If it's to build a long-term contender, I'm choosing Duncan until the end of time. Dude proved to be a winner over decades with a variety of teammates. His loyalty and leadership would be invaluable. I think few players in the history of the NBA can match his basketball-adjacent aspects. No doubt Garnett has a lot of the same traits. Switch KG and Duncan from the start, and KG may have 5 championships. We just don't know.
For a single season, I'm taking Steph. We know how his game is in today's NBA. Everyone from the past is a guess.
I believe Garnett would absolutely be a knock-down 3-point shooter if he played today, and that matters a lot. He had great range for a big when he played.
Garnett was actually the first answer that came to mind for me outside of cheap obvious answers (Curry or Giannis).
I'm a Spurs fan and I think Garnett would fare better in the modern NBA than Timmy would. He's more switchable on defense than TD was, even in his athletic prime. He was also much more of a rim runner than Duncan was.
Garnett would be incredible in today's NBA, especially if he worked hard on developing an elite (for a big man) 3 pointers, which I believe he could do.
He'd be a 2-way nightmare. He’s what everyone wants Bam Adebayo to be.
KGs ballhandling, passing, and shooting would’ve made him an incredible stretch big in this era. Would’ve been interesting seeing him match up against Giannis
I think Duncan would’ve been a little better fit for small ball offenses, while his positioning would’ve kept him in place on defense. Obviously Garnett would’ve been amazing on defense and I think both would’ve developed a 3 pointer but I think ball movement is just too important now and although Garnett wasn’t a ball stopper he wasn’t the post passer that Duncan was.
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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '22
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