[quote="pandrade83"]We're at the point where you're deciding to go with players who were outstanding for short periods of time ( Davis, Hawkins, Tiny, Daniels) or guys who were very good for a long time but it's hard to argue they were ever great (Divac, Bellamy, my candidate to be named, etc).
I've decided to go with the first group (and fwiw - if you're going the other way, I don't think it's unreasonable).
Now the first decision point is made, let's look at the candidates.
Daniels, & Hawkins achieved their fame in the ABA at a point where professional basketball was
extremely diluted. When Daniels won his final title, there were 27 teams in pro hoops - that's as many as there were 20 years later. That's also when Tiny peaked - who never won a series except for the time he got to play with Bird, Parish & rookie McHale.
While I'm aware that the ABA was better in the 70's, this tape of the '68 ABA Finals leaves some things to be desired.
If you're going with a guy who had a very high but short lived peak - why not go with the guy who had the best of it?
Achieving a PER of 30+ puts you in rare territory. Here's the list of guys who have done this in the post-merger era.
MJ
Lebron
Robinson
Shaq
Steph
McGrady
Wade
Davis
Westbrook
Harden
Davis has 4 very strong years under his belt - which by the standards of this group is not bad - and with the exception of Hawkins I don't think anyone else even has a case that their peak is close to Davis.
Now, the knock on him is that he's never even won a playoff game - but the time he did make it, he delivered 31-11 & 3 blocks on 61% TS!
He played great - I don't put that loss on him.
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Of the high peak, short longevity candidates, Davis is the last one I feel comfortable with right now.
My alternate candidate has the highest career WS of any post-merger player - Buck WIlliams.
Disclosing WIlliams' weaknesses right away - the box score paints him as a weak passer - though I don't believe he's a selfish player having watched him.
He also "led" the Nets to 3 straight 55+ loss seasons including one doozy where they went 19-63. I don't think any of the other high longevity candidates would've done materially better in that situation - but anyway - it's out there.
Williams' brings strong rebounding to the table - leading the league in REB% in '82, and finishing in the Top 5 in rebounds per game his first 7 years in the league.
Additionally, Williams was a strong defender, making all Defense 4 times. What's noteworthy about this, is that one of those appearances were for the 19-63 Nets; to earn All-Defense on that bad of a team, you truly have to have the voters' respect.
Although Williams' peak was with the Nets, he had a strong post-prime as well where he impacts some strong Blazer teams.
Portland was +0.2 & -0.6 in rel D Rating the two years before Williams' arrival & in the following 3 years - all years where Williams makes All-D, Portland finishes -3.7, -3.6 & -4.0 (Wayne Cooper & Cliff Robinson were also added during this period).
From an offensive standpoint, this video is a fair representation of how he scores - he moves well in transition and is strong finisher at the rim and he'll score on put backs.
Overall, Williams is a strong rebounding, strong defending forward who scores efficiently on moderate volume through hustle.
Let's look at Williams' place on the Win Share leaderboard is worth a look since I noted that he's #1 in post-merger players not in yet.
He generated 52% of his career Win Shares with the Nets - a franchise that didn't do anything for virtually all of the 80's & the '90's.
While in New Jersey, he was key in getting the Nets to the playoffs most years early on - his signature playoff moment was getting 18.4-15.2 with 3.4 blocks + steals on 60% TS against the defending champion Sixers in '84.
The lion's share of his remaining win shares came when he adapted to a new role on Portland from '90-'94 - taking on a smaller offensive role but becoming very impactful to the team's defense and being a key part of Portland's success during that era.
If you're looking at high longevity quality players who brought meaningful career value to the table, I think Williams is worth a look.
Primary: Davis
Alternate: Buck Williams
