The Process God
Birthing All-Stars
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The above image is taken from the NBA Discussion Facebook page. I can see how some might see the post as sophomoric, but I actually thought that it was rather interesting coming up with my own lineup from it because it allows you to choose what you think the bargains are and where you should spend heavy in each section. Hey, Kyrie is out, and we're not making the playoffs, so I thought I'd post this to pass the time. :chuckles:
Keep in mind that you only have $15 to work with while using the costs associated with each player. One special thing of note that I would make is that it says that each player is in their prime. Interestingly enough, not all players on that list have likely reached the best that they're ever going to be (Westbrook, George, Harden, Durant, Hibbert, Cousins, Lopez), so I take age into consideration as well. Whether or not you find it acceptable choosing players based on how they may or may not end up improving is up to you, but I took it into consideration a little bit.
Anyhow, here is my reasoning here:
For point guard, I thought that this was the easiest decision. Deron Williams before he mailed it in at Brooklyn was the 2nd best point guard in the league behind Chris Paul at one point. This was while he was in Utah. At one point, he was averaging 20ppg/10apg/4rpg on 44/33/85 shooting. His passing is right up there with Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo and surpasses Westbrook and Rose's. Combined with his ability to score and even spread the offense (which is important when everyone can handle the ball well like in this case since it's an all-star team we're talking about here), he's a steal for $1.
I actually like Williams over Westbrook at any rate because he'd be more serviceable off the ball as a floor spacer, and he's the better passer and more of a pure PG. He's a better scorer and floor spacer than Rondo although Rondo gets the nod in rebounding and defense. However, considering who else is on the team, rebounding and even defense can take a back seat compared to what he brings to the table. Additionally, Rose is again too ball dominant, and even though Rose gets the edge as the better player, he's not worth the three extra dollars, nor is Chris Paul worth the extra $4. Long story short, Williams is the obvious chose for me due to his production at the low price point of $1. Even if I had extra money to spend, I'd only spend more if I could buy Derrick Rose because I don't see Rondo or Westbrook as worth it.
Next is shooting guard. Shooting guard was a little bit more complex than point guard because JR Smith is not a bargain compared to the rest of the guys. I'd say that both James Harden and Paul George are great deals, and both actually fit well into any offense. Dwyane Wade is a clear step up from George, Harden, and Smith, but with his cost of $4, we'll have to look at other positions to see whether or not it's worth justifying taking him. The same also goes with Bryant. Bryant is clearly the best in the group, but both he and Wade are very ball dominant. Wade also isn't as good of a floor spacer as Bryant, George, or Harden. Because of Wade's relative lack of floor spacing and JR Smith's underwhelming star power, I'm probably going to go ahead and narrow this list down to being between Kobe, Paul, and James. It's hard to choose between the three without knowing who I will buy at SF, PF, and C yet.
For small forward, I'm pretty much going to go ahead and make this between LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is the obvious bargain here, but I still think that LeBron James is the better player overall. Carmelo at $4 is a joke since I'd take Durant over him anyway, and Josh Smith and Rudy Gay leave al lot to be desired since neither have done even close to what the other three have done as players. This choice will come down to whether or not I have some extra money to spend. If I look between the shooting guard and small forward positions as to what two-man duo I'd prefer for the cost, I'd take Kobe/Kevin over George/James. Right now, although I see James as the better player over Durant, prime Kobe is miles ahead of Paul George, and I don't think it will ever be close. Durant also has room to improve and possibly even overtake James' peak (if he is even at his peak yet, which is also amazing to think about). So for now I am going to go with Kobe as my shooting guard and Durant as my small forward. This, however, could change as I narrow down my selections at PF and C.
For power forward, the first guy I would have to eliminate from the group is Kevin Garnett due to his cost compared to someone who was just as productive and is $1 cheaper in Tim Duncan. Power forward in general has a lot of good options since all players listed have made multiple all-star appearances and are likely hall-of-famers (Amaré might miss out though). It's tough to choose between Bosh and Amaré, but I'd probably have to go with Bosh because of his floor spacing and better rebounding combined with the fact that he's actually improved a lot as a defender. However, there's a large increase in ability when going from Bosh to Dirk. Dirk is clearly the better player in his prime. However, there's yet even another jump in talent between Dirk and Tim Duncan, arguably the best power forward ever. Duncan is going to be the kind of guy who can be a go-to scorer, can be your anchor on defense, your main rebounder, and a good facilitator. You can't beat Tim Duncan. So for now, I'd like to say Tim Duncan, but Dirk is definitely in consideration until I nail down who I'd want at center.
For center, the immediate bargain that sticks out is DeMarcus Cousins. The guy is only 23, and he is already arguably the best center in the league. He's a monster rebounder and absolutely phenomenal on offense. At 23 years of age, he also has plenty of room for growth as well. Howard is the best defensive anchor here, but he's not worth it at $5. Duncan/Cousins is a better combo than Garnett/Lopez that also gives you a lot more size and overall versatility since both can rebound at an elite level, score at an elite level, and at least Duncan can be your defensive anchor at an elite level even if Cousins isn't the best defensively. The other combo to consider down low is Hibbert/Dirk, which is completely viable as a combo. Dirk is the perfect PF to compliment Hibbert. However, I think that what you give up offensively with losing DeMarcus cousins is not made up by what you make up offensively by gaining Dirk. I also think that the better defensive combo is Duncan/Cousins as well. So for power forward and center, I'd have to go with Duncan and Cousins respectively.
Now to consider some other combos really quickly to cover all my bases, I'd like to first off point out that both in a vacuum and when considering the other possible combos, I'd choose Williams in a heartbeat. It's simply too expensive to move up to Rose or Paul, so he stays. The same goes for DeMarcus Cousins. The next guy up I'd take over him is maybe Howard, of whom I cannot justify the cost, so he stays as well. I already considered SG/SF combos, so for SG/PF combos, I'd take Kobe/Timmy over Garnett/Wade because although I don't feel like I"m losing any star power by going from Garnett to Duncan (I'm probably gaining star power here), I'm somewhat losing some star power by going from Bryant to Wade. As for SF/PF combos, Durant/Duncan is going to outdo James/Dirk. I feel you are giving up a lot more by going from Garnett to Nowitzki than you are from going from James to Durant. The only tempting change to make for me is switching the Kobe/Kevin combo with George/James because James is still technically a little better right now and George is still an unknown and could become a lot better still based on his trajectory so far.
This is my final lineup:
PG - Deron Williams - $1
SG - Kobe Bryant - $5
SF - Kevin Durant - $3
PF - Tim Duncan - $4
C - DeMarcus Cousins - $2
Williams acts as a great floor general whose overall offensive capabilities allow him to play off the ball as well and be respected on offense out to the 3-pt line. His defense leaves some to be desired, but we have some other guys for that. Kobe is an elite player all around who can be the team's lock-down defender on the wing while also being a go-to scorer and facilitator. Durant continues to improve as his career goes on. He is already arguably as good as LeBron, and he's only 25. He could eventually become a lock-down defender on the wing due to his length, and I see him as a great off-the-ball guy in this offense who, like the other guys, can also be a go-to scorer. Duncan is the team's anchor on defense and is going to be doing a lot of the dirty work while also making things easier for the other guys on offense due to his extremely high basketball IQ. He also spreads the floor well. Cousins' weaknesses are covered up by Duncan although who knows what a motivated Cousins could do with 5 more years of development to hone his skills.
Anyhow, that's my budget team.
What's your team and why?
