SWB Feature: NBA Mock Teams – Part 3

Roy Hibbert and Paul George Highlight P.Ainsworth’s Starting 5

PG:Damian Lillard ($4.2 million)

SG: Klay Thompson ($6.1 million)

SF: Paul George ($16.9 million)

PF: Anthony Davis ($7.1 milion)

C: Roy Hibbert ($15.5 million)

Bench: Danny Green ($6.3 million)

Bench:Thomas Robinson ($4.6 million)

Bench:Jimmy Butler ($3.1 million)

Bench: Nick Collison ($2.4 million)

Bench: Pat Beverley ($1.1 million)

Bench: Quincy Acy ($1.18 million)

Bench: Phil Pressey ($1.0 million)

Explanation

I, like Tuckness, went with looking at what is being successful in the NBA. I looked at the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, San Antonio Spurs, and other successful teams in the game today. Find a stud, get 2 more all-star guys, and then find the right role players. Across all categories, focus on defense and how they will work with your stud. While I would love to have built my team around LeBron or Kevin Durant, both of their teams are over the cap as structured. Add the fact the LeBron’s “paycut” fades away in the next three years (and we’re going with what the players will be paid in three years), I just couldn’t fit either of them on the roster. Like Ryan, I would have loved to have just said F#@% it we’ll sell a lot of season tickets, souvenirs, and jerseys and go over the salary cap to pay the luxury tax, but that’s a whole separate experiment.

With that being said, I think if your team is in this experiment and you don’t have Paul George, you’re wrong. The guy is under $17 mil, he’s a top MVP candidate, and a he dominates games offensively and defensively. And, if this team were moving forward, his potential is even higher. The guy is honestly a must have, and the perfect player to build your team around in this scenario. He gives LeBron and KD as good a run for their money as any of them, and comes at a much smaller price tag.

Then, the decision is a big man. I looked at stretch fours for days trying to figure out who to put the next highest chunk of my budget into. At the end of the day, after watching the trouble he gave teams in the last few playoffs, I went with Roy “I’M AN ANIMAL” Hibbert. He is a force down low, blocks and alters countless shots, is an all star offensively… Simply put, he may very well be the best true 5 in the league. Add that he’s young, and his price tag is only $15.5 million? I’ve gotta have him. He’s an instant game changer, and frankly most teams won’t be able to match up with him on both ends.

The last part that I noticed successful teams had to have was an all star guard. Some had point guards (a la’ Tony Parker) some had 2 guards (ie. Dwyane Wade). I went with investing in a 2 guard, Klay Thompson. The point guard is a very deep positon in the NBA. That is to say, there are a lot of good or better points. Klay Thompson, however, is a steal. The guy is a long, quick trigger, defensive shooting guard. A career 41% three-point shooter, is good for a steal a game, stands at 6’7”, taller than many 2’s. I’m liking my odds so long as the sharp shooter is on the floor.

So that’s my “Big Three.” Clearly, building a trio that keeps your team under the cap is a very different exercise. But I’d run this three against any three in this scenario. I have a potential NBA MVP, the NBA’s top post presence, and a catch and shoot as well as lock down defender. I also, slotted how many minutes I think each can play because that’s important. You can’t just get LeBron and Steph Curry and think “well they can both play 45 minutes a night. Yeah, that’ll work” (cough, cough). A lot more has to go into it. It’s not a video game. So in constructing my role players, I kept what their role was and how long they’d need to do it.

That’s what brought me to Damian Lillard. He was an amazing impact for the Blazers last year, knows how to play with a post and a wing (if he can do that with Aldridge and Batum, imagine what he can do with PG and Hibbs!), and played 38.3 minutes per game (led the league). I’m only asking him to play 34, but I’m sure he can adjust. Thus, I can invest $4.2 million, and be confident I have a young star at point for the large majority of the game.

My starting 4 will also spell Hibbs for stretches as the 5, and he’s Anthony “The Brow” Davis. Davis starts at 4, but will split time at the 4 with Robinson and at the 5 with Hibbert because he can really play both. He’s a serious shot blocker and alterer, and has a good post offensive game. Anthony Davis as a 5 will be great for stretches of the game when we go small, and as a 4 will be great when we’re playing big. When I have Davis and Hibbert both back there, I feel the rim is more than adequately protected. When I have Davis and Robinson in there, I feel we have some speed and hustle.

