6th Annual SI Player Rankings: #1 SG

[jonathanlambert33]

I voted for Klay. Harden is amazing offensively, but the fact that his teammates don't like him is a major red flag

 

[BNC]

Defense is 50% of the game

 
Sure, but offense is more important

 

[Paulius]

 
Sure, but offense is more important

Depends

 

[CameronCrazy06]

 
Sure, but offense is more important

True or not, Klay is a flat out better overall player

 

[BNC]

True or not, Klay is a flat out better overall player

Depends on the surrounding roster. Klay couldn't carry the Rockets like Harden did last year, and Harden wouldn't be as good of an option on the Warriors

 

[BNC]

Depends

A defender can only take away one player, whereas one player can be responsible for most of the buckets

 

[Paulius]

A defender can only take away one player, whereas one player can be responsible for most of the buckets

A great defender can take away all those buckets

 

[Pugz]

A defender can only take away one player, whereas one player can be responsible for most of the buckets

thats not true

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Depends on the surrounding roster. Klay couldn't carry the Rockets like Harden did last year, and Harden wouldn't be as good of an option on the Warriors

To be fair, the rockets roster was incredibly flawed last year. I look at it this way: if I'm drafting a team to win one game tomorrow, who am I taking?

For me, I'm absolutely taking Klay.

 

[Pugz]

nola said it, it seems like most of that rockets roster has a certain disdain for harden and a few players around the league have talked about his attitude too. you dont want that in your star player and it does affect the team.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

I'm not even worried about his attitude here. That's a different discussion. His defense is abysmal and his offense is incredibly ball dominant to the detriment of his teammates.

 

[bosoxlover12]

I like Harden's abilities as a ball handler, passer, and his nature to attack the rim and get to the FT line
 
 
I love Klay, but I feel that he's a little overrated until he proves he can lead a team on a consistent basis (which he never well on this GS team). Only 8% of his 3pt attempts were non-assisted, where as Harden was at 47.9%.  His assist percentage was at 9.8%, compared to Harden's 35.4%. Klay gets his numbers inflated due to playing off ball so often, where as Harden did really everything for Houston. There isn't much to say if Klay had a ball-submissive PG like Patrick Beverley that he'd put up the numbers at the efficiency he did.
 
The main argument against Harden is his defense, but to be honest I think its because he checked out last year. His team was trash and he had almost no help -- he checked out when his team wasn't helping on offense or defense, so he decided to put his energy on offense and put up 29/7.5/6. His defensive metrics in 2014-15 was actually pretty good
 
 
Klay is the better role player teammate and a better choice for a supporting cast role with another superstar. If you have your chance at one of these guys to put with the rest of your mediocre team, I might go Harden. 

 

[CameronCrazy06]

I like Harden's abilities as a ball handler, passer, and his nature to attack the rim and get to the FT line
 
 
I love Klay, but I feel that he's a little overrated until he proves he can lead a team on a consistent basis (which he never well on this GS team). Only 8% of his 3pt attempts were non-assisted, where as Harden was at 47.9%.  His assist percentage was at 9.8%, compared to Harden's 35.4%. Klay gets his numbers inflated due to playing off ball so often, where as Harden did really everything for Houston. There isn't much to say if Klay had a ball-submissive PG like Patrick Beverley that he'd put up the numbers at the efficiency he did.
 
The main argument against Harden is his defense, but to be honest I think its because he checked out last year. His team was trash and he had almost no help -- he checked out when his team wasn't helping on offense or defense, so he decided to put his energy on offense and put up 29/7.5/6. His defensive metrics in 2014-15 was actually pretty good
 
 
Klay is the better role player teammate and a better choice for a supporting cast role with another superstar. If you have your chance at one of these guys to put with the rest of your mediocre team, I might go Harden. 

 
And you aren't punishing him for "checking out"? I think we all see the flaws in Houston's roster, but it's basically the same team that made the WCF's last year, and Harden was bad defensively from the start of the season (even came into training camp out of shape) and was the primary reason for getting his head coach fired. And you're telling me that's the best SG in the league?

 

[jonathanlambert33]

I'm going to kind of go off subject a bit here, but while I largely agree with what Dell Demps did by bringing in these "young vets," but his mistake was he got them from losing programs. He essentially took the best players off of bad teams. They didn't know how to win, and he brought these guys all together, hoping they would create a winning locker room that AD could be a part of from day 1.

His plan could of worked, maybe it kind of did for half a season, but he should have gotten young winners. A guy like Cory Joseph or George Hill don't have half the talent of Tyreke, but they knew how to win, so when they went to Indiana and Toronto, they brought that with them.

I think culture is very important, and something that isn't talked about enough. In regards to Klay, I think he is a winner, knows how to win. Harden, not so much.

 

[elcheato]

I'm honestly amazed that someone who is so ingrained with stats (that's a compliment) and someone whose opinions I respect even when I disagree, buys into this "winner" bullshit. I think there are extremes where maybe a player has a style of play that makes it difficult to win, but I don't view it as a mindset or a culture thing. It's nonsense to me. 

 

[BNC]

thats not true

It's a bit of an exaggeration of the truth

 

[BNC]

To be fair, the rockets roster was incredibly flawed last year. I look at it this way: if I'm drafting a team to win one game tomorrow, who am I taking?

For me, I'm absolutely taking Klay.

If that's the case it depends on how the rest of my roster is constructed, you can cover up 1 bad defender, and you're not gonna go far without a guy who can create

 

[BNC]

 
Sure, but offense is more important

For example no one would ever give Tony Allen a max contract, but Harden would receive max contracts from over half the teams in the league. I'd say those two are pretty much polar opposites of each other in terms of talents, no?

 

[CameronCrazy06]

For example no one would ever give Tony Allen a max contract, but Harden would receive max contracts from over half the teams in the league. I'd say those two are pretty much polar opposites of each other in terms of talents, no?

I don't think that's a fair comparison

 

[BNC]

I don't think that's a fair comparison

What would you say is more appropriate, because that's about the best I could come up with. One is an excellent offensive player and a negative defensive player, the other is a negative offensive player and an excellent defensive player