Where would Peak Barkley rank today?

[Matt15]

Where would Peak Barkley rank in todays league overall?

[tsherkin]

No range, no D. Not a high-end playmaking hub.

Very good, but also limited compared to the upper echelon of players. I put top 10, because I think others do more for their teams than peak Barkley.

[penbeast0]

Yes, his skill set (interior scoring, great rebounding) is relatively less valuable today than when he was playing. His immense talent would probably still make him a top 10 player but I don't think he'd be valued as highly in today's league.

[One_and_Done]

Top 10 in impact, top 1 for entertainment value.

[penbeast0]

Top 10 in impact, top 1 for entertainment value.

Over Jokic, no way in hell. Maybe in post-game interviews. But then we could bring back Darryl Dawkins instead

[One_and_Done]

People forget how fired up young Barkley could get on the court. Definitely more fun to watch than Jokic.

[MiamiBulls]

Fringe Top 10.

Barkley's style is extremely archaic. He made his living camping out in the Dunker's Spot jostling for post position & offensive rebounding. His style significantly compromises a team's spacing. He was a ball stopper, catching the ball at the wing & backing down his opponents for 15-19 Seconds off the shot clock.

He Defense would be more problematic today than it was in his era. One of the main things Barkley could do proficiently was guard in the low post & not give up positioning in the post..

Since Low Post Offense has been heavily removed for PnR Action, Barkley's slow feet would be an issue in tagging the roll man or even stay relatively in front of the ball carrier. His awareness on Defense was about as good as the Washington Wizards Front Court players.

[70sFan]

What do you think is Zion realistic ceiling? Barkley was significantly better basketball player than current Zion.

[70sFan]

Barkley's style is extremely archaic. He made his living camping out in the Dunker's Spot jostling for post position & offensive rebounding. His style significantly compromises a team's spacing. He was a ball stopper, catching the ball at the wing & backing down his opponents for 15-19 Seconds off the shot clock.

That's a massive exaggeration.

[OhayoKD]

Barkley's style is extremely archaic. He made his living camping out in the Dunker's Spot jostling for post position & offensive rebounding. His style significantly compromises a team's spacing. He was a ball stopper, catching the ball at the wing & backing down his opponents for 15-19 Seconds off the shot clock.

That's a massive exaggeration.

Every 90's player was a hulking tough guy powerhouse freight train and every 2020's guy is a lanky finesse merchant are my favorite streotypes

[70sFan]

Barkley's style is extremely archaic. He made his living camping out in the Dunker's Spot jostling for post position & offensive rebounding. His style significantly compromises a team's spacing. He was a ball stopper, catching the ball at the wing & backing down his opponents for 15-19 Seconds off the shot clock.

That's a massive exaggeration.

Every 90's player was a hulking tough guy powerhouse freight train and every 2020's guy is a lanky finesse merchant are my favorite streotypes

Nobody said that in this thread.

[OhayoKD]

That's a massive exaggeration.

Every 90's player was a hulking tough guy powerhouse freight train and every 2020's guy is a lanky finesse merchant are my favorite streotypes

Nobody said that in this thread.

The former is implied in this "small forward backs down opponents for 15 to 19 seconds" scenario

[70sFan]

Every 90's player was a hulking tough guy powerhouse freight train and every 2020's guy is a lanky finesse merchant are my favorite streotypes

Nobody said that in this thread.

The former is implied in this "small forward backs down opponents for 15 to 19 seconds" scenario

No it isn't.

[penbeast0]

Barkley's... awareness on Defense was about as good as the Washington Wizards Front Court players.

Ouch! And deserved as long as you say big men instead of front court players because Avdija (and sometimes Coulibaly) at the 3 is our only defensive bright spot.

[penbeast0]

Every 90's player was a hulking tough guy powerhouse freight train and every 2020's guy is a lanky finesse merchant are my favorite streotypes

Nobody said that in this thread.

The former is implied in this "small forward backs down opponents for 15 to 19 seconds" scenario

Barkley mainly played the 4, think of him as a healthy Zion as the best modern comp.

[OhayoKD]

Nobody said that in this thread.

The former is implied in this "small forward backs down opponents for 15 to 19 seconds" scenario

Barkley mainly played the 4, think of him as a healthy Zion as the best modern comp.

Healthy Zion minus the great defense/paint-protection I think people thought Zion had the physical tools for, which is usually a big differentator in terms of power forwards and small forwards I think.

Though I wonder how many of those people realzie they're the same height

[penbeast0]

Have we ever seen great defense and paint protection from Zion as a pro? I admit, the Pelicans aren't one of the teams I tend to watch.

Barkley's strength, hops, and quickness in theory could have made him a strong defender too but his lack of effort and focus on that end made him a very bad one most of the time.

[MacGill]

I know that this poster creates examples of every older gen. star morphing into the current generation but I just can't actually answer these by stating that Barkley's gameplay would be exactly as it was in his time. There is nothing ever presented to me that a superstar wouldn't be a superstar across any generation and would have the skillsets and tools to adjust their game successfully.

Example - If Steph was transported to the 70's where there was 0 focus on shooting 3's do you honestly believe he'd be a scrub and not still become the best shooter ever?

Spacing is the biggest issue in today's game, especially when comparing eras of super slow pace and ball movement compared to now. Peak Barkley was a beast and while his game in the 90's may not be what the doctored ordered today, he would have made the adjustments to be just as lethal as he was in his time.

Nobody in today's game is doing anything special that we haven't already seen quite a few times by now. They've opened up the scoring gates and some people think that 'this' and only 'this' current modern group of nba stars are the only ones in history that could produce the product that we see today. Respectfully.....

[OhayoKD]

Have we ever seen great defense and paint protection from Zion as a pro? I admit, the Pelicans aren't one of the teams I tend to watch.

Barkley's strength, hops, and quickness in theory could have made him a strong defender too but his lack of effort and focus on that end made him a very bad one most of the time.

Not for any sustained stretch I don't think. Generally he's a negative if anything.

Zion weighed significantly more which, theoretically, helps in terms of shotblocking but be it conditioning or something else, he just isn't in the right spot often enough and gets beat too much on the perimiter.

[OhayoKD]

Spacing is the biggest issue in today's game, especially when comparing eras of super slow pace and ball movement compared to now. Peak Barkley was a beast and while his game in the 90's may not be what the doctored ordered today, he would have made the adjustments to be just as lethal as he was in his time.
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The point of not-era-relative conversations is to compare directly, not to create made-up versions of players that are produced by an unlikely convergence of stimuli.