Prime KG vs Anthony Davis

justinian · Post #1 » by **justinian** » Wed May 14, 2014 5:37 am

Who would you take:

the peak version of whatever AD will become or the prime KG we have seen?

Colbinii · Post #2 » by **Colbinii** » Wed May 14, 2014 5:40 am

Prime KG. You can't guarantee Anthony Davis will have a top 20 prime of all time.

SactoKingsFan · Post #3 » by **SactoKingsFan** » Wed May 14, 2014 6:31 am

KG since Anthony Davis would have to max out his potential to be better than prime KG.

Winsome Gerbil · Post #4 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Wed May 14, 2014 9:08 am

Without knowing what A.D. will or will not become, you just have to take the prime of a first ballot HOFer.

Intza · Post #5 » by **Intza** » Wed May 14, 2014 9:23 am

I actually think davis has the potential to become as good as KG defensively and probably a better scorer, but there is no guarantee, so I will take KG.

O_6 · Post #6 » by **O_6** » Wed May 14, 2014 6:52 pm

The smart play would be to take KG because we've seen proof of it. If I were a GM of a team and you asked me to roll the dice on Davis or have a Top 25 player of all-time in prime KG, I'd be a fool to roll the dice. But at the same time I also believe that Anthony Davis has a much higher Offensive ceiling than Garnett while also having a similar Defensive ceiling. I don't put any ceilings on Davis' potential, I think he has GOAT potential if he stays healthy and gets stronger.

KG's prime was '99-'08 in my mind. He remained valuable especially on defense in limited minutes after '08 and he was an All-Star in '97 and '98, but '99-'08 were the years where he played like an MVP caliber player. These are KG's average stats from '99-'08 compared with Anthony Davis' 2014 season...

KG: 22.0 PPG -- 12.2 RPG -- 4.8 APG -- 1.6 BPG -- 1.4 SPG -- .494 FG% -- .550 TS% -- 25.5 PER
AD: 20.8 PPG -- 10.0 RPG -- 1.6 APG -- 2.8 BPG -- 1.3 SPG -- .519 FG% -- .582 TS% -- 26.2 PER

RIght off the bat I want to point out that I do not think 2014 Anthony Davis was on Prime KG's level as a player. I know the PER and overall stats make it seem close but we all know that prime KG was much better defensively than 2014 Davis.

But offensively, I think 2014 Davis wasn't too far behind prime KG. Prime KG was a much better ball-handler and creator off the dribble but ANTHONY DAVIS HAS A MUCH HIGHER CEILING AS A SCORER.

22 PPG -- .550 TS% ------- Prime KG
21 PPG -- .580 TS% ------- Baby AD
27 PPG -- .600 TS% ------- Prime AD potential imo

So let's say Prime AD becomes a 27 PPG / .600 TS% type of scorer. That's a pretty damn enormous gap from the caliber of scorer KG was in his prime. So that's a gap that Prime KG would need to make up for in other ways. The other ways he'd need to make it up are Passing and Defending. KG's passing and ability to create off the dribble helps a little, but it doesn't come close to making up Davis' scoring edge. And as historically great as KG was on defense, Davis looks ready to become a DPOY caliber beast on D soon.

Unless Davis becomes a Marcus Camby type of overrated stats stuffer defender, I can't see KG having enough of an edge on D to make up for Davis' scoring. And I feel pretty confidently about Davis' scoring since he has such a versatile skillset and unique athleticism.

Post #7 » by **Texas Chuck** » Wed May 14, 2014 7:11 pm

Way too soon

WhateverBro · Post #8 » by **WhateverBro** » Wed May 14, 2014 7:50 pm

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who feels that Davis is overrated defensively? IIRC, he doesn't measure out particularly dominant by RAPM defensively and I just don't feel that he impacts the game that much defensively.

I could be wrong, because I've only watched around 10 games by him this year but that's atleast what I've seen from him so far.

Post #9 » by **Texas Chuck** » Wed May 14, 2014 8:27 pm

No you arent alone. He has all the tools(and I think the instincts) but he hasnt put it all together yet. And the roster changes haven't helped him. I think he looks a lot better with Robin Lopez playing next to him for 25 mpg.

I love the kid and I think he's going to be great, but this is Kevin Garnett we are talking about here--one of the best 2-way PFs ever.

Sixteen · Post #10 » by **Sixteen** » Wed May 14, 2014 9:29 pm

KG without a doubt. I'd still take KG over a lot of players today.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #11 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Thu May 15, 2014 12:57 am

Another thing is KG was good for 40 mpg and 80 games a year like clockwork. Davis has missed a lot of games his first 2 years. Maybe it's nothing, but ya never know!

Winsome Gerbil · Post #12 » by **Winsome Gerbil** » Thu May 15, 2014 1:33 am

WhateverBro wrote:Maybe an unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who feels that Davis is overrated defensively? IIRC, he doesn't measure out particularly dominant by RAPM defensively and I just don't feel that he impacts the game that much defensively.

I could be wrong, because I've only watched around 10 games by him this year but that's atleast what I've seen from him so far.

Not the only one. I like bigs, and watched a lot more losing basketball in New Orleans, Sacto, Detroit etc. than most people just to check on the progress on the young up and comers, and while A.D. has all the potential in the world, right now the effectiveness has not caught up to the highlight stats. Having to spend too much time out of position at center was part of it, I've mentioned before the way guys like Cousins just tossed him around in there. But more than that, right now he's just playing a little too much of a loose up and down game in space.

People aren't going to like these comparisons, but right now as a kid A.D.'s defense kind of reminds me a little bit of Chris Webber or Marcus Camby when they were kids. People forget that Webber was very athletic as a young player, averaged a ton of steals and blocks (as a rookie 1.4stl 2.2blks per 36, A.D. was 1.5stls 2.2blks)... but somehow it just wasn't gritty enough. He wasn't a bad defender, and when he locked in he could be a good one, but he wasn't a stopper. Camby was at 1.3stl 2.5blk per 36 as a rookie, and again, despite having huge potential, he was just too skinny, not physical enough to bang and intimidate play to play. A.D. is kind of like that right now. You can see the tools, he makes great plays, certain matchups he dominates, but he isn't as dominant defensively (yet) as the stats suggest he would be.

JordansBulls · Post #13 » by **JordansBulls** » Thu May 15, 2014 5:38 pm

justinian wrote:Who would you take:

the peak version of whatever AD will become or the prime KG we have seen?

Why this thread? Better question is Anthony Davis or Peak Joakim Noah.

SideshowBob · Post #14 » by **SideshowBob** » Thu May 15, 2014 5:46 pm

WhateverBro wrote:Maybe an unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who feels that Davis is overrated defensively? IIRC, he doesn't measure out particularly dominant by RAPM defensively and I just don't feel that he impacts the game that much defensively.

I could be wrong, because I've only watched around 10 games by him this year but that's atleast what I've seen from him so far.

Seems like most folks are in agreement. The tools are there, the execution isn't quite yet, which is understandable given the age. He's got (hopefully) a long career ahead of him for development on that end. TBH if he was already a dominant defensive player he could be making a top 5 case right now given how solid of a two-way balance that would be.