RealGM

Who would you rather have for a single season in today's NBA?

Bill Walton was like Jokic without the 3 point shot but elite+ defense.

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SGA.

Did he peak higher than Walton?

Maybe, maybe not. We will find that out in the current Peaks Project, or at least my view on the comparison.

Do we know SGA can be the best player in the league currently and win a title? Absolutely.

Benjammin wrote:Bill Walton was like Jokic without the 3 point shot but elite+ defense.

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SGA is like a better ball-handling Michael Jordan

ReggiesKnicks wrote:SGA.

Did he peak higher than Walton?

Maybe, maybe not. We will find that out in the current Peaks Project, or at least my view on the comparison.

Do we know SGA can be the best player in the league currently and win a title? Absolutely.

I feel you already showed your hand here with voting Bill Russell top 2

Hard not to choose the guy who just led a team to 68 wins and won mvp/fmvp. Is it possible that Walton could be better if we also imagined him being able to play 70+ games and a full playoff run? Maybe but his health concerns in the real world make it too hard to pick him even if we think he might be more impactful.

Even in Walton's best year, he only played 66 games and while he was truly great, I don't think his defensive impact is as high in today's league. In today's league, he probably plays 2/3 of that so as not to affect his future earnings potential. Sad, but true.

If the question was who have the better peak relative to era I might have choose Bill Walton
( All time great floor riser with Elite defensive impact while be the best passer/Facilitor Big by a big margin in his own era )

But the question is transport Bill Walton Peak from the pass and put in this NBA so I would chose SGA peak as a safer option which I think his ability and offensive signal are extremely valuable in this current NBA. ( All time Scorer as both floor and Ceiling scorer. Good defensive Guard and team defender. Great playmaking which I think he developed more in the playoffs )

Assuming health, Walton. Not assuming that, SGA.

Benjammin wrote:Bill Walton was like Jokic without the 3 point shot but elite+ defense.

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I would agree that they kinda similar with Walton being a MUCH MUCH better defender by any kind of analysis ( PLEASE DON'T USE D-BPM this stat is so wankie ).

But evoking the similarities without giving a BIG edge on offense for jokic is not fair in comparison for the defense noted. JoKic is a much better scorer in anyway shape or form ( better 3pt /better midrange / better paint touch and post scoring ). A better Passer/faciler ( even if bill Walton is top 2 in term of center the gap still noticable ) and better Playmaker due to his scoring threat.

Fwiw for this thought exercise I assumed Walton would be fully healthy.

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Ol Roy wrote:Assuming health, Walton. Not assuming that, SGA.

Walton's healthiest season, near his Peak, was 66 games in the regular season.

Benjammin wrote:Fwiw for this thought exercise I assumed Walton would be fully healthy.

His fully healthy was 66 games

ReggiesKnicks wrote:

Ol Roy wrote:Assuming health, Walton. Not assuming that, SGA.

Walton's healthiest season, near his Peak, was 66 games in the regular season.

Benjammin wrote:Fwiw for this thought exercise I assumed Walton would be fully healthy.

His fully healthy was 66 games

Yep. I don't like using Walton or Kawhi Leonard in all-time scenarios usually because their peaks were so fleeting.

Well, when dealing with hypotheticals... But I get the point. 82 games of SGA over Bill for 66 sure.

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Shai for sure.

Elpolo_14 wrote:If the question was who have the better peak relative to era I might have choose Bill Walton
( All time great floor riser with Elite defensive impact while be the best passer/Facilitor Big by a big margin in his own era )

But the question is transport Bill Walton Peak from the pass and put in this NBA so I would chose SGA peak as a safer option which I think his ability and offensive signal are extremely valuable in this current NBA. ( All time Scorer as both floor and Ceiling scorer. Good defensive Guard and team defender. Great playmaking which I think he developed more in the playoffs )

ReggiesKnicks wrote:SGA.

Did he peak higher than Walton?

Maybe, maybe not. We will find that out in the current Peaks Project, or at least my view on the comparison.

Do we know SGA can be the best player in the league currently and win a title? Absolutely.

Basically this. I’m a big proponent of Bill’s and sadly we never really got see what his overall peak might have been due to injuries, but we have a sure thing in SGA. Even if Walton’s peak is higher relative to era, which it might be, there’s no way to know how well it translates to today (I think he’d translate really well) when you already have a sure thing in SGA.

Benjammin wrote:Bill Walton was like Jokic without the 3 point shot but elite+ defense.

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Bill Walton averaged 19 PPG and 5 APG with 4 turnovers per game in his peak season. He was a career 66% free throw shooter. He was a long way from being Jokic. If anything the fact that SGA could arguably outplay the real Jokic for a season just shows that Walton didn't peak anywhere near as high as SGA. As great as Walton was, he's still a pretty weak reflection of Joker.

You could build a nice 2023 SAC-style offense around Bill, while getting that great all-time defense. What would his offense look like? Sabonis on offense, Chet/Rudy on defense?

Bill was 112 2PT+, 109 TS+, 209.5 FG Add & 190.8 TS Add over 123 RS games in '77 and '78. Sabonis from 2023-2025 was 115 2PT+, 113 TS+, 444.8 FG Add & 499.2 TS Add over 231 RS games. That's 1.8 FG Add/36 & 1.64 TS Add/36 for Bill and 1.98 FG Add/36 & 2.22 TS Add/36 for Domantas.

Benjammin wrote:Well, when dealing with hypotheticals... But I get the point. 82 games of SGA over Bill for 66 sure.

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76 games of SGA to be fair.

iggymcfrack wrote:

Benjammin wrote:Bill Walton was like Jokic without the 3 point shot but elite+ defense.

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Bill Walton averaged 19 PPG and 5 APG with 4 turnovers per game in his peak season. He was a career 66% free throw shooter. He was a long way from being Jokic. If anything the fact that SGA could arguably outplay the real Jokic for a season just shows that Walton didn't peak anywhere near as high as SGA. As great as Walton was, he's still a pretty weak reflection of Joker.

Except for defense. Just half the game after all.

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