For one, did Kobe make his teammates that much better? I think not, that was LeBron and James deserves a lot of credit for that. In essence, I think PP and KB neutralize each other on a dream team but given Paul's unique ability to get to the free throw line, I'd still give a notch up on him if the game had to go that way w/ repeated foulings.
So, if Pierce is the so-called second fiddle to Garnett, which appears to be the "league consensus" outside of Boston, then what would Pierce look like paired with the greatest big man of our post-ABA time, HO? Think about it, Hakeem was dishing on Robinson, Ewing, and Alonzo whereas Odom and Igaskas were keeping KG busy during those series? I think quite possibly, we'd win a ring with PP, HO, Posey (or Eddie), Perks, and Rondo. We wouldn't need either Ray Ray or the Big Ticket.