Owly wrote:With Curry getting a mention that might also lead to whether Paul belongs in the conversation (not necessarily yet, but as members of that group of Curry, Magic and Bird gain traction). Versus Curry, Paul enjoys a boxscore advantage (PER 30 to 28; WS/48 .292 to .288; BPM 11.2 to 9.9; WARP I don't know - Paul's is 25.6 at a .825 win%, but I don't know if Curry's is available and if so where -- WARP does like threes though which would be in his favour) and perhaps not insubstantial edge on D (depending somewhat on how much you think Curry improved his this year, whether merely to average or significantly beyond - and I guess to what degree you consider the improvement "real" rather than a function of clever schemes hiding his limititions in a manner that isn't portable). For me that would leave a bit of a gap (that perhaps some percieve or might be there in impact type data) for Curry to close in less easily measured aspects of the game.
After Robinson goes in, Paul probably offers the best RS boxscore.
I'm okay with this line of reasoning, although at present I don't have Paul and Curry on the same plane offensively. I think Curry's unlimited portability give him an edge over any offensive player ever, even moreso than Bird IMO, and with Paul I have questions relating to his controlling nature (both on-court and off). He's not a great international performer, and I think this is at least in part due to the nature of his playmaking which involves (but does not necessarily require) massive control of the minutia of the offense, and he's never been willing to relinquish that control, which negates some of the portability that elite playmaking typicaly brings. In other words, he's brilliant at getting guys the looks they want in the spots they want, but that comes at the cost of him assuming total creative control of the team's offense. Curry is also proven in a massive way against the defenses that he faced in the playoffs (especially Cleveland with all the trapping and doubling)- which is not to say that Paul couldn't be, but we've never seen him (or anyone really) be defended the way Curry was in the 15 Finals, which went along way toward sealing his offensive GOATness in my mind.
Paul's defense may be enough to outweigh the offensive difference though. He's a brilliant on-ball individual defender, but that hasn't necessarily translated to noticeable team impact. Although I could certainly be convinced that I'm underestimating him here.