agree with this except for the parsons part. harden is easily better than PG. PG's defense has also fallen off this year as a result of his increased offensive load. he cannot carry a team like harden can. still one of my favorite players though and his comeback is remarkable.
You kind of had me with that post until this line. PG can become better on offense if he works hard. Harden on the other hand, refuses to work hard on defense on the constant basis. It's not a talent issue. Harden is the more talented player, it's the lack of work ethic and hard work on defense that's the issue. Mental mindset is probably one of the hardest things to improve, if not impossible. You are who you are as a person.
Paul George is averaging more than 23 Per contest which is good for 9th or 10th in the league. He averages a whopping 1 less FGM per contest than Harden. With that said he's still improving offensively and learning how to get to the line more often. George is way closer to being a great offensive player than Harden is to being even a mediocre defender.
I only watched a couple of Pacers games this season, but from what I have seen so far, he is not someone you want to be your #1 option. He is too inconsistent, makes a lot of stupid decisions, which leads you suspect his basketball IQ.
Speaking of elite wings and injuries - I think this current era of SG's was supposed to be lead by Brandon Roy. He should be dominating right now.
Well then let's hope McHale takes a job in Indy. But PG will be better on offense if he just takes more efficient shots. He takes a lot of hard shots. Long twos off the dribble, fadeaways, etc. If his shot selection was more like Harden (except way more corner 3s) then he would be a better player. I mean, look at this shot chart: http://on.nba.com/1Hiee2K He's shooting 35.3% on mid range 2s, and 39.5% on long 2s. Take those out - or severely limit them - and he becomes far more effective.
If by "franchise player" you mean a guy who can single-handedly carry a team to contention, then there is about 2 or 3 players like that in a generation. George is obviously not that. If by "franchise player" you mean a guy who can be the best player on a contender, then it all depends on how good his teammates are. I believe Paul George can be the best player on a very good team. He can't carry an offense. But he is a very good all around player. Kind of like a rich man's Iggy.
I have to say, those of you who say PG is better than JH are delusional. By all relevent metrics, Harden has proven himself to be a far superior player than PG, be it PPG, FG%, APG or other advanced stats like TS%, PER, Win Shares, etc. Harden is ranked almost universally in Top 10 in pretty much all categories, and this season is supposed to be his down year. Think about that, even when Harden is clearly not playing up to his full potential, he is still a Top 10 player in this league. Now, that's an one hell of a player. Definitely a keeper if you ask me. BTW, Paul George has only one thing going for him right now, and that is his inconsistent jump shot. He can't attack the rim at will the way Harden does because he can't handle the ball and lacks body control. His defense has taken a significant hit since he got injured, and is definitely not the defensive stopper he once used to be. All things considered, this is not a fair comparison. One guy is a MVP runner-up and a bona fide superstar, the other one is even struggling to get into ALL NBA third team, even though this is supposed to be his best year.
Not saying George is better, but you seem to only care about stats regarding basic offense and volume impact on offense. This is not how to use stats when comparing players.
Win Shares, BPM, RPM, VORP all take into consideration defensive output. Measuring defensive impact is a tricky task, but it certainly is part of the calculation. You can clearly see even with Harden's negative defensive contribution, as a whole Harden has helped his team more than Paul George has, soley due to the fact that Harden's offensive output is far superior than that of PG13.
[rQUOTEr]The Lakers want to make an aggressive run at trading for Paul George this summer, and they’re willing to give up their 2016 first-round pick and more to Indiana, as HBO’s Bill Simmons hears. Such a proposal would be unlikely to sway the Pacers, Simmons concedes, and the Lakers won’t even have a first-rounder to offer if they slip out of the top three in the May 17th lottery, a scenario with a roughly 44% chance of happening. It would probably require the inclusion of D’Angelo Russell to prompt the Pacers to consider any such offer, Simmons suggests, noting that Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird isn’t sentimental and will make a drastic move if he deems it necessary, as the uncertainty over Frank Vogel‘s job status demonstrates. George, a native of Los Angeles County, is under contract for at least two more years, with a player option worth more than $20.7MM for the 2018/19 season. http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2016/05/lakers-plan-major-trade-push-for-paul-george.html[/rQUOTEr]
