Rick Barry AAA grades for Small Forwards (with the season after which the grade was given)
Corbin, Tyrone x1 ('90)
Elie, Mario x2 ('95-'96) [as this goes up to the final year elite grades could have gone on later]
Elliott, Sean x2 ('91-'92) ! [Seems like halo effect from playing with Robinson to me, but have to report what's said]
Hanzlik, Bill x2 ('90-'91)
Mason, Anthony x2 ('92, '95) [Do we consider him SF or PF?]
McCray, Rodney x2 ('90, '91)
McKey, Derrick x7!! [joint 2nd most among all players, Olajuwon rates AAA in all 8 editions, Robinson rates AAA for all 7 editions he was available for, ditto MJ, whilst Rodman, like McKey makes 7 out of a possible 8] ('89-'92, '94-'96)
Pippen, Scottie x6 ('91-96)
Pressey, Paul x2 ('89-'90)
* notes: Horry gets AAA for '95 - thought about him before and assumed he's PF, but that year, at least up to the Drexler trade he'd be mainly SF. Nance gets 4x AAA but though playing SF earlier in career at this time and overall more a PF, Sam Perkins gets 3x AAA '89-91 when he was notionally a 4 but probably just defending "forwards" in general and indeed beyond [from after the '89 season "Perkins, offensively a 4, is that rare defender who can guard, with equal facility, a Michael Jordan or a Karl Malone. At one time or another, he's guarded players of all positions"] - post-prime he was a center and I guess we figure him as a PF but as somewhat of a combo forward defensively with the ability to guard down to guards I figured he's worth mentioning. Clifford Robinson is another positionally fluid guy with a AAA grade (92 - which fwiw, Bkb-Ref designates as SF) across the forward line. Rodman, as mentioned in the McKey notes gets 7xAAA ('89-94, 96).
Elie was someone I'd thought about before - 97-14 RAPM doesn't love him, maybe that's not his best years? Scott Burrell gets a AA grade for '95 and rates well for the 97-14 DRAPM in a small sample, unfortunately he probably doesn't have enough of a career to get serious consideration (often injured, perhaps partially a result of his all-out style of play), but perhaps enough for the long list.
trex_8063 wrote:I've tended to think of Paul Pressey as a SF, but I see bbref listed him as SG 8 of his 11 seasons. At any rate, I think we need to have him as a candidate here as we didn't include him as a candidate in the SG listing. He needs to have his mention in one or the other.
Looking at the 2000+ minute seasons with him as notionally SG ...
1988: In the top 10 players in minutes they've got John Lucas, Moncrief, Craig Hodges and Ricky Pierce plus there's 18 games of Jay Humphries as a bench player. Now there's a lot of missed games so maybe Pressey's sometimes coming down to SG, (and looking at starting lineups starting often at the point with Moncrief at SG in a very big lineup - then as SG with Lucas - but I think he's a utility player positionally, starting more at PG, and probably ideally intended to play more at SF (Bruer starts but isn't great, better lines shift Sikma and Cummings up, with Lucas at the point and Moncrief at the 2 [or Hodges, Humphries, Pierce as part of the backcourt].
1989: Messy with injuries in the backcourt. As a starter he's in the backcourt (1 next to Moncrief, debatable next to Humphries). Pierce getting significant injuries off the bench again suggests limitations to backcourt minutes, possible intent to push Presey up to SF, though maybe this happens less when Moncrief goes down.
I think Pressey's a 3 (and point forward) first, a point guard second, and then maybe an SG/fit in wherever to make the wings rotation work. Putting him at 3 makes the most sense I think, even if we didn't now have to.