San Antonio’s Danny Green Comes in as P.Ainsworth’s 6th Man

My bench is something I’m proud of. Many of the other writer’s teams, in my opinion, lack depth. Many of them invested in 4 all stars and minimum across the board. But that’s not what winning teams do. My star on the bench is Danny Green. Green is the guy I’d have to work for the most in this. His contract ends after next year, and he’s making $3.7 million this year and $4 next year. I know he’s probably looking for more money, and not just the same 300K jump. I bumped him $2.3 million, and I think he’d be ok with it. Afterall, he’s a Spur. The Spurs are notorious for underpaying guys for winning games, and I think he’d make the sacrifice. He’d get great minutes, he’ll come in and play great wing defense and hit threes. In games that were more of a defensive grind, he’d probably play more than the 20 minutes he’ allotted at the moment. Overall, he’s just a fantastic worker, phenomenal defender, and someone who could be the best 6th man in the league. Obviously there’s a chance he’d rather start, but he’s a Spur. If you could show him that he’d win in this role, I think he’d do it.

Thomas Robinson was near getting into my starting lineup. He’s big, strong athletic, and a true 4. I know I’ll get flak about how I have other posts on my bench, but here’s my thing, I want to start the game fast. Robinson is explosive. Of course he’s crazy young and has a high ceiling, but he has serious potential to be a force. Built like a poor man’s Dwight Howard (stands at 6’9”, but has the same physique), he could be a great defensive, hustle power forward. And who am I to knock the hustle. He’ll get a lot of time at the 4 spot, and will come in to add speed and explosion with Green early in the game.

My other three regular subs are where I may have found my best value per dollar. Jimmy Butler ($3.1 million), Nick Collison ($2.4 million), and Pat Beverely ($1.1 million) are my next regular subs, and could all contribute high value to the team. Jimmy Butler is a long arm, 6’7” great defender who can knock down threes (shoots 45%, 36% from three). That’s solid for a second unit guy, really could be a sixth man with those numbers. But I think he could be a great guy to come in for George or Thompson at either wing spot. Collison has shown serious hustle, a great mid range jumpshot, and is a “charge taker,” and every team needs a chargetaker. At $2.4 million? He’s a must have. Beverley comes in as a backup guard, and has proven he can play in this league. He will be a great guard to lead that second unit.

My last two guys I thought I needed youth with promise. Quincy Acy and Phil Pressey are low, low contracts that have shown glimpses of serious basketball talent in preseason play. Acy and Pressey both have serious explosion and can really blossom into NBA talent. Thus I’d tag them along as 11th and 12th men, hoping they develop as the years go on.

Josh’s Critique

I believe that Mr. Ainsworth’s team is the most talented (after mine) in this league. The players he has chosen are of higher caliber than the others, but some of his bench players seem unrealistic in coming off the bench. But let’s start off with the starting five.

Damian Lillard is a great point guard to have. He’s young and he’s a proven scorer and passer. I think he turns it over too much, but the second-year guard will learn to take care of it better as he has more seasons under his belt. I really like Lillard. He brings energy to the floor and I think he’s the primary reason the Trailblazers are so damn good this year. Klay Thompson and Roy Hibbert are both players who I put in my starting five so I don’t need to spend time talking about them, especially since everyone else had Thompson in their line-up. Paul George is the new superstar in this league. He can do everything. It would have taken me longer to write down everything he’s good at, so I just wrote everything. Because that’s what he can do. He’s $6 million cheaper than LeBron. A better investment in my eyes.

But then things get a little weird. Thomas Robinson? Robinson was so horrible the Sacramento Kings didn’t want him. The Kings!!! If they want to trade someone away as fast as possible, that can’t be a good sign. Especially since their forwards right now are Travis Outlaw and Jason Thompson! Robinson was a good college player, I’m not going to deny that.

Nick Collison and Patrick Beverley are both players I think are a steal at their contracts. Collison has proven himself a more than capable back-up with a good baseline jumper. Beverley gained media attention with his play last postseason when he backed up Jeremy Lin (and caused Westbrooks’ meniscus tear). Beverley earned the starting rights at the beginning of the season and I think he will make an excellent back-up. Overall, building around George was an excellent idea. Ainsworth surrounded his super-star with capable back-up’s and a solid bench; more than Ryan and Matt I think.

Ryan’s Critique

Just as Josh’s team started with a look at the point guard, so does Parker’s. I’m not sold on Lillard as much more than a point guard gunner, granted that is a common criticism of my boy Russ, but he’s not as good as Russ and I don’t see him ever being as good. Honestly, I don’t even see him as good as Kyrie, who is 2 years younger, and Lillard has precious little time before he hits his prime unlike Kyrie. He also, like Kyrie, is a very poor defender. Maybe this is due to him playing so many minutes but Paul George does it, so why can’t Lillard even be a poor defender. Obviously, I’m nitpicking because that is what is going to happen in an exercise like this and it’s very likely that Lillard’s defense doesn’t matter too much because of the great back end defense the rest of Parker’s starting lineup has.

