Malone almost certainly won't do as well next year. If you look, his last 4 seasons have shown a decrease every year in points, rebounds, and blocks - there's no reason to expect these to get *better*, especially if he does move to another team where he's certain to not be the first scoring option. Still, solid numbers.
Stockton vs. Jordan, in my opinion, isn't even close. Stockton certainly has impressive assists for limited minutes, and he's ahead of Jordan in steals. A little ahead in FG & FT percentage. But that's it. Jordan is up in points, minutes, fouls, turnovers, rebounds, blocks, and 3-point shots made. Heck, he had less fouls and less turnovers BEFORE increasing Stockton's amount to match minutes played.
Don't get me wrong - Stockton is still an incredibly gifted player, who can clearly keep going for a few more years. But no way do I want a PG who can't score, and can't really do anything special but get assists, over a SG who scores in buckets and is one of the best rebounders at his position in the league. (Stockton was top-5 in assists in the league; Jordan's the 7th best rebounding guard.)
One also has to wonder how well Stockton would rack up assists without dominant scorers to pass to. The Wizards really were pretty talentless this year outside Jordan. The top 2 DC assists people were the SG's (Jordan and Stackhouse); Jordan missed being his team's leading rebounder by less than 1/game (to Christian Laettner, of all people).
All three would still be fine additions to a club. Odds are Stockton and Malone will play on next year. But I think Jordan had a notably better season than Stockton, and I'm not sure Malone will do comparably well next year. If he can, his numbers should be a wash with Jordan's for 'best 40-year old season'.
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Date: 2003-04-17 01:37 pm (UTC)Malone almost certainly won't do as well next year. If you look, his last 4 seasons have shown a decrease every year in points, rebounds, and blocks - there's no reason to expect these to get *better*, especially if he does move to another team where he's certain to not be the first scoring option. Still, solid numbers.
Stockton vs. Jordan, in my opinion, isn't even close. Stockton certainly has impressive assists for limited minutes, and he's ahead of Jordan in steals. A little ahead in FG & FT percentage. But that's it. Jordan is up in points, minutes, fouls, turnovers, rebounds, blocks, and 3-point shots made.
Heck, he had less fouls and less turnovers BEFORE increasing Stockton's amount to match minutes played.
Don't get me wrong - Stockton is still an incredibly gifted player, who can clearly keep going for a few more years. But no way do I want a PG who can't score, and can't really do anything special but get assists, over a SG who scores in buckets and is one of the best rebounders at his position in the league. (Stockton was top-5 in assists in the league; Jordan's the 7th best rebounding guard.)
One also has to wonder how well Stockton would rack up assists without dominant scorers to pass to. The Wizards really were pretty talentless this year outside Jordan. The top 2 DC assists people were the SG's (Jordan and Stackhouse); Jordan missed being his team's leading rebounder by less than 1/game (to Christian Laettner, of all people).
All three would still be fine additions to a club. Odds are Stockton and Malone will play on next year. But I think Jordan had a notably better season than Stockton, and I'm not sure Malone will do comparably well next year. If he can, his numbers should be a wash with Jordan's for 'best 40-year old season'.