Disagree. Magic is the greatest PG in history. Nobody else has ever controlled games like he did. Why in the world would a coach take the ball out of his hands and minimize his greatest skill. Not sure how much you saw Magic but Lebron isn't a good comparison. Lebron is nowhere near the floor general that Magic was. He wasn't playing pg out of neccessity, Lakers already had Norm Nixon who was very good. Magic was just other worldly running a team. There still hasn't been anyone that could generate a fastbreak game like Magic. Good pgs don't matter when you're the best ever.
I just think it is extremely strange to say about any position "your best player cannot be at that position". Every position is important, every position has had multiple championship-winning superstars who were the best players on their team.
Is the ball out of Luka and Lebron's hands just cuz they dont play pg? Not sure why Magic being the greatest pg of all time means he wont be pg anymore if he plays sf or more likely pf. Ever heard of positionless basketball? Who tf is Norm Nixon? So if Lakers had Steph Curry and Kobe you think they'd bench Curry just so Magic can play pg? IIRC Magic also played center just so their team can win you're the only one dying on the hill of Magic being a pg even Magic himself didnt play pg when there was a need to do so.
Not sure what "Not sure why Magic being the greatest pg of all time means he wont be pg anymore if he plays sf or more likely pf" is suppose to mean. You're saying that if he doesn't play pg that he's still a pg? That's a confusing statement. Not being a PG doesn't mean that you won't be a pg ? Think about that statement. How are you defining "PG"? In the above statement you seem to be referring to who's running the offense. If that's the case, then Magic would definitely be a PG in today's NBA since he'd be the best in the league at it. If you're simply referring to the position that he's listed as playing then by definition, playing PF would mean that he's not a PG. Either scenario, the answer is the same - he'd still be a PG in today's NBA. Well, that answers my question as to if you've seen Magic play. To answer your question, Norm Nixon was an all star PG and former NBA assist leader (11.1 ast/gm). He was the Laker's pg when they drafted Magic. He played along side Magic for a few seasons and was then traded for Byron Scott. Despite your assumptions, there's always been lots of good point guards in the NBA. That's not a new phenomonon. Again, a strange argument. First of all, Magic played center when Kareem got hurt in the Finals. It wasn't so somebody else could play PG it was because they didn't have a quality backup center at that time. The vast majority of the time he was a PG, even when the Lakers had other all-star PGs on the roster. Not sure what the Curry/Kobe/Lakers scenario is suppose to prove. You said that Magic wouldn't play PG in today's NBA, that's simply not true. I can make up a similar contrived scenario by saying what if the Warriors had John Stockton and Isiah Thomas along with Curry? You think that they'd bench them so that Curry can play PG? That's just as silly a scenario as your Curry/Kobe/Magic scenario. You obviously aren't too familiar with Magic Johnson or that era so it's understandable that you don't have an appreciation of how good he was. Magic pushed the ball and ran the fast break like nobody else. It was a huge weapon for the Showtime Lakers. If Magic were playing PF or C, then he'd have other responsibilities that would require him to play inside more on defense and that would hurt his ability to start fast breaks like he was so good at. You want him on the perimeter to start the break as quickly as possible. One of the perks of being old is that I got to see prior generation play. All I can tell you is that Luka and Lebron aren't comparables to Magic Johnson when it comes to running an offense. Light years different.
Not a huge fan of Trae, but we would be stupid not to take a shot on him.....as he is better than anyone on our roster right now. DD
Ya exactly. I'm always more impressed by half court playmaking than transition playamking. Doing fancy stuff in open space on the run is easier than doing it against set half court defenses.
In the era of positionless basketball your position doesnt matter. You can be the pg without being the pg. For example Luka Doncic is clearly the point guard of the Mavs. What position does he play? SF right? How Magic is so much better over Luka and Lebron are irrelevant. The point is he is a big playmaker just like them and will be playing either pf or sf cuz of team structure. Why can't Magic push the ball and dominate the fast break if he is playing the sf position? You make zero sense. Obviously I'm talking about the position not the role. Magic would have the role of PG but his position would be PF or SF.
It would also be stupid to trade for a player just because he currently better than anybody you have. They should trade for players they are fans of.
At the end of the day Trae Young is too small and too short, he is like Steph Curry with a worse shot and without 3 All star teammates to prop him up. Short pgs are IMO the most overpaid players in the league. With the exception of Steph Curry and that one time by Billups there hasn't been a champion team lead by a short pg in the last 30 yrs.
Outside of those players you mentioned, there hasn't been a championship team lead by a PG at all. So it doesn't really matter how tall they are.
No to Young. Dude is a chucker that plays 0 defense. I want a shot at a championship ..... not a 1st round exit.
He was referencing Magic Johnson leading the Lakers to a Championship. I said 30 years ago was the Rockets winning so Magic was 6 years before that.
If we're swapping FVV and the Brooklyn pick for Trae, you have to think about it hard. If it's some of the ridiculous trades I've seen thrown out there like Jalen, Amen, picks and more, then hell no. Yes, Trae plays no defense in Atlanta. But we could throw out a very defensive heavy team to compensate for that. He'd have to at least try to play defense under Udoka, even if he is never good at it. I don't think it matters because some dumb team will pay a fortune for Trae, just hope it isn't us.
