Where would Peak Scottie Pippen rank in todays league?

[Matt15]

Where would Peak Scottie Pippen rank overall in todays league?

[BuddyBuckets]

I said top 10.

2-way guy that can guard 1-4 easily, shoot from anywhere, creat offense for himself and others. He's a Kawhi clone.

[kuclas]

Pippen is very similar to K Leonard. Pippen lead the bulls to 55 win as the main guy in 1993-94 without Jordan.

Meaning in todays nba. Adjusted for pace of the game. And as number 1 option. Pippen easily averages 26-27 a game with 8 rebounds and 9 assists a game.

He be a top 5-7 nba player. Peak Scottie Pippen in todays nba game. I doubt anyone who disagree with me. He has all nba first team mutiple times as well.

[rand]

Kawhi comparisons don't resonate with me. Kawhi is in another galaxy as a scorer. Pippen seems more like an upgraded prime Iguodala.

Anyway, fringe top-10 assuming players like Steph, AD and Kawhi who are often injured are taken to be healthy.

[rk2023]

Top 10.

I could see him deployed somewhat similar as Jimmy Butler - albeit Butler is a better self-creator : slasher is my guess. I’d take Pippen as a passer, but like Jimmy as someone who pressures a defense more often.

That said, I think Pippen still maintains a track record as the best non-big defender transported into today and (in this comparison) reckon that the defense gap outweighs the offense. I have their peaks as similar caliber anyways, when looking relative to era.

[BuddyBuckets]

Top 10.

I could see him deployed somewhat similar as Jimmy Butler - albeit Butler is a better self-creator : slasher is my guess. I’d take Pippen as a passer, but like Jimmy as someone who pressures a defense more often.

That said, I think Pippen still maintains a track record as the best non-big defender transported into today and (in this comparison) reckon that the defense gap outweighs the offense. I have their peaks as similar caliber anyways, when looking relative to era.

I think Pippen is decisively quicker than Butler, in today's NBA I think he would blow by guys with ease. Self creation would be a lot easier for Scottie in today's game I think.

[Cavsfansince84]

Pippen is very similar to K Leonard. Pippen lead the bulls to 55 win as the main guy in 1993-94 without Jordan.

Meaning in todays nba. Adjusted for pace of the game. And as number 1 option. Pippen easily averages 26-27 a game with 8 rebounds and 9 assists a game.

He be a top 5-7 nba player. Peak Scottie Pippen in todays nba game. I doubt anyone who disagree with me. He has all nba first team mutiple times as well.

Pippen wasn't a good enough shooter to avg 26+ today on decent efficiency imo. That's asking too much of him. I think he'd be fringe top 10(8-12) today. I think the top end talent in the league today is a lot better past the top 3 compared to 94/95 when Pippen was at his peak.

[ardee]

Above him for sure:

Jokic
Giannis
Curry
Luka
Embiid

Above him health permitting

LeBron
Durant
AD

so I could see him in the 6-10 range depending on how much you value health. I think he's definitely above someone like Lillard.

[GSP]

Pippen is very similar to K Leonard. Pippen lead the bulls to 55 win as the main guy in 1993-94 without Jordan.

Meaning in todays nba. Adjusted for pace of the game. And as number 1 option. Pippen easily averages 26-27 a game with 8 rebounds and 9 assists a game.

He be a top 5-7 nba player. Peak Scottie Pippen in todays nba game. I doubt anyone who disagree with me. He has all nba first team mutiple times as well.

He was AllNba 1st so many times b/c he was in the weakest era ever for small forward talent. 90s was the golden age of centers, incredible big man talent and guard talent but wings were weak. Besides Grant Hill who was better than Pip prime for prime but was drafted to one of the 3 worst teams in the league in middle of 90s who else was there....? Chris Mullin i guess....then Jamal Mashburn? Glen Rice? Big Dog? Nique and Worthy were washed up for most of Pips prime

Pip would be top 20 at best if his defense really translated well. His defense would still be great but he really struggled to guard the more athletic, quicker wings like Penny and Grant with their explosiveness, first step and handle. There just wasnt as many of them back then as there is now. He would get blown by alot more today specially with no handchecking and all the rules and reffing that favor offense and neuter defense today. If were being honest alot of teams and team contexts would rather have a Jaylen Brown today than Pip.......he would by Siakam level most realistically. Pascal was the main guy on a 53 win team in 2020 too without Kawhi like Pip without Michael and their playoffs went eerily similar too in performance and result

