Duncan-Garnett swap
if Popovich coached MInny I would give Duncan 8 titles and Garnett 0, if coaches stayed the same 4 Duncan maybe 1 for Garnett in 2007 if the course of history does not change the the butterfly effect might make the Warriors not upset Dallas in the first round and a Duncan led Spurs team wanted no part of Dallas that year but GS was a bad matchup for them, so obviously a Garnett led SPurs team would of had almost no shot vs. Dallas
FG 49.9%, 3pt FG 28.3%, FT 79.0%, ORB 2.4, AST 4.0, and PTS 19.3
FG 50.7% 3pt FG 17.7%, FT 68.8%, ORB 3.0, AST 3.1, and PTS 20.3
Those are the two players career offensive numbers. Whose is whose? They are pretty similar to say KG couldn't do enough to be as good offensively.
Ok look, in '99, Duncan carried them, not entirely alone because Robinson was still good for 16 and 10, however he did do it sort of on his own, but that would be the only tittle year if any I would take away from Garnett if they were switched, the Celtics would've had another run in them if KG didn't go down in 09, 10 if Perk didn't go down, and 11 if Perk wasn't traded, but KG just didn't have a good supporting cast in Minny, those teams were pretty bad around KG other than that one Cassell Sprewell year.
@srbadger, Garnett was a good offensive guy, but he was never the extremely skilled post magican that Duncan was, however Garnett to an extent was a play maker, so that makes us for that, but Duncan is hands down the more skilled and reliable option especially in the post.
And remember, Garnett might be the better defensive player between the two, but if Garnett is a 10 on a scale of 1-10, than Duncan was a 9.5, he was the anchor of those defenses for all of those Spurs' tittles, a menace protecting the rim.
It is pretty obvious Duncan would of got 3 in Boston it would of been a threepeat 08-10, Boston only lost in 09 because of Garnetts injurt and '10 because of Perkins injury and Duncan is more of a natural 5 so he would of stepped in better although the gap in ability between Duncan and Garnett is less now thatn in their prime but just form a matchup perspective I think Boston would of won game 7 if they had not already won it in 6/ And they would of won in 2011 if Rondo did not get hurt. So yes it is true barring injury Garnett would of won 3 or 4 titles in Boston. Ok the one year I forgot about was 2000 the year Duncan missed the playoffs maybe an outside chance a Garnett Spurs team could of won then but like 26% chance maybe.
People forget that Duncan almost teamed up with T-Mac and Grant hill in Orlando. I think he would have for sure if he was in Minnesota. And I think Pops alone would get KG at least the same amount of rings if not more than Duncan. I think more of the success comes from him, the supporting cast, and the organization as a whole than Duncan himself. He is definitely good enough to carry a team and get one or two on his own but I think the spurs as a whole deserve more credit.
Numbers are a little overrated because Duncan could demand a double team more than Garnett and get the defense to scramble, plus he was a better defensive player by a mile even though KG was one of the top 5 defenders in the NBA Duncan was unreal defensively.
Hey I agree that Duncan was a monster offensively. I mean how many guys can get you 43 from banking in 15 footers all game lol he literally could do it all on both ends. I just think ppl forget how good Garnett was as an all around player and not just a defensive-oriented player.
yeah, Garnet never got any help in Minny, thank Kevin Mchale for basically ruining the career of one of the greatest players of all time. The only help KG ever got was the 2004 team with Spree, Cassell, Trenton Hassell and "the mayor," Fred Hoiberg. Perhaps if Marbury hadn't demanded a trade out of Minny, KG and Starbury could've had something special going on there.
