Best Fantasy Basketball Draft Team (925 views)

[Face-in]

Rules were to pick the team that would win the most championships over the next three seasons.  Player order in the depth chart means Starter/Second Unit/Crunch Time.

Vote in the poll and please make fun of our teams.

Canes
Anthony Davis
Jabari Parker
Goran Dragic
Hassan Whiteside
Andre Iguodala
Dwyane Wade
Kemba Walker
David Lee
Gorgui Dieng

C:Whiteside/Dieng/Whiteside
PF:AD/Lee/Davis
SF:Parker/Iggy/Iggy
SG:Wade/Smith/Wade
PG:Dragic/Kemba/Dragic

1. AD
2. Wade
3. Dragic

Pace: Slow
Trap: Often
Press: Normal
Focus: Inside
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Trofie
Steph Curry
Paul George
Al Jefferson
Kyle Korver
Steven Adams
Derrick Rose
Nene
Michael Kidd Gilchrist
Omer Asik
Doug McDermott

Steph Curry/Rose/Curry
Kyle Korver/MKG/Korver
Paul George/MKG/George
Al Jefferson/Nene/Jefferson
Steven Adams/Asik/Adams

Steph
George
Jefferson

Balanced
sometimes
sometimes
Outside
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dil
Kevin Durant
Carmelo Anthony
Victor Oladipo
Eric Bledsoe
Karl Anthony Towns
Nerlens Noel
Iman Shumpert
Kenneth Faried
Patrick Beverly
Shabazz Muhammad

C: Nerlens / KAT / Nerlens
PF: Melo / Faried / Melo
SF: KD / Shabazz / KD
SG: Oladipo / Shumpert / Oladipo
PG: Bledsoe / Beverly / Bledsoe

1. KD
2. Melo
3. Bledsoe

Pace: Fast
Trap: Normal
Press: Always
Focus: Balanced
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Druce
Boogie Cousins
Draymond Green
Danny Green
Harrison Barnes
Jonas Valanciunas
D'Angelo Russell
Rajon Rondo
Roy Hibbert
Kobe Bryant
Jrue Holiday

C: Cousins/Jonas/Cousins
PF: Draymond/Jonas/Draymond
SF: Barnes/Kobe/Barnes
SG: Green/Kobe/Kobe
PG: Rondo/Russell/Holiday

1. Cousins
2. Kobe
3. Russell

Very Fast
Often
Sometimes
Balanced
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dump
James Harden
Dwight Howard
Chandler Parsons
Kyle Lowry
Brook Lopez
Tony Parker
Jason Thompson
Tony Allen
Al Farouq Aminu
Brandan Wright

C: Dwight Howard / Brandan Wright / Dwight Howard
PF: Brook Lopez / Jason Thompson / Brook Lopez
SF: Chandler Parsons / Al Farouq Aminu / Chandler Parsons
SG: James Harden / Tony Allen / James Harden
PG: Kyle Lowry / Tony Parker / Kyle Lowry

1. James Harden
2. Chandler Parsons
3. Brook Lopez

Pace: Very Fast
Trap: Normal
Press: Normal
Focus: Balanced
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
MJ
Russell Westbrook
Andre Drummond
Bradley Beal
Nikola Mirotic
Ryan Anderson
Jahlil Okafor
Lou Williams
Nikola Pekovic
Kelly Olynyk
Tony Wroten

C: Andre Drummond / Jahlil Okafor / Andre Drummond
PF: Ryan Anderson / Nikola Mirotic / Jahlil Okafor
SF: Nikola Mirotic / Bradley Beal / Nikola Mirotic
SG: Bradley Beal / Lou Williams / Bradley Beal
PG: Russell Westbrook / Tony Wroten / Russell Westbrook

1. Westbrook
2. Drummond
3. Beal

Pace: Fast
Trap: Normal
Press: Normal
Focus: Balanced
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Odin
Blake Griffin
Gordon Hayward
Nikola Vucevic
Zach LaVine
Dirk Nowitzki
Kristaps Porzingis
Ricky Rubio
Matt Dellavedova
Ersan Ilyasova
Kyle Singler