Watch on YouTube

His okay handle, weak shooting and middling scoring would be exposed today with the much higher skill and talent level of wings specially when hes not playing beside Mj if he was to be the best player on a team. He wouldnt be better than Tatum, Jimmy or a healthy Pg13 nvm the highest Mvp and historic level players. In playoffs Jimmy is def way better. Ppl say Jimmy can't shoot so Pip would be fine but Jimmy is one of the best slashers and foul drawers in the whole league. Way better creating off bounce. Pip wasnt close. Pg13 is way more skilled and talented on offense. Handle, pullup miles ahead and shooting on another galaxy and he even struggles in playoffs. Pip routinely struggled in playoff runs offensively in a time where the wing and small forward talent was nowhere close to what it is today. His halfcourt game was ass on offense specially when teams locked in playoffs

[SilentA]

Comfortably top 10 for me, but it would depend a lot on his team.

I think he could in fact do better in today's game. The obvious thing is just switchable defense along with the high IQ. But I am also considering his playmaking and athletic finishing at the rim. Good in transition, great passer... and if he had shooters to space the floor more, his drive and dish game could end up lethal. The latter isn't something he could really enjoy as much in the 90s, but definitely had the skills for.

On a team with a near perfect fit I can see him as high as the 4-6 range, being among the best wing defenders in the league while also being a very strong playmaking threat. But in a team of non-shooters where he doesn't get the ball as much on offense, and if the team's communication sucks on defense, well... he'd still be good, but probably overlooked, and fall out of top 10.

[70sFan]

Pippen is very similar to K Leonard. Pippen lead the bulls to 55 win as the main guy in 1993-94 without Jordan.

Meaning in todays nba. Adjusted for pace of the game. And as number 1 option. Pippen easily averages 26-27 a game with 8 rebounds and 9 assists a game.

He be a top 5-7 nba player. Peak Scottie Pippen in todays nba game. I doubt anyone who disagree with me. He has all nba first team mutiple times as well.

He was AllNba 1st so many times b/c he was in the weakest era ever for small forward talent. 90s was the golden age of centers, incredible big man talent and guard talent but wings were weak. Besides Grant Hill who was better than Pip prime for prime but was drafted to one of the 3 worst teams in the league in middle of 90s who else was there....? Chris Mullin i guess....then Jamal Mashburn? Glen Rice? Big Dog? Nique and Worthy were washed up for most of Pips prime

Pip would be top 20 at best if his defense really translated well. His defense would still be great but he really struggled to guard the more athletic, quicker wings like Penny and Grant with their explosiveness, first step and handle. There just wasnt as many of them back then as there is now. He would get blown by alot more today specially with no handchecking and all the rules and reffing that favor offense and neuter defense today. If were being honest alot of teams and team contexts would rather have a Jaylen Brown today than Pip.......he would by Siakam level most realistically. Pascal was the main guy on a 53 win team in 2020 too without Kawhi like Pip without Michael and their playoffs went eerily similar too in performance and result

Watch on YouTube

His okay handle, weak shooting and middling scoring would be exposed today with the much higher skill and talent level of wings specially when hes not playing beside Mj if he was to be the best player on a team. He wouldnt be better than Tatum, Jimmy or a healthy Pg13 nvm the highest Mvp and historic level players. In playoffs Jimmy is def way better. Ppl say Jimmy can't shoot so Pip would be fine but Jimmy is one of the best slashers and foul drawers in the whole league. Way better creating off bounce. Pip wasnt close. Pg13 is way more skilled and talented on offense. Handle, pullup miles ahead and shooting on another galaxy and he even struggles in playoffs. Pip routinely struggled in playoff runs offensively in a time where the wing and small forward talent was nowhere close to what it is today. His halfcourt game was ass on offense specially when teams locked in playoffs

If Pippen, who was a clear and definite top 10 player year after year in his era is barely top 20 now, it shows how massive the gap in talent truly is.

Does it mean that Jordan would also struggle to reach top 5?

[onedayattatime]

pippen's advanced stats at age 28 (1994) are comparable to paul george's also at age 28 (2019). paul george finished 3rd in mvp voting that year.

[eminence]

Voted top 10, probably towards the back of it. Not an exact replica of any of them, but plenty of wings today with similar builds/games finding plenty of success - Kawhi, George, Tatum, Butler.

