RealGM Top 100 List #36

[RightToCensor]

Loving the dedication and opinions in this thread, keep up the good work everyone.

[ronnymac2]

Vote: Kevin Durant

I don't think Payton's offensive prime has great longevity. He's not the most portable offensive player either, so that presents a slight problem. And when he finally did hit his offensive prime, I do believe he wasn't playing at a GOAT defensive point guard level...at least for not very long thereafter. Great player, but I prefer KD's career slightly at this point. Super scorer, portable, amazing shooter and slasher, very good defensive rebounder.

[RayBan-Sematra]

Ugh. Not sure who I want to vote for.
I actually was planning to vote for Miller but since he is not an option I guess I will vote for...
VOTE : Durant.

Payton shouldn't be easily dismissed.
He was a solid scorer & distributor and a fantastic defensive player.
As JBulls said he consistently helped lead the Sonics to great records during the 90's. Better then most othger franchises.

Anyway the truth is Payton did not have amazing longevity. Maybe 7 elite seasons going by the playoffs and 8 or 9 going by the regular-season.
So... I am gonna go with Durant who while clearing lacking in longevity is just on a much higher plane.

Not sure if I feel right doing so but meh.

[Notanoob]

Runoff Vote:Kevin Durant

Simply put he is absurdly good at scoring. He's just an incredible scorer on another level from most guys. He's a special player, and I feel quite privileged to get to watch his career as it unfolds.

[batmana]

My vote is for Kevin Durant. I would have voted for him even before the runoff, I was just too busy the past couple of days.

Payton is a deserving candidate as well and the fact that he's got an entire career behind him weighs a lot here but Durant's best seasons have been too impressive to dismiss. I value peak play a lot and Durant's peak is above anyone else left (apart from Walton). The way I constructed my list, this peak performance is enough to vote him higher than players who only have longevity on their side but never approached a similar status. Obviously with a player as young as Durant the expectation is that he still has plenty of success in front of him but I am not projecting this to push him up the rankings, I am voting for him entirely on what he has already achieved.

[penbeast0]

Gary Payton -- penbeast0, trex_8063, SactoKingsFan, Basketballefan, JordansBulls, Doctor MJ


Kevin Durant -- RSCD3_, DQuinn1575, Quotatious, tsherkin, ronnymac2, Ray-Ban Sematra, Notanoob, batmana, Chuck Texas, john 248

[drza]

I'm not really into either of these choices. I might lean Payton for longevity, but not really sure at the moment. Eye test I'd say that Durant was clearly the best player at their best, and the box score stats clearly agree. Interestingly, RAPM was much more impressed with Payton than I was and I think his peak scores are better than Durant's. If I looked closer at that, and factored longevity into this, I'd probably come down on Payton's side of the vote.

But I haven't really taken it to the lab yet, so for now I'm not comfortable voting. If the vote gets closer maybe I'll weigh in later, but right now it looks like Durant's heading towards a clear majority so for now I'll refrain from voting.

[Texas Chuck]

Here is where I am at with Kevin Durant---

He has 2 elite seasons as a complete player. Several more seasons as an elite scorer. His teams win a ton of games every year and 4 of the 5 years he's led his teams to the playoffs they've been eliminated by the eventual champions and outside of his first playoff year he's been really good offensively in the PS. And while I love Westbrook I think Durant showed he could clearly carry the team without him, not that I ever really doubted he could.

And in this era of analytics and heavy emphasis on efficiency, he's the absolute poster child. He puts up huge volume and does so at absurd efficiency levels. I don't put too much weight in his efficiency edge against players from previous generations because of the differences in emphasis, but I simply can't ignore how great he looks within his own era.

I've been looking for reasons not to vote for him yet, and there are still players I would vote ahead of here, but despite having Payton rated higher going in to this project the more I look at both guys I think I have to take Durant despite his lack of longevity.

Run-off Vote: Kevin Durant

[Basketballefan]

Well looks like KD will take this. I think 36 is a fine spot for him. Not sure how it ended up being kidd>Kd>Payton but owell i guess.

[tsherkin]

Well looks like KD will take this. I think 36 is a fine spot for him. Not sure how it ended up being kidd>Kd>Payton but owell i guess.

I was too busy to respond to Chuck while Kidd was on the table, that's why, heh.

[Doctor MJ]

Vote: Gary Payton

So this one is right on the absolute borderline for me. Coin flip. For perspective: I was confident in picking Kidd over Durant, and Durant over Isiah is a pretty clear one for me too. Payton's in the middle.

And in the end, it's a question of just how much longevity edge does a player need to top Durant's superior peak. I can't claim to have figured out an objective answer to that question, but I dragged my heels her and seeing a bunch of people go toward Durant made me feel like they were selling Payton short just a touch.

To basketbalefan's question of why one might put Durant between Kidd & Payton though, the answer to me is pretty clear. Kidd's a lot smarter and Payton was more dependent on his youthful athleticism. Payton didn't fall off like Isiah, but his falloff got exposed big time while people still thought he was the best perimeter defender in the game.

[john248]

My run-off vote is for Kevin Durant. I have Durant at 34 and GP at 36; oddly, I have Baylor in between. While Payton gives about 4 extra years of good play, I feel more comfortable with what Durant has done in the last 4 years and his peak play to side with him.

[penbeast0]

Calling it for Durant -- votes in post 86