Vucevic/Griffin/Vucevic
Griffin/Dirk/Kristaps
Dirk/Hayward/dirk
Hayward/Singler/LaVine
Rubio/LaVine/Delly

Dirk
Griffin
Hayward

Slow
Probably
Nah
Pick and Roll
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fason
LaMarcus Aldridge
Andrew Wiggins
Mike Conley
Wes Matthews
Markieff Morris
Timofey Mozgov
Joakim Noah
Brandon Knight
Jeff Green
Eric Gordon

C: Timofey Mozgov/Joakim Noah/LaMarcus Aldridge
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge/Markieff Morris/Markieff Morris
SF: Andrew Wiggins/Jeff Green/Andrew Wiggins
SG: Wes Matthews/Eric Gordon/Wes Matthews
PG: Mike Conley/Brandon Knight/Mike Conley

1. Aldridge
2. Conley
3. Matthews

Pace: Fast
Trap: Sometimes
Press: Often
Focus: Balanced
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bankz
Jimmy Butler
DeAndre Jordan
Derrick Favors
DeMarre Carroll
Ty Lawson
Tyreke Evans
Mario Hezonja
Jusuf Nurkic
Jamal Crawford
Taj Gibson

C: Jordan / Nurkic / Jordan
PF: Favors / Gibson / Gibson
SF: Carroll / Hezonja / Carroll
SG: Butler / Crawford / Butler
PG: Lawson / Tyreke / Lawson

1) Butler
2) Favors
3) Lawson

Pace: Very Fast
Trap: Always
Press: Always
Focus: Inside
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2poor
John Wall
Serge Ibaka
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Andrew Bogut
JJ Redick
Greg Monroe
Tobias Harris
Joe Johnson
John Henson
Greivis Vasquez

C: Bogut/Henson/Monroe
PF: Ibaka/Monroe/Ibaka
SF: Giannis/Harris/Johnson
SG: Redick/Johnson/Redick
PG: Wall/Vasquez/Wall

1. Wall
2. Johnson
3. Monroe

Pace: normal
Trap: often
Press: often
Focus: balanced
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ank
Kawhi Leonard
Rudy Gobert
Kevin Love
Khris Middleton
Jeff Teague
Tristan Thompson
Danilo Gallinari
Jordan Clarkson
Justise Winslow
Meyers Leonard

Teague / Clarkson / Teague
Middleton/Kawhi/Middleton
Kawhi/Gallo/Kawhi
Love/Thompson/Love
Gobert/Thompson/Gobert

Love
Kawhi
Teague

Slow
Sometimes
Sometimes
Balanced
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pete
Chris Paul
Klay Thompson
Chris Bosh
Trevor Ariza
Pau Gasol
Marcin Gortat
Dennis Schröder
Luol Deng
Arron Afflalo
Donatas Montiejunas

PG: Chris Paul / Dennis Schröder/Chris Paul
SG: Klay Thompson / Arron Afflalo/Klay Thompson
SF: Trevor Ariza / Luol Deng/Trevor Ariza
PF: Chris Bosh / Donatas Montiejunas/Chris Bosh
C: Pau Gasol / Marcin Gortat/Pau Gasol

1. Thompson
2. Paul
3. Bosh

Pace: Normal
Trap: Often
Press: Sometimes
Focus: Outside
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
20s
Kyrie Irving
Paul Millsap
Tyson Chandler
Rudy Gay
Zach Randolph
Monta Ellis
Tim Duncan
Anthony Morrow
Reggie Jackson
Otto Porter

C: Tyson Chandler / Tim Duncan / Tyson Chandler
PF: Paul Millsap / Zach Randolph / Tim Duncan
SF: Rudy Gay / Otto Porter / Paul Millsap
SG: Monta Ellis / Anthony Morrow / Rudy Gay
PG: Kyrie Irving / Reggie Jackson / Kyrie Irving

