Is Pau Gasol a top 50 player all-time?

ceiling raiser · Post #1 » by **ceiling raiser** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 8:34 pm

I was thinking about this. He had an incredibly impressive career. Unique skillset. Great size. Solid longevity.

Honestly a top 10 PF all-time.

MagicFan12345 · Post #2 » by **MagicFan12345** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 8:43 pm

Nope, he is top 100 of all time

Lockdown504090 · Post #3 » by **Lockdown504090** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 8:43 pm

Malone Duncan Garnett durk AD Barkley rodman mchale Giannis Have a really strong case over Pau at his position. Elvin hayes and c Webb have an argument as well.

GregOden · Post #4 » by **GregOden** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 8:43 pm

He played year-round and led his country to a FIBA world championship and multiple silver medals in the Olympics, while going all the way to the NBA Finals multiple times. That's a heavy load to be carrying year in and year out during your playing prime.

That said I would say his biggest weakness was contested rebounding. He was great at using his size and length to collect easy rebounds, but was routinely among the worst players in the league when it came to contested rebounds.

theforumblue · Post #5 » by **theforumblue** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 8:44 pm

I don't know about top 50. no problem with top 10 PF even though I dont know some of the old players' games. i got him ahead of Anthony Davis tho.

SickMother · Post #6 » by **SickMother** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 8:56 pm

I've got him in the 7-11 tier at Power Forward, which probably puts him borderline Top 50 All Time. pWS & pWS/48 are Five Season Peak and cWS & cWS/48 are career totals...

01 Duncan (pWS: 71.8 | pWS/48: .239 | cWS: 206.4 | cWS/48: .209 | 5 RNGZ)

02 Dirk (pWS: 77.3 | pWS/48: .248 | cWS: 206.3 | cWS/48: .193 | 1 RNGZ)
03 Garnett (pWS: 77.7 | pWS/48: .236 | cWS: 191.4 | cWS/48: .182 | 1 RNGZ)
04 Giannis (pWS: 60.6 | pWS/48: .258 | cWS: 87.5 | cWS/48: .197 | 1 RNGZ)
05 Barkley (pWS: 75.5 | pWS/48: .249 | cWS: 177.2 | cWS/48: .216 | 0 RNGZ)
06 Mailman (pWS: 73.1 | pWS/48: .252 | cWS: 234.5 | cWS/48: .205 | 0 RNGZ)

07 Pettit (pWS: 63.9 | pWS/48: .222 | cWS: 136.0 | cWS/48: .213 | 1 RNGZ)
08 Dolph (pWS: 64.2 | pWS/48: .233 | cWS: 142.4 | cWS/48: .192 | 1 RNGZ)
09 Gasol (pWS: 56.4 | pWS/48: .205 | cWS: 144.1 | cWS/48: .169 | 2 RNGZ)
10 McHale (pWS: 57.5 | pWS/48: .211 | cWS: 113.0 | cWS/48: .180 | 3 RNGZ)
11 Davis (pWS: 55.4 | pWS/48: .224 | cWS: 91.3 | cWS/48: .211 | 1 RNGZ)

mastermixer · Post #7 » by **mastermixer** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:03 pm

He’s very borderline. I think you could make the case to sneak him in there.

I know I would personally put Pau in AD’s spot in the top 50, but I would understand if not everyone agreed too.

TheLand13 · Post #8 » by **TheLand13** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:05 pm

Not this **** question again.

UcanUwill · Post #9 » by **UcanUwill** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:06 pm

yes, one of the Euro GOATS

Post #10 » by **Doctor MJ** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:09 pm

ceiling raiser wrote:I was thinking about this. He had an incredibly impressive career. Unique skillset. Great size. Solid longevity.

Honestly a top 10 PF all-time.

Definitely a candidate. Not crazy to have him outside one's 50, but anyone who doesn't realize he was a special player is missing out.

