Does D-Wade have the least amount of Prime Years of any Top 25 player?

[Im Your Father]

Was Wade better than Drexler? Compare numbers:


Career -

Wade -
1054gms, 4.7reb, 5.4ast, 1.5stl, 0.8blk, 22.0pts
23.5PER, 55.4TS, 73.3OWS, 47.4DWS, 120.7WS, .162WS/48, 5.0bpm, 62.8vorp

Drexler -
1086gms, 6.1reb, 5.6ast, 2.0stl, 0.7blk, 20.7pts
21.1PER, 54.7TS, 85.6 OWS, 49.9DWS, 135.6WS, .173WS/48, 5.4bpm, 70.2vorp


Prune -

Wade -
2005-2015, 720gms, 5.0reb, 6.0ast, 1.7stl, 0.9blk, 24.8pts
25.6PER, 56.8TS, 68.1OWS, 36.2DWS, 104.3WS, .191WS/48, 6.4bpm, 55.0vorp

Drexler -
1986-1996, 792gms, 6.6reb, 6.1ast, 2.1stl, 0.7blk, 22.5pts
21.7PER, 55.1TS, 71.3 OWS, 39.4DWS, 110.7WS, .184WS/48, 6.0bpm, 58.1vorp


Close. Drexler is more all-around.

Wade was IMO an entirely different level of player than Drexler.

I'm not particularly convinced that Drexler was really a meaningfully better shooter and Wade's handles and first step made him a lethal half court slasher (something Drexler really never was).

I honestly have no interest in building around a wing player/guard who is neither a great shooter, ball handler or defender.

Yes. Wade in 06, 07(when healthy), 09, 10 and 11 are all seasons at a level that Drexler never reached imo. I'm not sure there's any amount of longevity that can make up for that.

Honestly give me 05 too (and possibly 2012). I guess I'm just super low on Drexler.

My issue with Clyde (and I am aware that he was a second option on a championship team in real life) is that I have trouble thinking of how I'd want to build a team with him as key piece of it, especially in the modern NBA. What role do I want him playing?

It's not so much that I think he's a bad player, but I just think that the amount of money I'd need to spend on a player of his talent level could be much better spent elsewhere.

He's not going to be my lead guard, he's not much of a spacer, he won't anchor my defense. I see Terry Porter as the more important piece on those Blazers teams and I take him over Drexler both in 1992 and in 2022.

[feyki]

I still can't understand what's the appeal of Durant's rim protection. He's decent at SF, but underutilized because of his mediocre motor. He's below average as a big in this role. You need to have very specific team concept to maximize KD's defensive potential and even then it's no guarantee that he'd be willing to take consistent effort on that end.

There was not any special or specific team concept to Durant's defence, but still had better defensive playoffs performance than Yannis last year:

Durant - 16,3 DFGA, %41,5 DFG%, 3,8 Constested DRB, 2,55 Forced Opp Turnovers,
Yannis - 13,0 DFGA, %44,7 DFG%, 2,3 Constested DRB, 1,61 Forced Opp Turnovers.

[70sFan]

I still can't understand what's the appeal of Durant's rim protection. He's decent at SF, but underutilized because of his mediocre motor. He's below average as a big in this role. You need to have very specific team concept to maximize KD's defensive potential and even then it's no guarantee that he'd be willing to take consistent effort on that end.

There was not any special or specific team concept to Durant's defence, but still had better defensive playoffs performance than Yannis last year:

Durant - 16,3 DFGA, %41,5 DFG%, 3,8 Constested DRB, 2,55 Forced Opp Turnovers,
Yannis - 13,0 DFGA, %44,7 DFG%, 2,3 Constested DRB, 1,61 Forced Opp Turnovers.

We had this discussion before and I'm not going to start it again. Giannis is on another level to Durant defensively and no cherry picked numbers will change that.

[feyki]

I still can't understand what's the appeal of Durant's rim protection. He's decent at SF, but underutilized because of his mediocre motor. He's below average as a big in this role. You need to have very specific team concept to maximize KD's defensive potential and even then it's no guarantee that he'd be willing to take consistent effort on that end.

There was not any special or specific team concept to Durant's defence, but still had better defensive playoffs performance than Yannis last year:

Durant - 16,3 DFGA, %41,5 DFG%, 3,8 Constested DRB, 2,55 Forced Opp Turnovers,
Yannis - 13,0 DFGA, %44,7 DFG%, 2,3 Constested DRB, 1,61 Forced Opp Turnovers.

We had this discussion before and I'm not going to start it again. Giannis is on another level to Durant defensively and no cherry picked numbers will change that.

All the data of the whole playoffs is cherrypicking?

[70sFan]

There was not any special or specific team concept to Durant's defence, but still had better defensive playoffs performance than Yannis last year:

Durant - 16,3 DFGA, %41,5 DFG%, 3,8 Constested DRB, 2,55 Forced Opp Turnovers,
Yannis - 13,0 DFGA, %44,7 DFG%, 2,3 Constested DRB, 1,61 Forced Opp Turnovers.