1. Kyrie
2. Millsap
3. Gay

Pace: Normal
Trap: Often
Press: Normal
Focus: Balanced
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Duc
Damian Lillard
Marc Gasol
Al Horford
DeMar DeRozan
Nic Batum
Isaiah Thomas
Terrence Jones
Courtney Lee
Alex Len
Thaddeus Young

C: Marc Gasol/Alex Len/Gasol
PF: Horford/Jones/Horford
SF: Batum/Young/Batum
SG: DeRozen/Lee/DeRozen
PG: Lillard/Thomas/Lillard

1. Gasol
2. Lillard
3. Horford

Pace: Fast
Trap: Normal
Press: Normal
Focus: Balanced

[Lazy Pete]

My team's secret weapon: Marc Gasol stepping in to play C in crunch time

[Souper Troopers]

went pete, would like druce's team if i knew that russell makes that next step

[Druce]

I went with Fason, I like his team a lot esp. if Wiggins develops. I also like Pete's team, and mine depending on Kobe coming back strong and Russell's development.

[20s Navidad]

Went Pete. He took a huge lead when he got Paul at 12. I wasn't a very big fan of Klay at 17 but he really made up for it with Bosh and Pau in the 3rd and 5th. Klay ends up filling a nice role on his team even though I don't think he is a top 17 player in the league.

[MJ]

Have the Heat said anything about how Bosh is doing? Feel like it's been a long time since they said anything

[Lazy Pete]

Jun 23, 2015 16:53:06 GMT -6 MJ said:

Have the Heat said anything about how Bosh is doing? Feel like it's been a long time since they said anything

I actually looked into that a little bit when I started targeting him with that pick. I believe he's resumed physical activities, and everything I read said he was on track to play again by training camp

[eric]

short version

year 1: pete
year 2: ankly, pete
year 3: ankly, druce, pete
dark horses: canes, dump, trofie

20s
This lineup hurts. Rudy Gay is not good at basketball. Monta is underrated with the ball in his hands, but as we saw in Dallas this year if you take the ball out of his hands he will destroy your team. Kyrie is a lethal spot up shooter but you gain more from letting him run the show. Chandler can roll for any PnR handler, Millsap can spot up and secondary ballhandle around the same. I think the play is to start Morrow over Monta, maybe even Porter. I like the idea of the super big closing lineup, but neither Tim Duncan nor Chandler can chase PFs around - you'd get annihilated by any stretch 4.

I'm an Otto Porter believer but Z-Bo and Duncan might retire today and Chandler not be too far behind. The time for this team is year 1, but they're nowhere close to contention.

2poor
Joe Johnson being involved is a major red flag. Besides him the team has a good look. Wall, Reddick, and Ibaka are elite at their roles and two-way players. Greg Monroe is a solid guy. I would close with a Wall/Vasquez backcourt and bump Reddick to SF. I like this team getting to their Conference Finals, and I'd be ecstatic if I was their fan IRL. This league is too stacked for them to be serious contenders though.

Future rests entirely on Giannis, so it looks bleak for the 2poors.

ankly
I wouldn't be surprised if this is the IRL Spurs lineup in a couple years. We know Love will function extremely well as the fulcrum of an offense and extremely poorly as the fulcrum of a defense. Gobert takes care of the latter for him, the other starters take care of the former. Teague's shooting is a little troublesome but Love made it work with Ricky friggin' Rubio so I'm not scared. If Kawhi had 0 isolations all year he'd be happy, and he of course offers an elite perimeter defender. I am reasonably sure I have never seen Khris Middleton play basketball, and the way his position number has climbed every year (being on the Bucks notwithstanding) gives me slight concern about his quickness defending SG, but he can shoot the lights out and that's all this team needs from him.