An Unbiased Fan · Post #11 » by **An Unbiased Fan** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:17 pm

Pau didn't even make the NBA Top 75

Great player but not Top 50

guille_4 · Post #12 » by **guille_4** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:20 pm

Definitely top 75, arguably top 50.

I have him in the 45-75 range.

Post #13 » by **Doctor MJ** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:28 pm

An Unbiased Fan wrote:Pau didn't even make the NBA Top 75

Oh, I'm completely comfortable saying that the folks who voted for the Top 75 weren't nearly good enough at this sort of task to have any credibility compared to RealGM.

An Unbiased Fan · Post #14 » by **An Unbiased Fan** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:32 pm

Doctor MJ wrote:
An Unbiased Fan wrote:Pau didn't even make the NBA Top 75

Oh, I'm completely comfortable saying that the folks who voted for the Top 75 weren't nearly good enough at this sort of task to have any credibility compared to RealGM.

Probably so, but hard to see how a guy who never made All-NBA 1st team or Top 8 in MVP voting is Top 75

Primedeion · Post #15 » by **Primedeion** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:39 pm

Dude made four All-NBA teams and literally never received a single MVP vote and people think he's top 50 all-time?

skones · Post #16 » by **skones** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:41 pm

There are probably more than 10 guys in this league RIGHT NOW that when all said and done will be comfortably above him as far as legacies are concerned and then we have other guys in the other 80+ years of the league? No chance he's top 50.

Post #17 » by **Doctor MJ** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:44 pm

An Unbiased Fan wrote:
Doctor MJ wrote:
An Unbiased Fan wrote:Pau didn't even make the NBA Top 75

Oh, I'm completely comfortable saying that the folks who voted for the Top 75 weren't nearly good enough at this sort of task to have any credibility compared to RealGM.

Probably so, but hard to see how a guy who never made All-NBA 1st team or Top 8 in MVP voting is Top 75

Gasol played his prime as a forward in the league that had Duncan, Garnett, Dirk, LeBron & KD, so there should have been no expectation that a Top 50-level forward would make the 1st team.

Re: MVP. MVP is a 5-man ballot where teams rarely get 2 guys on the ballot. This isn't a place where we should have expected a Top 50 level guy to necessarily be noticed.

ftr, Gasol made my Top 5 in 2009. I think his role in making those Lakers champions is not to be dismissed lightly.

Post #18 » by **Doctor MJ** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:45 pm

Primedeion wrote:Dude made four All-NBA teams and literally never received a single MVP vote and people think he's top 50 all-time?

I cannot emphasize enough that if you're trying to figure this stuff out by simply looking at accolades, then you aren't getting anywhere real.

Evaluate the years for yourself, or at the very least admire those who have done what you have not taken the time to do.

BK_2020 · Post #19 » by **BK_2020** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 9:51 pm

A lot of players in the NBA's official top 50 are kind of unimpressive even compared to their own era. Sam Jones for example was a 5 time all-star who made three 2nd team All NBAs, had 4 seasons scoring 20 or more. Career averages of 17.7-4.9-2.5. Those are roleplayer stats, even for the HVAC technician era.

scrabbarista · Post #20 » by **scrabbarista** » Sat Jun 4, 2022 10:02 pm

I had him at 49th as of January 3rd, 2020, the last time I updated my list, so... maybe not? Maybe? But if so, then not for much longer.

Kawhi (54th), AD (84th), and Giannis (161st) were behind him. I don't know where they'd be now. Jokic is also a lock to pass him if he stays healthy - though Jokic was at 238th at the time! (I use a formula, and there's no projecting forward in it.) Other players will inevitably pass him as well. Luka, for one.

When you have a player this close to the line, it's kind of meaningless to set such an arbitrary cutoff, because there will be no consensus. Like Guille_4 said, he belongs between 45 and 75. He was the second-worst omission behind Dwight Howard in the Top 75 list, in my opinion.