Primary Vote: Bill Walton
Alternate: Anthony DavisI'm not sure what new to write about Walton - the below is a copy/paste. The only new thing I can write - and this speaks to some of the intangibles - he looks really fun to play with. I think Bird & McHale enjoyed playing with him based on the way they've spoken of him post career. I've had discussions with people on numerous fronts & I hope I raised some awareness on his other years besides '77. Moving on.
Some other high peak short longevity guys:
Davis - one of few guys to achieve 30 PER - and I'm not taking this year into consideration - though I must admit that what he's done has raised my
awareness of him. Biggest problems: Made playoffs once & has yet to win a game although he did acquit himself while there (31-11-3 block, 61% TS is quite impressive). Has 5 years total but 4 offer a lot of value.
Tiny - I think the '73 season is quite impressive - 30/10 while leading the league's #1 offense is nothing to sneeze at. Unfortunately, they didn't make the playoffs at all. The one time TIny made the playoffs in his prime, he was bad and never had a PER above 15 in any playoff run. I perceive significant drop-off aside from the 73 season and see him as strictly a one way player.
Penny - Doesn't peak quite as high as Davis or Tiny - would've really helped if Orlando won title in '95 or '96 (or at least won a game against Houston or Chicago). Has OK longevity - but I don't think he's going to get my vote.
Kemp's kind of a hybrid between high peak & the longer longevity guys. I also have fond memories of him from my childhood but he also leaves a gigantic self-inflicted what if on my memory as well.
I'm not too picky about who goes in next at this point to be honest - the separation is
so small. I see Davis getting some traction, I really like watching him - I hope you join the train - just keep in mind that this year doesn't count.
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Synopsis of argument: Bill Walton has a Top 15 peak in '77 but he has more years of value besides that. He has impact in '76, '84-'86 & won MVP in '78 with Portland on pace for a win total that would've put them in consideration for team of the decade if not for injury. The years people don't think of when they think of him ('76, '84-'86) are very high impact, low minute years.
I think we all understand Bill Walton's peak. But it's another to see it.
Walton finished 13th in the most recent RGM Peaks project - the next 10 players behind him:
Julius Erving
Oscar Robertson
Dwayne Wade
Steph Curry
Dirk Nowitzki
Jerry West
Kevin Durant
Patrick Ewing
Tracy McGrady
Kobe Bryant
That's quite a list of people to be ahead of - and so we have to keep that value in mind.
The most common rebuttal I'm going to hear is "That's great, but it is just the one year."
But if you dig deeper, you see he offers more value than "just the one year". It's certainly problematic to my case that these years are not going to be consecutive, but let's look at years where I think he offered some meaningful value. I'm going to omit '77 from this because we're all familiar with it.
'76 - Portland goes 26-25 with; 11-20 without. Even though Walton isn't yet the defensive force he'd become, Portland is 6th in DRtg. Walton averages 16.1 pts-13.4 reb-4.3 assists + 1.6 blocks. He does this despite logging just 33 mpg. He was healthy at the end of the year so it's likely he could have played in the playoffs.
'78 - Portland goes 48-10 with; 10-14 without! That's the difference between a 68 win pace & a 34 win pace. Walton is the anchor of a super team - and this is after the merger. Walton wins MVP and the impact on winning is quite pronounced. Walton averages 19-13-5-2.5 blocks this year on 52% shooting. It's unfortunate that the injury robs him of what otherwise would have likely been a Portland title - but this year is impactful for the regular season.
In '84 & '85, Walton plays 75% of the games for the Clippers. It's not well remembered but he's still effective - even the limited clips we have of that time support it.
From a scouting standpoint, Walton still possesses stellar passing capabilities & excellent rim protection. You'll see that his ability to get up & down the court is diminished considerably - his quickness isn't as strong as the Portland tape, but he's still an effective player. The diminished mobility robs him of some defensive impact - but while on court he's impactful.
In '84 the Clippers are 23-32 with, 7-20 without - a 34 win pace with & 21 win pace without. Walton is a 12-9-3 player plus nearly 2 blocks per game in just 26 mpg with a TS% of 57%.
In '85 it's a similar story - the Clippers are a 33 win pace team with Walton & a 22 win pace team without.
Then in '86 he joins Boston and becomes a key member of one of the teams in the GOAT discussion.
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His playing time is limited - just 19 mpg - but the rate statistics are impressive: 14-13-4-2.5 blocks on 61% TS.
All told, he has what this board determines is the 13th best peak, plus 5 more strong impact - if limited minute years.
It's not just the magical '77 campaign.
I mentioned at the top if we get to slot 96 and Mookie isn't in that I'm going to flip it and here's why - and this is how I'll wrap up.
Pretend that you have a full business day to cover the history of professional basketball with an alien. What topics would you cover? What names would you mention?
Go through our list starting at around slot #65. Do those guys get covered? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I promise you that Bill Walton gets discussed.