Bull&$#%#&@! 2002 Timberwolves supporting cast better than any team Duncan ever played on, that is 3 all stars and Joe Smith a &$#%#&@! legend
1
Kevin Garnett
25
81
81
39.2
8.1
17.3
.470
0.5
1.4
.319
4.4
5.5
.801
3.0
9.1
12.1
5.2
1.2
1.6
2.8
2.3
21.2
2
Wally Szczerbiak
24
82
82
38.0
7.4
14.6
.508
1.1
2.3
.455
2.8
3.3
.831
1.5
3.3
4.8
3.1
0.8
0.3
2.2
2.3
18.7
3
Chauncey Billups
25
82
54
28.7
4.2
10.0
.423
1.5
3.8
.394
2.5
2.9
.885
0.4
2.3
2.8
5.5
0.8
0.2
1.7
2.1
12.5
4
Terrell Brandon
31
32
28
30.1
4.8
11.4
.425
0.1
0.7
.174
2.6
2.6
.988
0.5
2.4
2.9
8.3
1.6
0.2
1.3
1.5
12.4
5
Joe Smith
26
72
63
26.7
4.1
8.1
.511
0.0
0.0
.667
2.4
2.9
.830
2.1
4.2
6.3
1.1
0.5
0.8
1.2
3.5
10.7
6
Anthony Peeler
32
82
0
25.1
3.5
8.3
.421
1.4
3.5
.392
0.6
0.7
.862
0.5
2.1
2.5
2.2
0.7
0.1
0.9
1.7
9.0
7
Rasho Nesterovic
25
82
82
27.0
4.0
8.0
.493
0.0
0.0
.000
0.5
0.9
.549
2.4
4.1
6.5
0.9
0.5
1.3
1.1
3.2
8.4
8
Gary Trent
27
64
10
17.8
3.0
6.0
.507
0.0
0.0
.000
1.4
2.3
.639
1.6
2.6
4.2
0.9
0.
3
0.4
0.9
2.5
7.5
9
27
22
0
14.8
1.7
4.5
.384
0.0
0.0
.000
1.2
1.5
.813
1.4
2.5
3.9
0.3
0.3
Although Marbury kind of exposed as a fraud overall talent level was down at the time he was an all star:
KG played wiht Marbury/Brandon/Smith all on same team and
marbury/Gugliotta
&$#%#&@! Duncan probably would of won a lot more than 1 title in MInny what was I thinking
what are you talking about Garnett has had like 7-8 different supporting casts with more talent than duncan has ever had, though Popovich is a big factor of course in the Spurs success, but lets face facts Popovich will not even consider coaching another game in the NBA after Duncan retires, I leave nbadraft.net forun forever if Duncan retires and Popovich keeps coaching.
This guy thinks a washed up Cassell and Spree and Hassell Hoiberg were better than Marbury and Gugliotta/Brandon, Billups, Szczerbiak Smith lol he does not even know MInny's best team. Those team did better in the playoffs because Garnett was a leader then. Duncan and marbury would not of clashed Marbury and Szczerbiak would of bowed down to Duncan instead of clashing and wanting it to be their team and having bad team chemistry, one of the biggest reasons for those talented Minny teams around the turn of the millenium losing was chemistry and not talent, and bottomline Tim Duncan was more mature and a better player and would not allow that to happen.
8 titles for Minny you must be out your mind.
Even MJ never won that and yes never would have if he played in 94 and 95 since no one was stopping Olajuwon in
95.
KG wasn't as clutch as Duncan he couldn't get out of the 1st round for yrs and Pierce was the Finals MVP in 2008 for a reason.
Its pretty well known that Minnesota teams with Garnett were pretty poor. There was even that Joe smith debacle with picks. Garnett did everything for Minny he even brought the ball up when they got pressed. Duncan is a traditional power forward. If you surround him with same cast as Garnett He wins no championships in Minnesota
If you put Duncan in Boston it is possible they win but it was Garnetts fire and defensive ability they feed off. So I will give him same total 1 championship
Garnett with Robinson his first year I think they win. I also think san antonio would have built the same quality team around Garnett as I think they are best organization in league might have been different pieces but still great team. I also think pop is great coach so I give him 2 more chips.
Overall I think they were both great players although different. I do think that Minnesota never field a team close to most of SA except for year with spree and sam.
Ewing is form Jamaica they have a bobsled team
He had the worst post ever? By international player it is commonly known that we mean going to the NBA straight from another country. Just because Hakeem was born in Nigeria doesn't mean he is considered an "international" player. Do you consider Kyrie Irving Steve Nash or even Tim Duncan to be international players? Bc they weren't born in the US. Hakeem went to Houston university and even competed in the 96 Olympics.. For the US!
yes I consider Tim Duncan and Nash international, Irving is different because his dad was a US citizen but he was born outside the country, Dominique Wilkins was born in France I do not consider him international same situation as Kyrie or Tebow
I was thinking today about Tim Duncan and Kevin Garne. Both are the same age and both dominated during the same time, about 1999-2007. What if they had switched teams? Would Garnett have won 4 championships with the Spurs cast? Would Tim Duncan be a hall of famer and the greatest power forward of all time with the T-wolves cast? Thoughts?