This team has a lot of young players but not that much future upside. Gobert, Kawhi, Middleton, and Winslow can all go up, but Kawhi especially I think is tapped out. He's going to be at his ceiling for another 6 years, though, which is obviously more than enough for this exercise. Justise Winslow and Tristan Thompson will make a strong bench for a decade, so same principle. I don't think anyone can seriously compete with Pete in year 1, but after that the sky's the limit for the ankly saurs.

bankz
DeAndre Jordan is such a weird piece to try and fit, and unfortunately Favors and Gibson aren't the way to do so. Blake Griffin can't really shoot either, but those guys make him look like Dirk by comparison. Ty Lawson can do a decent Chris Paul impression running the pick and roll, but defensively he's hopelessly small. Carroll is fine with this role, but Butler will certainly and deservedly chafe at spotting up around Favors post-ups and endless 1-5 pick and rolls... and there's just no way around it. You can't let Butler isolate with Jordan and Favors/Gibson on the floor, both bigs will camp the basket and not even LeBron is dynamic enough to score efficiently against that offense, as we saw in the Finals.

Unless Hezonja turns into LeBron, the future isn't any better.

canes
I really like the Heat ethos, and Anthony Davis will be a great player even if he never learns how to play defense (aka running hard in transition and not going for the shot block on every play). They're not a good mix. Whiteside and Jabari don't even try to take jump shots (each in limited time), Wade does but shouldn't, there's no room for Dragic and Davis to operate. Wade is an underrated cutter off the ball as we saw on the LeBron Heat teams, but those teams had multiple three point shooters. Dragic is the only one who can make 3s, Davis is only okay at long 2s. It's a spacing nightmare, and I don't love it on defense either. A closing lineup with Iguodala at PF and Davis at C could be very potent offensively but questions persist defensively.

AD/Parker/Dieng is a nucleus with extreme future potential, but outside of Dragic nobody else on the roster fits them.

dilworth
Durant and Carmelo are volume scorers who can't pass or defend and are both coming off major injuries. None of Bledsoe, Oladipo, and Noel can shoot. Beverley would be a much better match with the other starters, but that still leaves two non-shooters which just makes basketball really hard. Shumpert is an improvement over Oladipo but he's only an okay shooter.

Future looks bad too. Oladipo and Noel are sure upside guys, KAT will be starter level but doesn't address the shooting need, everyone else is at or past peak.

druce
Rondo is just a bad player at this point. He might fit on an ideal roster, this isn't that. Cousins and Rondo cannot possibly play on the same team. It just can't work. Green/Harrison/Draymond is a great nucleus, and one that can function very well with Boogie. You just have to start Jrue and waive Rondo. Russell would even be a better option. The roster has possibilities, the lineups just make me wince. Kobe shouldn't get any playing time, let alone in clutch time.

With all that said, future looks really good. Kobe will retire, Rondo will play his way out of town, Jonas is slight overqualified to be a bench guy but he can't be a starter so it's perfect. Boogie as the #1 option, three shooters at 2-4 with little (but enough) playmaking, Jrue/Russell making the entry passes and spotting up. This is a contender in year 3.

duc
Duc has some good flexibility with this team, which is good because DeRozan is awful and needs to get benched pronto. The only good backcourt defender on the roster is Lee, which isn't crippling because Gasol and Horford are both plus defenders behind. They can nominally go small with Terrence at PF and either Horford or Gasol at C, but I think Horford has enough shooting and playmaking to make that ill advised. I like the Duc of Death to win a playoff round and get bounced in the second all three years.

Alex Len is the biggest future on the team.

dump
Although his controversial Brandan Wright / Brandan Wright closing big men tandem was shot down, the dumps turned out okay. We already know Harden/Parsons/Howard can play together, but there's no way Lopez can play alongside them: he's slow, he can't shoot, and you can't post him up with Howard also on the floor, and the Wright/Aminu options are even worse. The play is to put Parsons at PF, Allen SF, and have Allen guard the most threatening perimeter guy because neither Harden nor Lowry are going to get that job done. This also lets you switch 2-4 easily, which is an underrated component of Golden State's success. Even if the defender switching on is not as good, the switch flattens out the opponent's offense and prevents the 4-on-3 that a good team will kill you with.

