RealGM Top 100 List #82

[ronnymac2]

TimBug was a middle-class man's Isiah Thomas.

Williams is a middle-class man's Oscar Robertson (strong, underrated perimeter game, underrated overall athlete, scoring + creating for others combination, OK defensive piece).

Oscar>Isiah
Deron>Hardaway

I do think Tim has gone a bit underrated in this project though. I'd probably take him over Mark Price.

[drza]

Vote Shawn Kemp

Nominate Ron Harper

I'm bringing up Harper as much for discussion as anything else, but as someone that was following those late 80s/early 90s Cavs pretty religiously, I will say that my feeling at the time was that Harper was the best player on that team. He, Daugherty and Price all came in as rookies the same year, and Harper was the one that finished higher in the ROY race. Nance joined the team a few years later, but Harper was still more of a co-leader along with Daugherty and Price with Nance as support. Jordan was on the rise in Chicago, and whenever those Cavs played the Bulls the feeling was always that their only hope was for Harper to raise his game to handle Jordan. The year that Harper got traded to the Clippers, the team fell off a cliff (-17 games in 1990) then they fell off another cliff the first full season he was gone (-9 more games in 1991). This wasn't all Harper, as Daugherty (1990) and Price (1991) also missed a lot of time, but it shouldn't be ignored that in the last full year of Harper the Cavs won 57 games, then in the next 2 years when he was traded in-season and then the following year they won only 33 games for year two. The Cavs did return to the elite in the years following with Price developing into more the focal point of the squad, but we shouldn't forget that in the team's younger phase it was Harper who was just as important if not more-so.

Anyway, it just feels funny for Price, Daugherty and Nance to all be either in or on the list and Harper to not even have gotten a mention yet.

Then, Harper went to the Clippers and, despite serious knee injuries, played a big part in turning around a Clipper's team that averaged 17 wins in the 3 seasons before Harper arrived and improved to 43 wins/year in Harper's first two healthy seasons, including the first two Clippers playoff appearances since before the NBA/ABA merger. At this point Harper was still one of the offensive focal points of the team, second in both scoring and assists on the squad.

Yes, after Harper went to the Clippers he tore up his knees and had to modify his game moving forward. But to his credit, he re-made his game into a Robert Horry/Derek Fisher level glue piece on 5 championship teams after leaving LA.

In summary, Harper was the leading wing scorer/assist guy and co-team leader on two different teams that improved from terrible to playoff level in his youth. Then, as a vet after knee issues he reshaped his game into a key starter/role player on two different championship teams.

At this stage of the rankings, he's at least worth talking about.

[Doctor MJ]

Vote: Billups

Perfect storm for Chauncey apathy but I'm stI'll not sold on others ahead of him

Nom: Sikma

One of the players who's been on the back of my mind. Like him and will join the bandwagon.

[Doctor MJ]

Vote: Billups

Perfect storm for Chauncey apathy but I'm stI'll not sold on others ahead of him

Nom: Sikma

One of the players who's been on the back of my mind. Like him and will join the bandwagon.

[therealbig3]

And to me, if I can't really get behind Deron ahead of Hardaway, I really can't get behind Billups over either. Him vs Parker is a legitimate debate for me, and I see Hardaway and Deron at least a level above those guys.

[penbeast0]

Thought I had posted the results this morning . . .

VOTE

Billups – penbeast0, Doctor MJ, lukekarts

Kemp – drza, therealbig3, JordansBulls, bastillon

Dantley – DavidStern, ronnymac2

Brand -- DrMufasa

NOMINATE

Daniels – penbeast0

Sikma – Doctor MJ, lukekarts

Harper – drza

Dandridge – therealbig3

Richmond -- JordansBulls

Laimbeer – bastillon, bastillon

Deron – DavidStern, ronnymac2, Dr Mufasa