Peaks: Harden vs Davis vs Paul vs Barkley

Matt15 · Post #1 » by **Matt15** » Sun Jul 23, 2023 12:52 am

Peak only, how would you rank them from 1-4?

rk2023 · Post #2 » by **rk2023** » Sun Jul 23, 2023 2:12 am

Davis, Paul, Harden, Barkley - that’s my order. I think the 2022 iteration of the peaks project laid out a lot of great arguments for any of them. If I was looking at them as first options, good chance my order changes - but I don’t really like either as a first option in a title team. As a 1b or lower, this is most likely my order of whom I would prefer - though I acknowledge it’s close across the board with this quartet of players.

SHAQ32 · Post #3 » by **SHAQ32** » Sun Jul 23, 2023 2:23 am

Barkley, Paul, Harden, Davis

Narigo · Post #4 » by **Narigo** » Sun Jul 23, 2023 3:03 am

Paul, Davis, Barkley, Harden

TheLand13 · Post #5 » by **TheLand13** » Sun Jul 23, 2023 3:15 am

rk2023 wrote:Davis, Paul, Harden, Barkley - that’s my order. I think the 2022 iteration of the peaks project laid out a lot of great arguments for any of them. If I was looking at them as first options, good chance my order changes - but I don’t really like either as a first option in a title team. As a 1b or lower, this is most likely my order of whom I would prefer - though I acknowledge it’s close across the board with this quartet of players.

I think Barkley definitely works as your number one option. Obviously it never led to title success, but he did well enough for himself to the point where I think it’s reasonable to claim you can build a winner around him.

pipfan · Post #6 » by **pipfan** » Sun Jul 23, 2023 4:48 am

Barkley obviously was good enough to win a title as option 1-they took MJ to 6 games, when Pax hit his big shot. A few bounces go differently and they have game 7 at home, and all the momentum

I say Barkley/Paul/AD/Harden-to win a title

Ben AN · Post #7 » by **Ben AN** » Sun Jul 23, 2023 11:52 pm

Davis, Harden, Paul, Chuck

One_and_Done · Post #8 » by **One_and_Done** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 12:11 am

I'd take all 4 over peak Kobe probably, though Harden's playoff ability troubles me a little he has peak years where he does fine.

rk2023 · Post #9 » by **rk2023** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 1:35 am

One_and_Done wrote:I'd take all 4 over peak Kobe probably, though Harden's playoff ability troubles me a little he has peak years where he does fine.

Not a single person mentioned Kobe, nor was it related to the thread. This is derailing, and an example of bad faith discussion.

dygaction · Post #10 » by **dygaction** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 5:07 am

Barkley/Harden...Paul/Davis

lessthanjake · Post #11 » by **lessthanjake** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 6:40 am

I think Chris Paul goes 1st for me here. To me, Chris Paul can orchestrate good offense as well or better than Barkley or Harden, but he’s actually a good defender, so he goes above them. Davis is a bit of a difficult comparison, but the bottom line is that I trust Chris Paul to make an offense good more than I trust Anthony Davis to make a defense good (he’s been on a lot of bad defenses), and Davis’s offense isn’t wildly superior to Chris Paul’s defense. If we were very narrowly defining peak and I could just choose the 2020 playoffs AD, then maybe he’d be the answer.

CS707 · Post #12 » by **CS707** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 3:33 pm

Davis is probably last for me, I just don't trust his drive and I don't really trust my memory of Chuck to rank him objectively. I have Paul over Harden because of his ability to raise the level of the team around him, his stint in OKC sealed that for me, but it also depends on the role. If I had to take one guy and a bunch of jags for teammates, I think a Harden lead team would probably finish the best.

That said, my non-committal vote is Paul, Harden, Chuck, Davis where the first 3 could switch places depending on circumstances.

Cavsfansince84 · Post #13 » by **Cavsfansince84** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 8:27 pm

In the rs it's a pretty tough ordering imo. For the playoffs though, Barkley is #1 for me, followed by bubble AD, CP3, regular AD then Harden.

AdagioPace · Post #14 » by **AdagioPace** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 8:50 pm

RS is CP3 followed by Harden. In RS I like these guards' game more than Chuck's.
PS is Barkley

gimme some Unibrow but I don't know, he's going against some freak offensive players here and I haven't seen his best two-way effort in a non-lebron team.

Overall: Barkley or Harden (2018)

Matt15 · Post #15 » by **Matt15** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 11:13 pm

Yeah I agree that Barkley is the most reliable of the 4 come playoff time. The best RS performer is either Harden or Paul.

rk2023 · Post #16 » by **rk2023** » Mon Jul 24, 2023 11:53 pm

Matt15 wrote:Yeah I agree that Barkley is the most reliable of the 4 come playoff time. The best RS performer is either Harden or Paul.

I would say Paul personally; the guard defense, turnover economy (probably can get away with a more passive, methodical approach in an RS setting more frequently), and more diverse scoring attack is what gives him the nod over Harden here for me.

Post #17 » by **nate33** » Tue Jul 25, 2023 6:17 pm

There's a ceiling on how far Chris Paul can take a team. Diminutive PG's just can't win as their team's best player.

If we are taking "peak", than I'm thinking about the best 3-5 years. Davis was never really healthy for a 3-5 year stretch so he suffers in this comparison as well. Maybe Davis is the best if you have to win a single game, but if you have to win a championship over the course of a season, I wouldn't bank on his health.

Harden and Barkley could carry a team as the clear best player. Harden had the misfortune of running into perhaps the best team ever assembled, and Barkley ran into a powerhouse as well. But overall, Barkley was clearly more reliable in the playoffs. So I would go:

Barkley
Harden
Davis
Paul