Replace Nash w/ Curry for Career how many titles?

[magicman1978]

Votes for 3+ seem overly generous. Pre-2005 would have been tough because of the more lax perimeter defenses rules, stricter moving screen calls, and less focus on landing space fouls. Steph may surprise teams initially with his range/shooting, but eventually teams would adjust and limit his overall effectiveness.

His best chance in Dallas would be 03 - I think he leads them over the Spurs and they'd beat the Nets pretty easily. I don't see them beating the Lakers 00-02 or Pistons in 04.

The Suns were built around Nash's skillset and I'm not sure they'd be much more effective with Curry in terms of getting them over the hump. I don't see them overcoming the Spurs in 05. I'd give them a 50/50 chance at best there.

In 06, they lost Stoudemire so were even more reliant on Nash offensively. Maybe they get past the Mavs, but they wouldn't have anyone to slow down DWade in the finals. 25% chance here.

07 - Curry injured

08 - there would be some fit issues here I think. This is where Shaq came in. Don't see them beating both the Lakers and Celtics. Let say 25% chance here.

09 - I don't believe they had a championship level roster anymore at this point with Stoudemire injured halfway through the year.

I'd say one championship, with outside chance at 2.

[parsnips33]

Votes for 3+ seem overly generous. Pre-2005 would have been tough because of the more lax perimeter defenses rules, stricter moving screen calls, and less focus on landing space fouls. Steph may surprise teams initially with his range/shooting, but eventually teams would adjust and limit his overall effectiveness.

His best change in Dallas would be 03 - I think he leads them over the Spurs and they'd be the Nets pretty easily. I don't see them beating the Lakers 00-02 or Pistons in 04.

The Suns were built around Nash's skillset and I'm not sure they'd be much more effective with Curry in terms of getting them over the hump. I don't see them overcoming the Spurs in 05. I'd give them a 50/50 chance at best there.

In 06, they lost Stoudemire so were even more reliant on Nash offensively. Maybe they get past the Mavs, but they wouldn't have anyone to slow down DWade in the finals. 25% chance here.

07 - Curry injured

08 - there would be some fit issues here I think. This is where Shaq came in. Don't see them beating both the Lakers and Celtics. Let say 25% chance here.

09 - I don't believe they had a championship level roster anymore at this point with Stoudemire injured halfway through the year.

I'd say one championship, with outside chance at 2.

What adjustments do you think teams would make?

[Narigo]

Can see winning from 2002 to 2004.

[magicman1978]

Votes for 3+ seem overly generous. Pre-2005 would have been tough because of the more lax perimeter defenses rules, stricter moving screen calls, and less focus on landing space fouls. Steph may surprise teams initially with his range/shooting, but eventually teams would adjust and limit his overall effectiveness.

His best change in Dallas would be 03 - I think he leads them over the Spurs and they'd be the Nets pretty easily. I don't see them beating the Lakers 00-02 or Pistons in 04.

The Suns were built around Nash's skillset and I'm not sure they'd be much more effective with Curry in terms of getting them over the hump. I don't see them overcoming the Spurs in 05. I'd give them a 50/50 chance at best there.

In 06, they lost Stoudemire so were even more reliant on Nash offensively. Maybe they get past the Mavs, but they wouldn't have anyone to slow down DWade in the finals. 25% chance here.

07 - Curry injured

08 - there would be some fit issues here I think. This is where Shaq came in. Don't see them beating both the Lakers and Celtics. Let say 25% chance here.

09 - I don't believe they had a championship level roster anymore at this point with Stoudemire injured halfway through the year.

I'd say one championship, with outside chance at 2.

What adjustments do you think teams would make?

They'd play him tighter and be more physical with him on the perimeter - we've seen Steph limited more in the playoffs when things get more physical (although still elite) - and pre-2005, I think they can ramp that up a bit more

[oaktownwarriors87]

I'm not saying he's a magician, he's just better and a great fit. The idea that he could make the #4 team in the NBA better and potentially win a few more games shouldn't come as an insult or shock to you.

But explicitly you are wrong that he was a ":great fit." Everything about Phoenix centered around Nash's ability to drive their offense and operate in a way which Steph does not. Team construction matters, as does coaching to some extent. MAD was a "give it to your PG, arrange your transition routes, and just pray after that" kind of coach, not Steve Kerr. "Here, have some fairly basic PnR sets and I hope this works out." That isn't really going to do too much for the Suns if you don't have one of the best PnR playmakers in league history, which Steph is not, despite his evident prowess at scoring out of the PnR and his own underrated playmaking ability.

You slap Steph in there, even in his hyper-efficient, 30 ppg form, and they do not function as well as they did in-era. There's an argument to be made outside of 2006 that they could title because they had more offensive support, but you seem to keep underestimating the importance of what Nash did that Steph cannot, with an absent appreciation for the limitations of pure scoring, even hyper-efficient pure scoring.

Marion's drop-off alone would be a significant problem; he was considerably worse when he wasn't playing with Nash, and in no way does Steph replicate what Nash did as a playmaker, nor enough to matter.

Marion was a averaging 21/10 on 45/39/85 shooting with Stephon Marbury. He was an all star on a team that took the champion Spurs to 6 games with Stephon MARBURY. The idea that he couldn't play with Stephen Curry is LAUGHABLE.

And Diaw is an ideal forward to run an offense with Curry. That team was loaded with intelligent players that fit his style perfectly.

Yes, he couldn't run it the same way Nash could. He could potentially run it better. He's an actual #1 option. He's more dynamic and is a bigger threat not just with the ball, but creates offense without the ball in his hands.

One of the problem with Nash is that he dominated the ball and fed his teammates. He didn't allow them to be successful with the ball and develope any kind of rhythm. Of course they fell apart without him on the court.

And Nash couldn't give up that power because he isn't as effective without the ball and he's a poor defender. He'd just turn into Dallas Nash.

The non-Stoudemire Suns with Boris Diaw were potentially built better for Curry than Nash, and Curry is a significantly better player.