Prime Gilbert Arenas or Current John Wall?

[TheBomb81]

who do you think is the better player and who would you rather have on your team?

[GhostsOfGil]

Prime Gil and it's not really that close IMO

[TGW]

Prime Gilbert. If Wall were to become an all NBA defender, I would take him over Gilbert.

[Kanyewest]

Prime Gilbert. Wall could still have a better career if he stays healthy.

[Illmatic21]

Prime Gil.

He was so much better at getting to the line.. as we saw against Houston the other day, that's arguably the most important trait for a 'superstar' in today's league.

Wall could become significantly better by the time he's 25-26 though. But as of now (using the current pre-prime Wall as the comparison), it's Arenas.

[jeffsays]

Interesting question but it might not be fair. Gil in his prime was one of the best scorers in the league. I don't think that Wall has reached his prime, but give it a couple more years and he'll be there. For now I take Gil all day.

[jangles86]

Agent 0.
But Wall has plenty of room to improve!

[FAH1223]

Not a fair question but Gilbert in his prime could put up 40 any night. It was a joy to watch him score on anyone in 2004 until 2007. Plus, Gilbert got to the line a lot.

Wall's the better athlete, defender and distributor.

[dangermouse]

Prime John Wall.

[RustyMagoo]

Wall.

Arenas is the most overrated player in any sport of all time.

[WizardsWorld]

WALL.

And the best part is he is still years away from hitting his prime.

[mohammed10]

Right now - Prime Agent Zero...by a faily wide margin

Gil could drop 40 on his opponent on any given night (remember when many on the board didn't want to trade him for Kobe straight up a few years back?)...he had limitless range and a knack for carrying the team when needed. And, he was a big shot maker.

Have not seen that from Wall, but I'll give him more time...

[Jimmy Recard]

Gilbert in his prime, but Wall could peak much higher.

[Brenice]

Agent Zero was unstoppable and a great closer.

[WashWiz54]

I don't know how you could honestly choose Wall if you watched during Gil's prime. Arenas was arguably the best player in the league when he was in his prime. He had everything you wanted in a superstar.

Now don't take that as a slight towards our star. John has a lot of potential and could become one of the best players in the league. I'm very happy with his development and hope he continues to grow. Saying that, he isn't close to the best player in the league like Gil was and can't take over a game like Gil. However, I fully expect (and hope) his prime is much longer than Gil's. Eventually he might get to where it's a debate but today, give me Gil.

[stevemcqueen1]

Prime Gil was a bit better player than Wall is now only because he was a much better scorer.

But I would rather have Wall for my team. I think Wall already does FAR more to make his team better. And I think Wall is a much better leader too.

Wall is going to end up being a much better and more successful player than Gil was.

[Wizardspride]

Arenas.

Gil could drop 45 on you one night and get double figure assists the next night (or in the same game).

Personally, I've always thought he's gotten a bad rep as far as his play making abilities go.

It's not like Gil didn't share the ball either. He had two teammates averaging around 20.


Yeah, I love John but I don't think it's close really.

Check back with me when John enters his prime and I may have a different opinion.

[nate33]

Arenas.

The problem with that Arenas-led team is that it wasn't built properly around him. It needed a Lance Stevenson/Doug Christie type of SG who could dole out 5 assists a night, and it would have been better with a Udonis Haslem/Taj Gibson type of power forward who played great D and nailed midrange shots. It also needed Haywood to play more minutes. If that had happened, they would have been a perennial 50-win team. Add a real two-way all star as a 2nd fiddle to Arenas, and they could have contended.

[Silvie Lysandra]

Arenas.

Arenas would have been a Hall of Famer with a good organization.

[doclinkin]

Arenas.

The problem with that Arenas-led team is that it wasn't built properly around him. It needed a Lance Stevenson/Doug Christie type of SG who could dole out 5 assists a night, and it would have been better with a Udonis Haslem/Taj Gibson type of power forward who played great D and nailed midrange shots. It also needed Haywood to play more minutes. If that had happened, they would have been a perennial 50-win team. Add a real two-way all star as a 2nd fiddle to Arenas, and they could have contended.

I'd rather have had a Marc Gasol center than Haywood, to space the floor and divvy assists from the pivot position while clearing some space for the dribble drive attacks. Haywood was a poor match for the no-hand-check offenses that Eddie and Gilbert revealed as the new era ideal.

Gil has my heart, but I get the sense John has a better chance to win long term, his style lends itself better to team building. His trajectory suggests constant improvement on BOTH sides of the ball, where Gil was a phenomenon offensively, but on defense required so many compensations to keep the team credible that it was tough to figure the right assemblage of talent that would properly compensate. Loved Gil. But some part of his appeal was the cocktail of his flaws with his underdog nature, all elevated by that joyful rage to play. As Wall becomes more confident I'll be happy to see him learn how to seize control of the game in the way that Gil commonly did in an offhand manner.