There's zero youth on the team, but their important guys aren't old either. Over three years they should be okay.

fason
Doesn't have traditional spacing but it's workable Memphis-style. A zero shooter (Wiggins) and an okay shooter (Matthews post-injury) on the wing, Conley at the point with three point range, both bigs with legit long two range, plus LMA flashed a three point game this year. Mozgov has a little playmaking in him, not Gasol level though. I'm scared of Markieff so I don't want to criticize him, but I don't think he has enough shooting in this offense to make it work. Like Memphis, this is a solid team that's not a contender.

Future all comes down to Wiggins. I'm a doubter, so I doubt this team too.

mj
This teams sounds great: Ryno, Mirotic, and Beal are all shooters, Westbrook gives you the penetration, Drummond feasts at the rim. The problem is that when you check the numbers... Drummond is good but not great at the rim and useless everywhere else, Mirotic shot 32% from three last year, and none of the shooters have shown any playmaking ability. The secret of Golden State wasn't (just) that they had shooting everywhere, it was that they had playmaking everywhere too. The worst playmaker they had was ironically Klay Thompson. Defense is a huge, huge problem for this team as well. None of them are a plus, Mirotic/Drummond/Ryno are outright minus especially with Mirotic at SF. Jahlil Okafor is an interesting changeup to close but then you have two catastrophically bad free throw shooters on the floor.

Beal, Mirotic, and Okafor have future potential, but nowhere near enough to balance out the problems on this roster.

odin
is playing Dirk at small forward.

pete
Favorite over the field for year 1 title. Elite two-way talent at 1, 2, 4, elite offensive talent at 5, Ariza isn't as good a shooter as you think but on this team as the fifth most threatening guy he'd shoot 40% easily, and everyone else is an elite shooter for their position. Chemistry is even better than the talent: Chris Paul prefers to have the ball in his hands at all times BUT is very happy to pass if he's not wide, wide open, and everyone else in the starting lineup is happy to be passed to. His performance at the 2012 Olympics when he recorded 41 assists against 40 field goal attempts is very instructive here. (He also shot 46% from three in those Olympics.) As if all that wasn't enough, Pete even has a decent bench. Gortat, Afflalo, and Donatas are legit starting caliber two-way players with shooting, but again they are guys that are happy not having the ball that much.

The future isn't quite as rosy. This is a team that could go off a cliff very fast. Gasol, Bosh, and Paul could fall at any second, Ariza too although they don't have as far to go. There is some upside in Schröder and Donatas, but there's also the possibility Klay gets a big head and thinks he should be a #1 guy, which he absolutely does not have the ability to be. Outside of Gasol and Ariza I am confident the starters will remain elite for the three year period, and I think Donatas and Afflalo will be able to step up to fill the void. Absolutely contenders in years 2 and 3.

trofie
The Curry/Korver/George perimeter is outstanding. George is overexposed as a #1 option, but is perfect for a #2. Defensively there are question marks because while Korver is a good defender at SF and George very good, I wouldn't like either on PG, and you need someone besides Curry to defend PG. The bigger question mark is at the bigs, though. On the perimeter you have the cutting edge of ball movement and threes, which makes a very uneasy marriage with the ground and pound of Adams and Jefferson, and the bench of Asik and Nene are mirror images. If there's any perimeter group that can manage around a two-behemoth lineup it's this one, but a modern power forward would put the trofie wives over the top, and it's especially damaging when neither of the power forwards offer much defensively. Conference Finalists, but no more.

Nobody on this team is going to get better in years 2 or 3.

[MJ]

Yeah I fucked up my team and gladly admit it

[Trofie]

I drafted Mkg to guard pgs

[Deleted]

Darkhorse?

