Where would Peak Hakeem Olajuwon rank today?

Matt15 · Post #1 » by **Matt15** » Tue Mar 4, 2025 8:16 pm

Where would Peak Hakeem rank overall in todays league?

Sign5 · Post #2 » by **Sign5** » Wed Mar 5, 2025 4:45 am

1-3. Easily.

And by that I mean there's no case for him to be lower than 3. Shai is damn good but I just shook thinking about how Hakeem would humiliate this league with the totality of his arsenal and elusiveness/athletic ability.

One_and_Done · Post #3 » by **One_and_Done** » Wed Mar 5, 2025 9:44 am

93-95 Hakeem? Best player in the league.

Ol Roy · Post #4 » by **Ol Roy** » Thu Mar 6, 2025 2:10 am

I think today, peak Hakeem would be younger. I mean, peak Hakeem might have been younger in real life, it just wasn't totally manifested because of team dysfunction. My gut tells me 1990 probably should have been his peak.

rand · Post #5 » by **rand** » Thu Mar 6, 2025 3:04 pm

Behind Jokic, possibly Giannis

RCM88x · Post #6 » by **RCM88x** » Thu Mar 6, 2025 4:33 pm

It would be interesting to see how a player of his statue with zero 3pt shooting game would translate to todays game. Maybe he could learn to be a decent 3pt shooter, like AD level even, but who knows. Perhaps assuming that current Giannis level 3pt shooting is pretty reasonable I think he'd definitely be top 3-4. Higher than that would depend a bit on other factors.

RoundMoundOfReb · Post #7 » by **RoundMoundOfReb** » Thu Mar 6, 2025 7:10 pm

Perpetual debate with Jokic for best player

MossbergSwerve · Post #8 » by **MossbergSwerve** » Thu Mar 6, 2025 8:04 pm

Would be in the discussion for best player in the league easily.

MossbergSwerve · Post #9 » by **MossbergSwerve** » Thu Mar 6, 2025 8:06 pm

RCM88x wrote:It would be interesting to see how a player of his statue with zero 3pt shooting game would translate to todays game. Maybe he could learn to be a decent 3pt shooter, like AD level even, but who knows. Perhaps assuming that current Giannis level 3pt shooting is pretty reasonable I think he'd definitely be top 3-4. Higher than that would depend a bit on other factors.

I really hate this idea that all time greats would just be the exact same and not adapt to a different game.

Of course he would have adapted to today's game and there's no reason to think he wouldn't or couldn't shoot. He was a low to mid 70% FT shooter which is well above what a complete non shooter would be.

RCM88x · Post #10 » by **RCM88x** » Thu Mar 6, 2025 8:55 pm

MossbergSwerve wrote:
RCM88x wrote:It would be interesting to see how a player of his statue with zero 3pt shooting game would translate to todays game. Maybe he could learn to be a decent 3pt shooter, like AD level even, but who knows. Perhaps assuming that current Giannis level 3pt shooting is pretty reasonable I think he'd definitely be top 3-4. Higher than that would depend a bit on other factors.

I really hate this idea that all time greats would just be the exact same and not adapt to a different game.

Of course he would have adapted to today's game and there's no reason to think he wouldn't or couldn't shoot. He was a low to mid 70% FT shooter which is well above what a complete non shooter would be.

Sure but trying to determine how they'd adapt not only with a direct skill translation but also including how their skills would adjust across eras are lots of massive variables. Obviously all players would have to adapt, the game is just different than it was in the past. You can open these conversations up infinitely, say maybe if he was in this era he'd be drafted by the Pelicans and be injured his whole career and never have more than a few all star appearances?

By trying to directly translate his skill set, with some leniency, we are only focusing on the variable of where that skill set would rate today. And not get into these conversations about how players develop differently now and all that.

giordunk · Post #11 » by **giordunk** » Fri Mar 7, 2025 12:27 am

I voted top 5 but want to change to Top 3. Still think Jokic is number 1. Modern translation to today's game is some sort of more refined Giannis/Evan Mobley hybrid, and also having a low post game that you can go to down the stretch and almost reliably get a score on every time in today's game.

capfan33 · Post #12 » by **capfan33** » Fri Mar 7, 2025 2:47 am

Only reason I said top 3 is because shai is nuts. Think he's better than Jokic, and especially in the playoffs feel comfortable with him at 1 depending on SGA.

Post #13 » by **tsherkin** » Fri Mar 7, 2025 4:03 am

Best defender in the league. His offense would lag, but he'd be in that top 3-5 range, I think. He's comfortably worse on offense than a bunch of guys, but he'd be a monster defender in any era, so it helps match off.

Ryoga Hibiki · Post #14 » by **Ryoga Hibiki** » Fri Mar 7, 2025 6:50 am

I am questioning his actual offensive impact in the current defensive environment, given his passing limitations.

Peregrine01 · Post #15 » by **Peregrine01** » Fri Mar 7, 2025 7:06 am

A better version of AD I think. Second Best defender in the league after Wemby.

Peregrine01 · Post #16 » by **Peregrine01** » Fri Mar 7, 2025 7:06 am

capfan33 wrote:Only reason I said top 3 is because shai is nuts. Think he's better than Jokic, and especially in the playoffs feel comfortable with him at 1 depending on SGA.

Let’s wait till SGA has a good playoff run before anointing him at 1.

capfan33 · Post #17 » by **capfan33** » Fri Mar 7, 2025 6:41 pm

Peregrine01 wrote:
capfan33 wrote:Only reason I said top 3 is because shai is nuts. Think he's better than Jokic, and especially in the playoffs feel comfortable with him at 1 depending on SGA.

Let’s wait till SGA has a good playoff run before anointing him at 1.

Agreed, if SGA continues at this level with a title in the playoffs I might actually put him over Hakeem, which is crazy as I have Hakeem as a top 3-5 peak.

MacGill · Post #18 » by **MacGill** » Sat Mar 8, 2025 2:23 am

Peak Hakeem, best in league as a true 2-way center. Look what he already did in the 'Golden Age' of the nba. They still go to him for workouts