There was also a game in there where Steph only played 18 minutes and scored six points, and Klay hit seven threes in a Warriors win.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/klay-thompson-stats-without-steph-curry-2016-playoffs

After closing out the Rockets, Klay had 35 in games one and three and 27 in game two to help the Warriors go up 2-1 on the Blazers.

In those games, Thompson had 46-42-85 shooting splits.

Small sample size against playoff competition considered, how do you think he would have performed in that time as a permanent first option?

In his prime, he became known as an elite second option and then a ridiculous third option in Golden State, and beyond this stretch was rarely given the chance.

rocpilehardasfuk | GSW

7 | 2 hours ago

He’s not a good first option because he can’t dribble or pass well.

Dray was the real star of that time without Steph. Just look up Dray in 2016: top 5-10 player in the league.

I swear people haven’t seen 2 way Dray.

Pickleskennedy1 [OP]

7 | an hour ago

Klay averaged 29.5 points, I don’t think it’s fair to say he wasn’t the star as well

HucktoMe

-2 | 2 hours ago

Whenever I try and point this out I get all kinds of pushback. But you’re spot on, Dray was certainly the second best Warrior excluding Durant (and more important to their success than Durant).

Marikas_Tots | DEN

153 | 5 hours ago

Ray Allen/Reggie Miller level. Not quite enough to carry a team to a championship, but still great.

26_skinny_Cartman | LAC

58 | 4 hours ago

Reggie was definitely capable of leading a team to the championship. He led his team to the conference finals 6 times and finals once. He didn’t win one but that is certainly capable of doing it to get that far that often. The Pacers were like the 3rd best team in the east for the 90s. He took the Pacers to 7 games against the 98 Bulls. You’re basically just saying if you didn’t win one, you’re incapable of winning one regardless of circumstances. Idk if Klay is on that level or not but it feels like the comparison is coming simply from picking two other elite 3 point shooters that didn’t win titles as the best player.

CazOnReddit | TOR

14 | 4 hours ago

Reggie has a legit chance to chip if the Malice at the Palace doesn’t happen

Great_Standard3441

12 | 3 hours ago

He was no longer the best player on the team at that point

Steridire | NYK

4 | 4 hours ago

Miller is an all time great but he benefited from a very deep squad and great coaching. Offensively he gave you a very similar profile as Klay, elite off ball scoring at all times, he had better off ball movement but he was also nothing special on defence.

20/3/3 with average defence honestly should not have translated to as many deep runs as they pulled off, it was a great team all around but his individual performance was no better than Prime Klay.

CazOnReddit | TOR

15 | 4 hours ago

Implying prime Klay also didn’t benefit from a deep as hell team in the 2010s even pre-KD or great coaching

Round_Maintenance697

7 | 3 hours ago

what championship team has not had a deep squad

26_skinny_Cartman | LAC

5 | 4 hours ago

He was still capable of being the best player on a championship team as is proven by the results of being that close numerous times. I didn’t make an argument at all about whether Klay is on his level and said that I don’t know. I didn’t compare the players at all. If you want to compare them as players or say Klay is capable of that, go ahead. I was arguing against the dismissal of Miller as a leader to a title team, not whether he’s better than Klay or not.

I also believe Ray was capable of that too. I feel like the comparison was made simply because they are often grouped together as the best shooters of all time and they didn’t win titles as the best player. I disagree that they weren’t at that level just because it didn’t happen.

Round_Maintenance697

2 | 3 hours ago

the pacers were up against the bulls in game 7 and the refs had other ideas. the foul calls they called on the bulls vs the pacers were terribly one sided and giving a jump ball just because jordan barely touched the ball was absurd.

mas1108 | LAL

-6 | 3 hours ago

Getting there and actually winning are 2 completely different beasts. If he was capable of leading a team to a championship he would’ve led a team to a championship. Still an all time great, but not first option on a championship team great based off the fact, he literally didn’t win one. We can talk about “what if’s” all day, but facts are facts.

26_skinny_Cartman | LAC

8 | 3 hours ago

This whole fucking post is what if Klay was a first option. The discussion is centered around what ifs. I also believe that a team consistently getting that deep is a contender and capable of winning it all. If you believe that not winning excludes you from being capable of it, that’s your opinion. I think Barkley, Malone, Harden, Ewing are all also capable of it even though they didn’t. I would even throw Pippen on that list of players capable of winning as the 1st option. Idk if Klay is on that list but I believe Reggie is.

Neptune28

1 | an hour ago

Shaq averaged ³⁸⁄₁₇ in the 2000 Finals, no one was stopping him

Corrosivecoral

12 | 4 hours ago

Reggie could have when he had a great situation other than Jordan being in the league.

babysamissimasybab | IND

5 | 3 hours ago

He only faced off against MJ once, losing in 7 games in the ‘98 ECF.

Corrosivecoral

2 | 3 hours ago

Yea, and if it wasn’t for MJ he had a good chance of leading his team to a championship. He had a great team around him so it would have been more Jason Tatum then Giannis, but people still considered him the main guy on that team.

Crying_in_99Ranch | NBA

1 | 4 hours ago

Klay is not on the same level as those two. Allen actually carried the Bucks and Supersonics for a few years and Reggie with the Pacers as well. Klay isn’t a playmaker and any team relying on him for consistent scoring and playmaking is in for a struggle.

Diamond4Hands4Ever | GSW

2 | 2 hours ago

Depends on his development without Steph. He actually could handle the ball and did some playmaking in college but once he got to the league, there was no need for that and he never worked much on it because it wouldn’t have mattered to the team success. Like he wasn’t a worse prospect than Reggie was in college when they were picked in the draft, but he didn’t develop some of this other skills in the same way if in a different environment so you have to consider that.

