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Who has the highest peak of an Okc guard?

LOL. 2017 wasn't that long ago.

Woah, woah.

iggymcfrack wrote:LOL. 2017 wasn't that long ago.

I think Coronavirus and Westbrook going from superstar to almost a John Wall/Kemba Walker kind of player distorted the perception of space-time for some people

I think the more interesting question is 2013 Russ vs current SGA. Both age 24 at that point

parsnips33 wrote:I think the more interesting question is 2013 Russ vs current SGA. Both age 24 at that point

I would say current SGA is probably better than any non-peak Westbrook season (15-17)

Look I wasn't super high on peak Russ compared to the fanfare he was getting at the time, and much prefer SGA stylistically, but this isn't a comparison worth having atm.

2017 Russ is the much stronger player, no matter how you feel about his portability issues imo since we saw his 2016 version fit well with another Alpha in KD.

Russ lol and it isn't close

Westbrook. His peak was exceptional

s0ciety wrote:

parsnips33 wrote:I think the more interesting question is 2013 Russ vs current SGA. Both age 24 at that point

I would say current SGA is probably better than any non-peak Westbrook season (15-17)

If you weigh the postseason more, 2014 Westbrook is probably better as well

This conparision will be wildly affected by (negative) recency bias on westbrook. His late career struggles will colour people views on prime westbrook for a while

Peak westbrook is still a better player in my opinion

hot take king is back

any opinion changes now onto next season...........

Going with SGA
that efficiency & he plays his game
Not out of control

Right now its WB but if SGA has some kind of breakout playoffs on the way to the wcf we might see things differently imo.

s0ciety wrote:

parsnips33 wrote:I think the more interesting question is 2013 Russ vs current SGA. Both age 24 at that point

I would say current SGA is probably better than any non-peak Westbrook season (15-17)

Depends on playoff weighting to a degree. 2014 Westbrook probably outplayed durant in the postseason.

Shai has the skillset to really be resilient come playoff time. Good shooter at every level, athletic, can't kill his dribble, solid BBIQ.

Shai is a better defender right now than Russ ever was as well.

Russ and that ridiculous unlimited load he can carry probably has higher offensive highs but I think Shai will have a more consistent, stable playoff career from what I've seen. And he'd fit more teams.

I take Shai here honestly.

Shai is rapidly becoming the most overrated player in the NBA and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Cavsfansince84 wrote:Right now its WB but if SGA has some kind of breakout playoffs on the way to the wcf we might see things differently imo.

That's inevitably what will happen. The guy is on a +8 team and a 5th ranked offense with box production giving him a 31 PER. And they're the youngest team in the league. Which is not usually a recipe for being good.

Shai in 2020 as not nearly as strong he is now or smart and didn't develop all his go-to moves in the same way, and you could still see a lot he had to build on just with being so good at driving and pull-up from mid-range at all these different speeds and rhythms, he was also NEVER a defensive quitter or low awareness, he had quick feet, he busted ass, he just didn't have the strength or experience. He was really good at timing contests and had clear natural strengths on defense. My primary comparison to him was absolute peak Dwayne Wade. Nobody else, no lower caliber player worth talking about. I saw a clear path to peak Wade level for him before he was even an all-star, and we are finally here.

So I have reference points to how he is impacting the game, because I saw how impactful he was in certain spots at a much lower level of experience and play. I don't think a 31 PER is overrating him by much. Prime Wade, Paul, Durant, Kobe, - they did that kind of production with no leash in their athletic primes early on, Shai is right in that category of player IMO.

He is gifted at getting into the lane under control - prime Harden gifted at it, he just isn't the passer Harden is, or Luka, probably the only guy comparable right now. But his mid-range game blows theirs away.

I'm telling you, watch Shai's 19 playoff series against GS, they had really nothing for him, and it was Kawhi style of pressure on the D because you just cannot get him to stop dribbling. If you can't get a guy who is elite at the rim and mid-range to stop dribbling, what's the effect of that? Chaos. Horrible rotations, impossible decisions, just a defensive nightmare.

So seeing him as better than WB is just no issue for me at all. Russ bordering on elite offensively. Bordering. He had a lot of flaws. The Giannis of guards. Defensively, he never used his athleticism with patience like Shai does, and quit and sold out on a lot of possessions. Never saw that from Shai. Highly doubt we are seeing it now, I'll be watching him closely.

Heej wrote:Shai is rapidly becoming the most overrated player in the NBA and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I think because he plays for OKC, what he’s doing is flying under the radar a bit. 30/6/6/2/1 on +5.9%rTS — for the Thunder who’re sitting second in the west, and have the 5th rated offense. Elite advanced stats also (PER, ws/48, on/off, etc.). To this point, he’s clearly been having superstar level impact.

Russ was clearly more of an offense unto himself, and a more unstoppable force in a vacuum, but his shot selection, decision making and general unpredictability was always a major drawback. The fact that SGA doesn’t have those problems makes this pretty close in my book. Hard to win something meaningful when your ball dominant PG struggles with his shot/shot selection, and doesn’t manage the game well down the stretch.