First of all, you’re dead wrong about Iverson’s and Parker’s assist numbers, but any way. I looked at some of the numbers to get a better perspective. Let’s use Harris in New Jersey’s stats this year versus the career stats of Parker and Iverson:

Who hits the paint harder? A good measuring stick is FTA:

Harris 11.8
Parker 3.2
Iverson 9.2

So Harris is off the chart in terms of his attacking the paint. Parker this year is doing his best in his career in terms of drawing fouls with 5.7 attempts per game, which is still way behind Iverson and Harris. Iverson’s FTA stats pretty much make it clear he doesn’t just sit back and take jumpers.

You mentioned that Parker generates more assists than Iverson. I contend that, even if that were true, they generate them in different ways. Regardless, let’s look at the stats (again looking at Harris this year versus Parker and Iverson for their career):

Harris 6.4
Parker 5.5
Iverson 6.3

Parker is having his best assist season ever, averaging 6.1 per game. Iverson is having his worst season in seven years, averaging 5.3, but it should be noted he averaged 6.7 earlier this season with Denver. Last year Iverson averaged 7.1 assists per game. Parker averaged 6.0. Clearly Iverson has generated more assists in his career than Parker, with the exception of the 12 games he’s played this year with Detroit.

I believe my point still stands: Iverson generates a ton of offense by dishing assists off of his attacks in the paint, which is exactly the way Harris does it. Parker plays more of a traditional role, probing the defense and looking for Ginobli or Duncan.

Finally, let’s look at 3P FG%. Most people don’t realize that Parker’s 3 point shooting hasn’t definitively improved. He just isn’t given the green light to shoot them. Popovich has Parker on an extremely short leash beyond the arc (only .7 attempts per game last year. Let’s look at the stats:

Harris 31% (on 2.2 attempts per game)
Parker 31.5% (on 1.7 attempts per game)
Iverson 31.4% (on 3.9 attempts per game)

So basically all three are lousy 3 point shooters. Popovich knows this and basically doesn’t let Parker shoot threes. Harris under Avery was the same way, for the most part. However, Harris has been let loose in New Jersey, and his 3 point profile has started to inch closer to Iverson’s.

Let’s look at FG attempts. One of my core contentions is that Harris has approached his role at New Jersey as score first and pass second (primarily off his drives). A lot of field goal attempts would confirm this. Let’s look at Harris in New Jersey versus career for Parker and Iverson:

Harris 15.3 FGA/game
Parker 13.1 FGA/game
Iverson 22.5 FGA/game

So, again, we have a scenario where Harris is between Iverson and Parker. The recent play of Parker is interesting, however. Parker has indeed needed to shoulder more of the Spurs scoring load, and over the past three seasons, his FGA are much higher than his career average (14.2, 15.1, 17.1). Iverson’s attempts are down this season to below Harris and Parker’s, but even last year he was attempting 19 per game.

Finally, let’s look at shooting accuracy.

Harris 48.7%
Parker 48.8%
Iverson 42.5%

Iverson certainly shoots a lot as we saw, and—as illustrated—he isn’t as good a shooter/finisher as Parker and Harris. In this sense, Harris is quite a bit better than Iverson, which in and of itself is a scary thought.

In the end, you have to watch the games to really assess “style.” It is certainly debatable, but I really do get a sense that Harris is evolving more into an Iverson type of guard more than a Parker type of guard. What, what the heck, in ten years we may be describing some young guard as evolving into a “Harris kind of guard”—one who attacks and shoots in volume like Iverson, but does it in a much more efficient way, like Parker.