[Taj FTW]

You have to think he would be a much better 3-pt shooter in today's game.

[kuclas]

People think the greats of the past cannot compete with the greats of today.

Pippen was very good. Top 5-10 nba player for at least 5 years.

Than fast forward to todays nba where a guy like Dwight Howard who suppose had no real “skill” could still dominate from 2006-2011. Top 3-5 nba player with no skill and take down peak physical lebron 60 plus win team.

What does that tell you? It tells you pippen would be able to compete in any era. Even with rule changes. Great players are still great in almost any era.

Even shaq (shaq 1992-2003) was physically imposing I don’t think banning illegal defense would stop prime shaq.

[HeartBreakKid]

People think the greats of the past cannot compete with the greats of today.

Pippen was very good. Top 5-10 nba player for at least 5 years.

Than fast forward to todays nba where a guy like Dwight Howard who suppose had no real “skill” could still dominate from 2006-2011. Top 3-5 nba player with no skill and take down peak physical lebron 60 plus win team.

What does that tell you? It tells you pippen would be able to compete in any era. Even with rule changes. Great players are still great in almost any era.

Even shaq (shaq 1992-2003) was physically imposing I don’t think banning illegal defense would stop prime shaq.

I agree that great players are going to dominate in any era but I dont get the Dwight Howard example.

Why does it matter if Dwight Howard is 'skilled' or not? Scottie Pippen is not 6'10, 270 of lean muscle with a 40 inch vertical.

Also, I know it's easy for people to think that time frames they personally remember are modern but you're talking about 13+ years ago. 06-11 is not "today's NBA".

[OhayoKD]

People think the greats of the past cannot compete with the greats of today.

Pippen was very good. Top 5-10 nba player for at least 5 years.

Than fast forward to todays nba where a guy like Dwight Howard who suppose had no real “skill” could still dominate from 2006-2011. Top 3-5 nba player with no skill and take down peak physical lebron 60 plus win team.

What does that tell you? It tells you pippen would be able to compete in any era. Even with rule changes. Great players are still great in almost any era.

Even shaq (shaq 1992-2003) was physically imposing I don’t think banning illegal defense would stop prime shaq.

Even, if we assume Dwight had "no-skill", the athleticism/size gap alone gives Dwight a big advantage over Pippen as it allows him to protect the rim/paint much better. Considering that Dwight got most of his value defensively and paint protection is far and away the most valuable aspect of defense...

[OhayoKD]

pippen's advanced stats at age 28 (1994) are comparable to paul george's also at age 28 (2019). paul george finished 3rd in mvp voting that year.

Would you say Paul George was/is a top 3 player? I'm not sure if 2019 PG is even top 10 tbh

[dygaction]

A taller, bigger, faster, and stronger Jimmy Butler with better passing and defense but worse self-creation. Top 10 most of the years

[kuclas]

People think the greats of the past cannot compete with the greats of today.

Pippen was very good. Top 5-10 nba player for at least 5 years.

Than fast forward to todays nba where a guy like Dwight Howard who suppose had no real “skill” could still dominate from 2006-2011. Top 3-5 nba player with no skill and take down peak physical lebron 60 plus win team.

What does that tell you? It tells you pippen would be able to compete in any era. Even with rule changes. Great players are still great in almost any era.

Even shaq (shaq 1992-2003) was physically imposing I don’t think banning illegal defense would stop prime shaq.

I agree that great players are going to dominate in any era but I dont get the Dwight Howard example.

Why does it matter if Dwight Howard is 'skilled' or not? Scottie Pippen is not 6'10, 270 of lean muscle with a 40 inch vertical.

Also, I know it's easy for people to think that time frames they personally remember are modern but you're talking about 13+ years ago. 06-11 is not "today's NBA".

Modern nba to me is every 20 year cycle.

1960a-1980
1980-2000
2000-2020 is

If you want to be really specific. The 2005 pistons spurs Probabiy represented the end of the defensive era of games in the 70s. Teams were just beginning to figure out switching and banning of illegal defense rules. (Which was changed in 2001). Suffice to say an aging/slowing shaq didn’t respond well to those rules. Whether it’s because he got fat/old by 2008. But defensive schemes really started changing around that time. Those modern era

Considering Dwight’s Howard career stated in 2004. He definitely is in the modern era.