PrinceJMoney089

1 | 4 hours ago

Reggie Miller’s teams were better than a lot of teams that actually won the title

Diamond4Hands4Ever | GSW

3 | 2 hours ago

In that era? Which teams? His teams were certainly not better than the Bulls, Spurs, or Lakers. Not even the Magic team that that didn’t win. Maybe the Pistons in 2004. That’s it and that’s a maybe.

I think his teams were just deep but they didn’t have even a true second star like the way Penny/Kobe were to Shaq or Pippen was to MJ or Robinson was to Duncan. Robinson was old but still better than whoever the second best player was on the Pacers in the late 1990s.

Anotherbail

51 | 5 hours ago

Draymond played much better against the blazers too

Neptune28

45 | 4 hours ago

22/11/7/2/3, 45/43/82 splits, truly incredible

Beetle919 | CHA

30 | 3 hours ago

People in this sub gets mad if Draymond even dares to talk about himself being better than a role player, all around great player.

Pickleskennedy1 [OP]

16 | 3 hours ago

He is all-around great, but somehow in 2016 he was at a completely different level offensively and shooting the ball than he has been the rest of his career

Positive_Parking_954

7 | 3 hours ago

I still remember in that series Dame hit two deep 3s early in the first and the camera cuts a hobbled Steph walking over to the exercise bike ti warm up. He absolutely torched the Blazers that gane and it was more dribble penetration and finishing. His shooting is so good that I feel people slept on that aspect of his game

LightSpecialist804 | NYK

25 | 4 hours ago

Klay was on a heater during that stretch, and of course he often is on a heater

But even the greatest shooter can sometimes go cold. And when Klay is cold, does he have the ability that other stars do to still impact the offense? Can he consistently break down the defense, attack the rim, draw fouls, draw double teams, run the pick and roll, etc.?

I dont think he can do those things on the level you need out of your first scoring option. So while I think he would’ve been a 25ppg scorer, I dont think he’d have blossomed into a truly elite first option in the way that Harden did when he got his own team

funghi2 | TOR

15 | 5 hours ago

I think he’d have the numbers but he did his best work off ball. Would need a coach and point to out it where he needs it

LeBackshot

3 | 3 hours ago

A coach and point to out it where he needs it?

nba2k11er | GSW

11 | 4 hours ago

He would have been like Reggie. There were times, especially with both Curry and KD healthy when he didn’t do much. But he always stepped up when someone was out. Look at his 2019 Finals stats.

Some_Necessary_6424 | LAL

8 | 4 hours ago

His ball handling would limit him severely

gigglios

1 | 23 minutes ago

He wasnt even half the player in the finals. Why ask about him as a first option when he sucked in the finals as a 3rd option?

Pickleskennedy1 [OP]

1 | 16 minutes ago

If it’s just one playoff series Steph was pretty bad in those finals as well

Ok-Detail-3984

3 | an hour ago

He would have been great on any good team. He fits in literally any lineup, which is extremely rare.

How would he have done on a roster without much help? He would have failed. Same as any player. Everyone fails without another star. Literally everyone.

Dangerous_Ad5039

3 | 4 hours ago

Klay was really good. Imagine him on a team with like rondo or cp3 he coulda averaged 30 a game.

eternali17 | LAC

1 | 20 minutes ago

He was a 3 and D guy who was elite at both but fairly blunted outside of that. He couldn’t be the main guy anywhere because when push came to shove, you wouldn’t have the ball in his hands to start anything and creation means so much in the post season

Little_Obligation_90

5 | 5 hours ago

Klay by himself is about as good as Dame by himself. Not good enough to beat the Steph Curry/Kevin Durant/Lebron James teams.

TheGamesGone_ | BOS

21 | 5 hours ago

Dame is a waaay better first option. I don’t see how anyone could debate it being close either considering the gap in dribbling and playmaking.

InternationalClick78 | SAS

6 | 5 hours ago

That still seems like an exaggeration. Their shooting is the only offensive area Klay takes the edge and that’s still an area where dame is all time level

runthepoint1 | SAC

6 | 4 hours ago

Thankfully defense matters. I wonder how Klay’s playmaking would look like if forced into that off screens etc, sort like Rip Hamilton or even prime Ray Allen

FitTune5515 | SEA

3 | 4 hours ago

Prime Ray Allen was creating shots and beating defenders off the dribble.

InternationalClick78 | SAS

2 | 4 hours ago

It matters sure, but significantly less than offence at the guard spots. And dames overall production and efficiency edge alone probably close that gap, let alone his significantly better ball handling, shot creation and playmaking abilities

vballboy55 | CHI

1 | 4 hours ago

Defense hardly matters in this comparison. And even then, Klay got one second team award. It’s not like he was consistently a DPOY candidate.

I wonder how Dames efficiency would look like if he had Curry, Durant, and Draymond on the court with him.

WantUToFly

5 | 4 hours ago

Klay is like 3 tiers below dame as a first option lol

HokageEzio | NYK

2 | 4 hours ago

That’s crazy

GroupBQuattr0 | ORL

1 | 4 hours ago

Not as good. He got a lot of spacing on that team.

deathletters16

5 | 4 hours ago

Obviously Steph is a legend but one good thing about him being out is you get better defensively

TylerDurdensAlterEgo

0 | 4 hours ago

The league leader in steals? I know what you mean, but there was a metric out there that showed he was still a net positive on defense

In six games in the 2016 playoffs without Steph Curry, Klay Thompson averaged 29.5 points, often carrying the Warriors offensively as they closed out Harden’s Rockets and took a 2-1 series lead over Dame’s Trail Blazers. How would he have done in his prime as a permanent first option?