[Heynong Man]

Keep sleeping on me

[2poor]

Guess I should have taken Afflalo instead of Johnson :/

[Face-in]

Thanks eric, that was great.

[eric]

Jun 23, 2015 17:27:06 GMT -6 Trofie said:

I drafted Mkg to guard pgs

Fair enough, but the galactic chasm between Curry's shooting and MKG's plus Adams and Jefferson would grind your offense to a halt.

Jun 23, 2015 17:35:11 GMT -6 2poor said:

Guess I should have taken Afflalo instead of Johnson :/

Oh wow, yes. That would have gotten you dark horse category for sure.

Jun 23, 2015 17:42:29 GMT -6 Face-in said:

Thanks eric, that was great.

cheers

[Trofie]

Heat are not dark horses imo.

[Lazy Pete]

Thanks for those write ups, excellent analysis.

I voted for ank's team. I love going after defensive guys in these things and ank's is very strong on that end without sacrificing offense like some others (namely, Bankz' squad)

Obviously I really like my own team. The biggest hole I can see in my lineup is that I lack a traditional rim protector, and obviously after I grabbed Paul and Bosh I decided I needed to sacrifice potential for veterans to maximize my chances early on

[eric]

Jun 23, 2015 18:00:43 GMT -6 Trofie said:

Heat are not dark horses imo.

In three years, a Dragic / whoever / Parker / Davis / Dieng lineup could beat anybody... or the last three could have already peaked, there's no way of knowing. I'm confident they'll come up enough to make it look good by year 3. Not to single you out, but compare to your team. McDermott will be out of the league by year 3, the only other guys who are before their primes are MKG and Adams, not really comparable to Jabari / AD. You got dark horse too because your known quantities (i.e. Curry) are better than the Heat's, you're really opposite sides of the coin. I wouldn't be surprised if Davis won two of the next three MVPs or if he won zero. I would be surprised if Curry didn't win at least one.

[Bankz]

I voted Trofie... All that shooting

[kn88]

ctrl F

"John Wall"

2poor wins

[kn88]

For real, though, I'll look at all of them tomorrow and vote.

[20s Navidad]

Thanks eric for taking the time to do that. Your analysis of my team hurt me more than I care to actually admit as I was hoping to get a good review from you. I respect that you were completely honest with your opinions, though.

[Bankz]

yeah Eric thanks for the breakdowns...

[ANK1990]

Good stuff eric

[Buster 5000]

Druce has the best player in the game so I voted for him.

[Heynong Man]

Looking now I would switch Lee into my crunch time lineup as he is my best 3 and D guy. Also ank ruined my plans with both his Kawhi and Middleton picks. My initial was to go Kawhi and Draymond to just dominate on the perimeter on D.

[Trofie]

Jun 23, 2015 19:23:47 GMT -6 eric said:

Jun 23, 2015 18:00:43 GMT -6 Trofie said:

Heat are not dark horses imo.

In three years, a Dragic / whoever / Parker / Davis / Dieng lineup could beat anybody... or the last three could have already peaked, there's no way of knowing. I'm confident they'll come up enough to make it look good by year 3. Not to single you out, but compare to your team. McDermott will be out of the league by year 3, the only other guys who are before their primes are MKG and Adams, not really comparable to Jabari / AD. You got dark horse too because your known quantities (i.e. Curry) are better than the Heat's, you're really opposite sides of the coin. I wouldn't be surprised if Davis won two of the next three MVPs or if he won zero. I would be surprised if Curry didn't win at least one. 

If you think McDermott  will be out of the league by year 3 you're more asinine  and retarded than we all thought.  And your logic makes 0 sense. My team is on the other "side" as you put it.  Yet you have a 33 year old Dragic as a key component. Eek

[Trofie]

33 yr old by year 3

[Bankz]

Eric called my teams future bleek yet everyone is in the early to mid 20s.

[Heynong Man]

also, great job eric thanks for doing that