What would 03-05 KG's averages look like in today's league?

[ardee]

Over those 3 years he was basically a 23/14/6 player with 1.5 steals and blocks per game give or take.

With more spacing and a higher pace, what do you see him putting up?

[LukaTheGOAT]

I think something like Giannis, except much less scoring volume, but perhaps he would collect more steals and rebounds.

[falcolombardi]

i actually think he would get less rebounds, the increase in pace is countered by the reduction in minutes

and the nature of todays game that stretches players outside the paint and has longer rebounds off jumpers makes it harder to grab so many rebounds for a big imo

points and assists would depend on his role amd team mostly, a mediocre team may try to make him a 27+ points a game heliocentric player even if that is not ideal for him

[tsherkin]

About the same if his minutes matched. Less if not, mainly on the glass. Scoring would be about the same, similar efficiency. Spamming long jumpers still doesnt lead to high efficiency but he was very good.

You give him an 04 Sam Cassell-level guard to run the show and he looks better, as happened in 2004.

[RoyceDa59]

I’d imagine the only major difference is he’d likely practise and further perfect his 3 ball and if he could get that up to a decent clip, I could see a slight increase in PPG.

Other than that, the game isn’t much difference since then. He’d be an absolute two way force.

[No-more-rings]

I’m not sure his raw averages would look significantly different, I do think he could peak at something like 25/14/6 59-60 ts%, with a likely postseason dip in efficiency to maybe around 55-56%. Hard to say though, if he doesn’t develop a decent 3 he probably doesn’t get that kind of increase in ts%. Anyway on defense he’d be a real force, probably even more than he was then. A roaming style breaking up offensive sets and such would be devastating. He could basically be a 7 foot Draymond on defense.

[wutevahung]

If we are strictly talking his raw # averages, I am not sure if it will change much.

However, I think he will be able to score much more efficiently, and would be more well respected (not like he wasn't already).

a high post passer was underrated back in that era, and I think it was only until recently teams to start to recognize and to really take advantages of high posting passings to generate 3s or cuts to the baskets. Though the Wolves team ran a lot out of plays for KG to pass in those situations, he generally had neither the spacing nor the shooters to take advantage of his ability on that regard, and I think is a hugely underrated aspect of his game. He is also an excellent passer as a roll man and a secondary play maker. He was almost always the best passer on Wolves, and the only arguable time is when Brandon was healthy but that was so limited that it's a moot discussion.

Many of his midrange iso jumpers would be turned into pick and pop 3, pick and pop 2, pick and rolls, and his fade away 2s can still be an effective weapon later in the shot clock. Teams are also pushing up the pace, so he will get many more transition opportunities, and he was an excellent transition player.

His defense would also be more effective. Modern NBA defense is about loading, rotating, and recovering. KG's insanely high combination of BBIQ/athleticism would make him perfect fit. His one perceived "weakness" was his low post defense, but he would be as good as anyone right now.

That being said, I don't know if it would change his standing in the league for any given seasons. For example, this year's top 3 MVP getters were Jokic, Embiid and Giannis. I don't know if KG would be better than any of them. However, I think the difference between KG and other players when we make cross era comparison is that KG's strengths actually gets more and more emphasized on as the game evolves, despite being insanely effective in his own era already. For example, while I am not particularly familiar with Moses (have never watched him), but from what I have read and get to know about his game, while he was great in his era, which means he would probably be great in all era, but his strength seemed to be less fitting for today's game. Or if we use a reverse comparison, if we teleport Harden back to late 90s/early 2000s, I am also not sure if he would be as effective with his current strength. However, without the benefits of analytics teams, without technological advancements like second spectrums, it was almost like KG instinctually knew how to play the game the right way, and I think that is something pretty insane to think about.

[Jaivl]

24/12/5 or something like that, I guess. Plus easy DPOYs, of course.

[LukaTheGOAT]

24/12/5 or something like that, I guess. Plus easy DPOYs, of course.

You think he would have more RS defensive impact than Rudy Gobert?

[Jaivl]

24/12/5 or something like that, I guess. Plus easy DPOYs, of course.

You think he would have more RS defensive impact than Rudy Gobert?

1) Yes
2) I don't even think it would be needed to have better defensive impact (see: Smart, Marcus) as long as Gobert still was in Utah. KG would have much better optics. Also, he's not european.

[LukaTheGOAT]

24/12/5 or something like that, I guess. Plus easy DPOYs, of course.

You think he would have more RS defensive impact than Rudy Gobert?

1) Yes
2) I don't even think it would be needed to have better defensive impact (see: Smart, Marcus) as long as Gobert still was in Utah. KG would have much better optics. Also, he's not european.

Well considering Garnett never won DPOY in his Minnesota days even when they were competitive, I suppose it is possible he never wins one if his team defense isn't at least top 10.

[Gooner]

I would say something like 27-12-7

[Black Feet]

24/12/5 or something like that, I guess. Plus easy DPOYs, of course.

You think he would have more RS defensive impact than Rudy Gobert?

1) Yes
2) I don't even think it would be needed to have better defensive impact (see: Smart, Marcus) as long as Gobert still was in Utah. KG would have much better optics. Also, he's not european.

it’s not like the back2back mvp is european, it plays no factor in the voting for awards.

[Black Feet]

I would say something like 27-12-7

i don’t see him averaging more points than curry, he only cracked 24 one time in his career.