Would Rasheed Wallace be The Most Dominant Player in Today’s NBA? Andre Iguodala Thinks Yes

There’s always chatter in the NBA community about how good a player from previous eras would be in today’s game. The latest buzz is from Andre Iguodala.

Early in June, it was reported that four-time All-Star and one-time champ Rasheed Wallace was joining the Lakers as an assistant coach.

I reported on it and commented on how he can help Anthony Davis take it to the next level; how he can develop AD into a dominant post player.

I also talked about how skilled Wallace was during his playing days.

Well, a few days ago, the Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala took it a step further and said that Wallace would be the most dominant player in today’s game (sort of).

During an appearance on "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz," the four-time champ said that “Sheed” could have been in the same conversations as Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan had he not sacrificed his stats for winning.

Via The Score:

"(During his career,) Rasheed Wallace probably could have been a top-five player in the league for a 10-year stretch," Iguodala said. "He just chose - 'Ah, I'll just do my thing over here.' He was shooting half-court shots left-handed and right-handed.”

Iggy also added that if Wallace played in today’s NBA, he would be better than the “Greek Freak.”

"If Rasheed Wallace played in modern-day basketball ... he'd be a top-five player in the league. He'd be better than Giannis [Antetokounmpo], and I love Giannis."

Sheed was one of the first stretch fours that were successful in the league. 

He was able to knock down long bombs (he averaged 2.9 threes a game throughout his career, which was a lot for a big back then) and was able to bang and bully down low in the post.

He was also a gritty defender who averaged 1.3 blocks and 1 steal a game.

Would Sheed Actually Be Better Than Giannis?

He was skilled, to say the least, but I don’t think he would be better than Giannis. 

I say this because he doesn’t play in this era so I can’t see how he would match up against today’s superstars or how he would play in today’s offence.

All I could do is imagine. 

And my imagination tells me that Sheed would be good. Nay, great. But not better than Giannis because Sheed doesn’t possess the handles that the former has.

Sheed, in my imagination, would get pickpocketed often if he tried to drive the lane or out dribble his defender. 

His scoring would mainly come from catching and popping 3s and long twos, and posting up.

He wouldn’t be attacking the basket or shooting off of the dribble like Giannis.

Thus, the ball would only be in his hands if he were going to shoot. 

He isn’t going to be a primary (or secondary) ball-handler. He has to rely on playmakers to get him the ball before he is able to work his magic. 

Because of this, he won’t get as many touches and won’t be scoring or assisting as much as Giannis does.

But again, this is just what I’m imagining based on what I saw from Sheed in the 2000s. 

I’m sure that if Wallace played in today’s NBA, he would absolutely develop guard skills and be more well-rounded.

However, he doesn’t. 

So, I can’t definitively say how good he would be. 

All I could do is imagine.

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