curry and Pippen have also struggled in the playoffs at times.

Weak one-sentence argument.

Guess you struggle reading as there is more than one sentence in the post.

Harden has struggled much more often, which you know, but you're having a rough morning or something

Would Harden struggle with a David Robinson level teammate?

Would Curry and Pippen struggle more if they weren't next to Klay/Dray/KD/Iggy and Jordan/Grant/Rodman/Kukoc?

This idea that Harden has struggled--with significantly worse team situations than either Pippen or Curry--isn't a strong argument in favor of Curry or Pippen.

In this comparison, Harden is given a teammate significantly better than Rockets Dwight Howard or Rockets CP3

[Colbinii]

I'd go with Robinson/Harden IF (and it's a real if) I was convinced Harden would want to stay with the team. Great as Scottie Pippen was, his impact is dwarfed by Robinson much more than Harden falls behind Curry. But Harden's recent history makes his willingness to stay a major concern.

Harden stayed with Houston for 8 seasons and was happy during his time there. He went through multiple coaches and multiple supporting casts.

Pippen stayed with Chicago for 11 seasons and left as soon as Jordan left.

[oaktownwarriors87]

Pippen would be a perfect fit next to Curry. The Warriors biggest weakness has always been the lack of a second shot maker/creater. Pippen fills that role perfectly while bringing elite rebounding and defense.

[f4p]

I'd go with Robinson/Harden IF (and it's a real if) I was convinced Harden would want to stay with the team. Great as Scottie Pippen was, his impact is dwarfed by Robinson much more than Harden falls behind Curry. But Harden's recent history makes his willingness to stay a major concern.

He didn't leave a team for his first 11 years. Unless you have a 15 year rebuilding plan, that seems like enough. Plenty of other players have left sooner when they didn't have a ring (loyalty tends to be amazingly well correlated with early success, almost as if loyalty is probably a fiction).

[tsherkin]

Interesting pairs.

I like the way Curry and Pippen pair, it's very Draymond-y, but this pair doesn't include a Klay Thompson to overcome the challenges Pip has as a scorer. As the league slowed down, Pippen's meh half-court scoring and weak FT shooting became more of a problem when he couldn't exploit transition as much. His help D and playmaking, though are very attractive with a major off-ball weapon like Steph, however. I don't love having to look at Scottie as an initiator from a dribble penetration standpoint, but I think his mind was ripe for something like today's PnR entries, which makes it less relevant for him to be doing a lot of straight-up isos. And it's not like he didn't have handles, of course, I just mean he was never that helio guy who was a brutal threat in isolation.

I think I like the Harden/D-Rob pairing more. Better defense, and both players are high-end on O. Both of them have the same issue of tanking FG% in the playoffs, but I think Robinson would be more resilient with the amount of defensive attention Harden draws and with him shouldering so much more of the scoring load, leaving Robinson to emphasize off-ball cuts, transition opportunities, lobs off penetration and that sort of thing instead of isolation, which really wasn't his strength.

More particularly, I think that D-Rob would welcome not having to be the 25+ ppg guy and that with Harden established as The Man on O, he'd be more likely to stay happy.