We had this discussion before and I'm not going to start it again. Giannis is on another level to Durant defensively and no cherry picked numbers will change that.

All the data of the whole playoffs is cherrypicking?

Whole playoffs means 12 games for Durant, 5 of which were against weak competiton.

[feyki]

We had this discussion before and I'm not going to start it again. Giannis is on another level to Durant defensively and no cherry picked numbers will change that.

All the data of the whole playoffs is cherrypicking?

Whole playoffs means 12 games for Durant, 5 of which were against weak competiton.

Do you know Russell's 8 straight championships amount of games per playoffs? Yes, it's 12.

[70sFan]

All the data of the whole playoffs is cherrypicking?

Whole playoffs means 12 games for Durant, 5 of which were against weak competiton.

Do you know Russell's 8 straight championships amount of games per playoffs? Yes, it's 12.

Yes, but 8 straight playoffs gives us the sample of 100 games. Besides, Russell teams didn't play the first round, they started the playoffs from the ECF.

[migya]

Wade was IMO an entirely different level of player than Drexler.

I'm not particularly convinced that Drexler was really a meaningfully better shooter and Wade's handles and first step made him a lethal half court slasher (something Drexler really never was).

I honestly have no interest in building around a wing player/guard who is neither a great shooter, ball handler or defender.

Yes. Wade in 06, 07(when healthy), 09, 10 and 11 are all seasons at a level that Drexler never reached imo. I'm not sure there's any amount of longevity that can make up for that.

Honestly give me 05 too (and possibly 2012). I guess I'm just super low on Drexler.

My issue with Clyde (and I am aware that he was a second option on a championship team in real life) is that I have trouble thinking of how I'd want to build a team with him as key piece of it, especially in the modern NBA. What role do I want him playing?

It's not so much that I think he's a bad player, but I just think that the amount of money I'd need to spend on a player of his talent level could be much better spent elsewhere.

He's not going to be my lead guard, he's not much of a spacer, he won't anchor my defense. I see Terry Porter as the more important piece on those Blazers teams and I take him over Drexler both in 1992 and in 2022.

Sounds like you never saw Drexler play. He scored against Jordan who is probably the best defensive SG ever. He wasn't the PG, yet distributed and passed among the best SGs ever. He slashed really well, not with the speed of Wade but was fast, crafty and finished better than most ever. His defense was underrated as well, I think definitely better than Wade.

[Jaivl]

He scored against Jordan who is probably the best defensive SG ever.

Of all the arguments I've read on this board... that's certainly one of them.

[No-more-rings]

He scored against Jordan who is probably the best defensive SG ever.

He averaged 25 ppg on 52 ts% when they met in the finals. Half the games he was below 50 ts%. Doesn't seem like something to brag about.

[Im Your Father]

Yes. Wade in 06, 07(when healthy), 09, 10 and 11 are all seasons at a level that Drexler never reached imo. I'm not sure there's any amount of longevity that can make up for that.

Honestly give me 05 too (and possibly 2012). I guess I'm just super low on Drexler.

My issue with Clyde (and I am aware that he was a second option on a championship team in real life) is that I have trouble thinking of how I'd want to build a team with him as key piece of it, especially in the modern NBA. What role do I want him playing?

It's not so much that I think he's a bad player, but I just think that the amount of money I'd need to spend on a player of his talent level could be much better spent elsewhere.

He's not going to be my lead guard, he's not much of a spacer, he won't anchor my defense. I see Terry Porter as the more important piece on those Blazers teams and I take him over Drexler both in 1992 and in 2022.

Sounds like you never saw Drexler play. He scored against Jordan who is probably the best defensive SG ever. He wasn't the PG, yet distributed and passed among the best SGs ever. He slashed really well, not with the speed of Wade but was fast, crafty and finished better than most ever. His defense was underrated as well, I think definitely better than Wade.

I've seen a few of his 90s playoff games and came away quite unimpressed by his handles and half court scoring ability. He was undeniably a terror in the full court.

What role do you see Drexler playing in the modern NBA? How would you feature him/build a realistic contender around him? I'm not being facetious - I'm genuinely interested - I don't ever see him being on Wade's level but I'm open to the fact that I'm too low on him.

[falcolombardi]

if Butler can be a offensive star in the nba with his weak jumper i dont see why not drexler tbh

[migya]

He scored against Jordan who is probably the best defensive SG ever.

He averaged 25 ppg on 52 ts% when they met in the finals. Half the games he was below 50 ts%. Doesn't seem like something to brag about.

He played many more games against Jordan.

[falcolombardi]

He scored against Jordan who is probably the best defensive SG ever.

He averaged 25 ppg on 52 ts% when they met in the finals. Half the games he was below 50 ts%. Doesn't seem like something to brag about.

He played many more games against Jordan.

do we have those stats or only the finals ones?