OhayoKD wrote:Limited minuites, but I think Walton's 1986 both was more valuable than people think, and speaks well to what he was capable off in previous seasons.
I certainly wont disagree that Walton's 86 was more valuable than you would expect from 19 minutes a game. When I watched them, I thought he was the 2nd or 3rd most valuable Celtics (2A/2B) with McHale when he was on the court which is impressive since McHale is a HOF type clearly better than multiple All-Star level Parish.
I'm not sure you can translate it to previous seasons because I think it was clear by that point that if you play Walton more than that, he WILL break down. 19 minutes a game and crossed fingers are about the best you can hope for with his feet. If the Clippers or Blazers were willing to make him a 15-20 mpg reserve, maybe they could have gotten more out of him, but they also would have missed that one magic title season.
The question is whether if he was a career 15 mpg reserve who played 10+ years at that level rather than a 1.5 and done starter, whether he's adding enough to be a top 100 player of all time. I think he was great but just not convinced that 15 mpg of Walton with 33 of average players is more valuable than 33 minutes of Horace Grant and 15 of average players (especially if Walton continued demanding the pay and special treatment of a superstar).