Dennis Rodman or Sheed Wallace

[Rishkar]

Which player are you taking for a single playoff run?

[penbeast0]

What does the rest of the team look like, is this each in their own era, and who is the coach? Stylistically they are so different that the question doesn't make sense without more information.

[One_and_Done]

Sheed. Especially in today's game.

[Colbinii]

Rasheed, though Detroit Rodman would be excellent in today's game if you had proper spacing around him.

[Rishkar]

What does the rest of the team look like, is this each in their own era, and who is the coach? Stylistically they are so different that the question doesn't make sense without more information.

Let's say that this is in 2000, the rest of the team is a contender without either player, and they are coached by Popovich

[penbeast0]

Popovich was one of the early adapters of the idea that you get back on defense rather than crashing the offensive boards so that's a negative for the Worm. Do they have a lead personality powerful and street enough to corral Rodman or is it going to be the David Robinson situation all over again? Do they have enough outside shooting to from the wings so Rodman won't hurt the offense? Rodman is better than Sheed only if you need the very specific skill set he offers, Sheed is much more likely to fit in on most teams. So Sheed is the safer bet.

[iggymcfrack]

Popovich was one of the early adapters of the idea that you get back on defense rather than crashing the offensive boards so that's a negative for the Worm. Do they have a lead personality powerful and street enough to corral Rodman or is it going to be the David Robinson situation all over again? Do they have enough outside shooting to from the wings so Rodman won't hurt the offense? Rodman is better than Sheed only if you need the very specific skill set he offers, Sheed is much more likely to fit in on most teams. So Sheed is the safer bet.

Actually I feel like it would be the opposite. Pop’s never going to keep the single greatest offensive rebounder of all-time from crashing the boards. Since so may if the other guys won’t be contesting rebounds, Rodman’s ability to read caroms and hoover up uncontested boards on space. A good box out guy who didn’t pick up boards himself might lose value, but not a one man wrecking crew on the glass.

[penbeast0]

I think Pops would adapt, as he did to Manu. But it is another potential source of conflict; if Rodman thinks he's not being appreciated he tends to act out.

[LA Bird]

It makes sense to prioritize transition defense over offensive rebounds as a general team strategy but I don't think that applies to cases like Rodman:

• The other team still needs at least one player to secure the defensive rebound or inbound the ball. There is fundamentally no numerical disadvantage by sending just one player to crash the offensive boards.
• Rodman is winning most 1v1 rebounding battles. If the other team needs multiple players to box him out and keep him off the glass, that is even better for his own team in transition defense.
• A team's primary rim protector going for offensive rebounds and giving up open layups on the other end is very detrimental. But since Rodman plays SF/PF, he can crash the boards while his team's C get back on defense first without sacrificing much value.
• Rodman can beat most bigs down the floor so he will probably be back on defense before whoever he is battling against for rebounds anyway.
• Transition offense is very efficient but so are possessions coming off offensive rebounds. Not sure what the latest numbers are but I believe both were around 1.2+ PPP a few years ago for the best teams. This is not like 3 > 2 where one is clearly more efficient than the other.

Sheed is the safer pick to build around as a star but if you already have a contending team without either players, I would actually prefer Rodman. (FWIW, I have Pistons Rodman coming off the bench for my personal all time dream team)