RealGM

Which hall of famer peaked higher for one season?

No answers is pathetic

I believe Pierce, although I'm not comfortable with that statement

I'd give a slight edge to Pierce peak-wise. Offensively I think they're about a wash. Ray could be both an on-ball scorer and an off-ball one (better than Pierce, obviously). He was as good a playmaker as Pierce was. Not as good a "throw it to him and go" scorer. There are different strengths to each you could prefer on different teams, but on an average, randomized team they'd come out to about as useful as the other.

Its every other aspect of basketball where Pierce gets his edge. If shots aren't falling, god forbid, he can still contribute through rebounding and spot defense. And if we're talking today's league, you could definitely masquerade with peak Pierce as a small ball 4 in some lineups for extra versatility.

Allen does have more value as a specialist, if that's what you need. And he has universal value as a lead guard, on any team. Pierce has more overall utility to a random basketball team, however, and as such would be my choice.

Even accounting for defense, I don't see Pierce as ever having a single statistical year better than Ray's 2001 campaign (22/4/4 on 61% TS, led the league in OWS, led 52-win Bucks team and #1 offense to within a game of the Finals). He was arguably the 2nd best offensive player in the league that season behind Shaq.

Wash. 2001 for Allen and 2002 for Pierce, were their best years,IMO. Probably a slight edge to Ray because of his awesome playoff run (offensively he was pretty much on prime Kobe level in '01 playoffs, and showcased his ability to create offense for others while keeping his turnovers low, he wasn't just an absurdly efficient shooter).