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If you can get 2 mostly healthy seasons out of either of them for your team to make a run, who would you select?

Would take Kawhi if we are presuming health.

Likely two of the five best SFs ever - imho Erving, Leonard, Bird, James, Durant.

But there is no SF I would take over a young Dr. J. - rebounded like a PF, blocked shots like a C, top scorer, 2 titles his last 3 years in the ABA. Dominant.

Kawhi easily.

Assuming health, Kawhi with zero hesitation.

kcktiny wrote:
But there is no SF I would take over a young Dr. J. - rebounded like a PF, blocked shots like a C, top scorer, 2 titles his last 3 years in the ABA. Dominant.

He definetely didnt block shots like a center

falcolombardi wrote:

kcktiny wrote:
But there is no SF I would take over a young Dr. J. - rebounded like a PF, blocked shots like a C, top scorer, 2 titles his last 3 years in the ABA. Dominant.

He definetely didnt block shots like a center

He definitely didn't block them like a guard or even a SF. He has a career bpg of 1.5 just counting his NBA years, in the ABA he averaged 2 bpg for his career. Joel Embiid averaged 1.7 bpg last season.

He definetely didnt block shots like a center

You sure you know who Julius Erving was/is?

The last 3 years of the ABA, 1973-74 to 1975-76, the league average ABA C blocked 2.2 shots/48min. Those 3 seasons a young Julius Erving (ages 23-26), playing for the New York Nets, blocked 2.5 shots/48min. Those 3 seasons he blocked 521 shots, 4th most by an ABA player - only Caldwell Jones, Artis Gilmore, and Billy Paultz blocked more those 3 years.

I think a case can be made for ABA Doc here. Can't really overstate how much better of an athlete Doc was over kawhi. Probably brings more value on D given his rim protection. Elite transition force. While Kawhi is the better scorer in half court, Doc's rim pressure will create a ton of opportunities for his teammates.

Kawhi is always a tough one to compare.
(a) He has so few complete seasons in his prime
(b) He had great offensive years and great defensive years, but never at the same time
(c) His intangibles and leadership are similarly difficult questions to answer

penbeast0 wrote:Kawhi is always a tough one to compare.
(a) He has so few complete seasons in his prime
(b) He had great offensive years and great defensive years, but never at the same time
(c) His intangibles and leadership are similarly difficult questions to answer

WRT b, he was pretty slick on both ends during our title run.

tsherkin wrote:

penbeast0 wrote:Kawhi is always a tough one to compare.
(a) He has so few complete seasons in his prime
(b) He had great offensive years and great defensive years, but never at the same time
(c) His intangibles and leadership are similarly difficult questions to answer

WRT b, he was pretty slick on both ends during our title run.

Yeah, he made All-Defense 2nd team that year. Could have made first, but he only played 60 regular season games, which in hindsight was actually a lot to get out of Kawhi.

Kawhi the terminator

I think Kawhi lack of health helps him ironically in these situations. Realistically, Kawhi had like 4 prime postseasons when he showed any meaningful sample of size: 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020. He played really well in two of them and decent enough in another two, but it's a small sample compared to Julius who was available throughout his whole career. It's easier to pick holes in Erving playoff résumé, because he had like 12 seasons prime, all in which he advanced to the playoffs.

Erving. Better scorer and rebounder and big time underrated defensively. Won multiple ABA titles, MVP’s and scoring titles and then immediately led the 76ers to the Finals in his first NBA season. Led his team to 4 Finals in a 7 year span when he was slightly past his prime. Kawhi couldn’t score or rebound like Doc and is as overrated defensively as Doc is underrated. Also he can’t stay healthy.

I see Doc as Proto-LeBron, and at this point I think contender level lead ballhandling is the single most important skill in basketball. Defensively I'd think it's a wash, I think Kawhi is better 1v1 while Doc had superior timing and athleticism as a help defender. When 2 guys are in the same tier I'll err towards the guy with the less replicable skillset, which in this case is Doc.

Kawhi even if healthy is missing 40 games and will have a hang nail or something sore and miss one of the playoffs.

Kawhi is starting to enter Len Bias/Connie Hawkins/Bill Walton what if territory. Reminds me of a Lamborghini: Looks great, drives great, superfast but spends more time in the mechanics garage than your own.

Warspite wrote:Kawhi even if healthy is missing 40 games and will have a hang nail or something sore and miss one of the playoffs.

Kawhi is starting to enter Len Bias/Connie Hawkins/Bill Walton what if territory. Reminds me of a Lamborghini: Looks great, drives great, superfast but spends more time in the mechanics garage than your own.

He's in his own category because he's not technically a what if? with 2 Finals MVPs. We've seen the IF, it just doesn't last that long at a time. So, closer to Bill Walton then the other 2.