The point is that neither Klay or CJ is really the kind of player that NOP would be looking for in a trade. You don't trade your foundation star for a guy that's (at best) the second scorer on a contending team.
Tell me why CJ couldn't be the leading scorer on a contending team. CJ is a damn near flawless scorer.
I guess I don't get why CJ would be better elsewhere/anywhere but Klay would suffer elsewhere. Surround Klay with average players and he isn't great but CJ is (now). Why? Don't get me wrong I really like CJ and think he's great. But "defense travels" as they say and I'm not sure I've seen more than one or two better shooters in my life
Where was Klay's D when CJ was dropping 41 points in game 1 at Oracle? CJ played good D that game too blocking Klay at one point.
You can be the leading scorer on a contending team without being a top 10 talent. Plus, contending starts people talking about you being a top 10 talent.
Because Klay is not a creator, he depends on his teammates to get open. Surround him with a bunch of scrubs and his scoring would clearly suffer. Have you ever seen Klay iso on someone ? On the other hand CJ can kill you 1 on 1. If you put him as the #1 option his usg% would go up, which would mean more points
Some of the D he played that game was amazing... If he could do that all the time if would be the best SG in the league
He's not nearly as good a dribble-drive scorer as McCollum, but we've already seen someone like Klay be a first option, with Reggie Miller in Indiana. IMO, Klay is actually a better ball-handler and passer than Miller was. I think Thompson would definitely lift his averages as a first option.
I love me some CJ.... but the homer goggles are strong right now. Top 5 in the league in scoring? Gosh.... I don't know.
They are both such pure shooters. I'd give Klay the mid-range game due to his height. CJ a better ball handler obviously. It's probably a wash all-round, but I don't know if either would be my top ten choices to build around. They are probably 1 and 2 for #2's in the league though.
What trait does he not have? He's a complete player when it comes to scoring. nothing homer about it. It's ok to rate your players.
Those two could arguably be (and have been) #1 options on their respective teams, so I guess we are talking about two different, undefined lists. Either way, CJ and Klay's overall talents are pretty comparable, that's all I was saying.
What puts McCollum ahead of Kyrie Irving as a pure scorer? Irving is as complete a scorer as there is. LeBron James has shown every year in the playoffs that when he takes it off cruise control and goes as hard as he can, he's as good a scorer as there is in the league. McCollum is a gifted scorer, definitely, but I don't think he's a top-five scorer, especially when you factor in big men like Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and even Towns who really turned into an elite scorer over the second half of last year. If you just limit it to guards, I could see an argument.
