Da Realist:
Sportsguy has lebron at # 4??? And no '95 Hakeem???
Q: You called '07 LeBron and '07 Howard more untradeable than anyone in the seven-year history of the NBA Trade Value column . If you had somehow done the column since the start of your basketball viewing life, would anyone be more untradeable than Jordan in the early '90s?
--Derek, Amherst, Mass.
SG: Probably not. With the parameters being (A.) "my basketball viewing life," starting with the mid-'70s; (B.) the year counting as the summer right after that season; and (C.) you can only count each player once, the top 12 would look something like this:
1. '91 Michael Jordan
2. '77 Bill Walton
3. '84 Larry Bird, '87 Magic Johnson (tie)
4. '07 LeBron James
5. '00 Shaquille O'Neal
6. '03 Tim Duncan
7. '81 Moses Malone
8. '01 Kobe Bryant
9. '07 Dwight Howard
10. '87 Hakeem Olajuwon
11. '89 Patrick Ewing
(Follow-up note: You'll notice I moved '03 Duncan ahead of the '07 Howard. Why? Because I forgot about how great Duncan was in '03 until a reader reminded me after that Trade Value column. No way the Spurs trade Duncan after the 2003 season for the '07 Dwight Howard. Not happening.)
Waldini:
Funny I was just reading this 5 minutes ago and I echo your [sentiments] :-)
Lebron and Dwight's name on this list raised a few eyebrows. Maybe you can help me understand the criteria. I'm assuming Bron's on here b/c he carried the Cavs to the Finals but what about Howard? And what did '87 Ewing or '89 Dream do that was so great.....
Gangsta D:
Everyone has gone gaga over his Game 5 performance, but I don't know how that makes him more untradeable than '00 Shaq.
Waldini:
If he's going to use playoff performances as a major piece of criteria, then with that logic '06 Wade goes on that list
Da Realist:
Sportsguy is usually a pretty knowledgeble dude, but Lebron and Dwight Howard on here is ridiculous. And i repeat...no 95 Hakeem? What the hell did he do in 87? He wasn't even in the mvp race that year.
And 77 Walton over '00 Shaq, '03 Duncan, '84 Bird and '87 Magic. Is he CRAZY???
We're missing something here. I hope he explains later.
Gangsta D:
In all fairness to the Walton selection, supposedly he was the truth that year. I wouldn't know, as I was probably a little preoccupied with breastfeeding and taking epic dumps in my diapers:) So maybe we should cut him some slack on that one. But I agree that '95 Hakeem should be on here. Maybe he's discounting him because of the Jordan retirement. I don't know. But I'me sure he's going by some convoluted Sport's Guy criteria:)
Da Realist:
Done. But those are some nasty guys having monster years that he passed over.
2 comments:
I agree with the Walton pick - he had just won a title. I think having just been the franchise player on a title-winning team, and being young, makes you pretty untradeable. So that means early Jordan, early Magic, early Bird, and early Bill Walton all should be on the list.
I would then put early Duncan ahead of early Shaq, but it's a neck and neck thing. Shaq is only good for 2-3 titles before wearing out his welcome; but that's hindsight. At the time, he would be ahead of Duncan.
No way Howard gets on this list, though. He hasn't even won a playoff series! Is Sportsguy on crack? Putting Howard on this list is like putting '00 Chris Webber or something... it might look pretty foolish in three to five years.
Hakeem should be higher. Again, a young championship-winni ng franchise player. He belongs in the top 6, followed by LeBron, Kobe and Malone. Ewing rounds out the non-title winning franchise players. I can't think of a better non-title winning franchise player over the past 30 years - you can make a case for Karl Malone, but he was needed Stockton, and they didn't make it to the Finals twice like Ewing did. Reggie Miller might come close, but he seems a bit of a reach, too. I would say '01 Iverson, the offseason after he took the 76ers team to the Finals (one of the sorriest teams ever to make it to the Finals, a testiment to how good Iverson was that year) should be on the list. Of course he would be traded less than 5 years later, but so were Ewing and Shaq.
The most annoying part of that mailbag column to me wasn't Simmons; it was the white Knicks fans writing about how David Lee was the only bright spot on the Knicks. #1, Renaldo Balkman and #2, you know if David Lee wasn't white, these guys might notice his lack of defense and any offensive game more. But they don't notice that stuff, and man is it annoying. I can't wait until the $10 million a year extension....
Oh, and case in point: the guy who writes to complain about the Keith Van Horn for Tim Thomas trade, as if anyone in NYC missed Van Horn. I guess someone did...
When I read that question, I was like damn SML is gonna shit kittens:) White overachievers are the bees knees when it comes to NBA fans. It is what it is.
BTW, I had forgotten about '01 Iverson. He would replace Howard. No contest.
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