The rest of the starting lineup has been elaborated on by everyone else and I know you love my writing, but reading many more words may make your eyes bleed so just know that I have absolutely no complaints or real criticisms on the rest of the Texan’s starting lineup.

The bench has me pretty giddy because a couple of the players are people I’ve long been fans of, but I wonder if there are going to be chemistry issues between Danny Green and Jimmy Butler, two starters that are going to see a big time minutes reduction. Great minds think alike and Parker and I proved to have great minds in picking Patrick Beverly to our teams. That guy is everything you want in a backup point guard if you don’t choose to go the scoring route. Nick Collison is one of those solid backup bigs that every good team seems to have, a guy who will do all the little things without ever needing to touch the ball to feel useful. And Collison still possess enough scoring skill from his days at Kansas to put the ball in the hoop at an efficient rate. One of my problems lies in the Thomas Robinson pick. I admit I have soured on him since he came out of college, even though I count the first half of his rookie year as a waste because he was on the Kings. This year though he is still only averaging 11 minutes a game for a surprisingly strong Blazers team so far this year and I had much higher expectations for him, say 20 minutes a game. I guess I would have liked to see him play in some juicy Aldridge/Robinson lineups so far this year that could be a terror for opposing defenses, and until the Portland coaching staff chooses to believe in him, people who see him everyday, I won’t either, regardless of how athletic he is.

And now to the conundrum of having both Danny Green and Jimmy Butler as bench players. If this was a vacuum I would say that there is no better combination, but creating a hypothetical team in a vacuum is not what we are doing here and I see two disgruntled players in this situation. Why are two guys who have proven to be above average starter (better than 15 people in the league at 2 guard), going to all of a sudden be accepting of not only a bench role, but a bench role that sees them competing for time against another sub just isn’t happening? These guys are going to want to get paid on their next contract and this situation offers no hope for that because one is going to be cut out of the rotation for the most part. Unless Parker commits to playing super small most of the time, I just don’t see this working. Parker, I hope you believe in your persuasion skills better than I do.

Matt Tuckness Critique

After reading what both Josh and Parker have said in the comparison of Lebron James and Paul George I have to say I am a little confused. Yes, Lebron James is getting paid 5 million dollars more than Paul George, but to be honest I still don’t know if it is enough. Paul George had a break-out playoff series and is emerging as a superstar, but do yo know how many games we have seen Paul George play at this level? About 25. I am not sure that is enough to say he a better bargain than Lebron. Lebron averages a couple more rebounds, 4 more assists and shoots a much higher percentage from the field. Lebron shoots less than Paul George, but averages more points than him. So to everyone out there (Josh and Parker) ready to jump off the Lebron James bandwagon and jump onto the Paul George one you may want to slow down. Paul George isn’t there yet. Now that I got that out of the way let’s jump into Parker’s team.

Parker’s overall make-up was very similar to Josh’s team. A young scoring point guard in Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson and the combination of Roy Hibbert and Anthony Davis down-low. I have said my piece about the make-up of this starting line-up, so see Josh’s piece above. What I have to point out is a comment Parker made about Ryans team. Damian Lillard is a poor mans Russell Westbrook. He is a score first point guard who is a better shooter, but plays with a similar mentality. Although, I think they would fit together why would Parker who criticized the combo of Westbrook and George put a very similar combination together. Now, I believe the statement was said that Roy Hibbert is an all-star center on the offensive side of the ball. I am not sure averaging 12 points a game and shooting below 46% constitutes an all star scorer. I also am not a fan of building around a center that can not score. Of all the great centers to win championships, Olajuwon, Shaq, Tim Duncan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar all were excellent offensive players. Aside from the Mavericks I can’t really think of any team whose third best player was a defensive minded center.

That brings me to his bench which has a lot of talent. Danny Green is an excellent three point shooter and Jimmy Butler is a lock down defender. Patrick Beverley is also a solid defender, but when you have to bring your second unit in how do they score. All three of these players benefit from somebody else handling the ball. I am not sure I like Beverly handling the ball as my point. In 30 minutes a game this season he is averaging a little over 2 assists. That does not bode very well for Danny Green who is dependent on other people creating opportunities for him to get an open shot. Teams will be able to over play the screens to him because no one else can threaten to penetrate. If you ask me all I see is a lot of frustrated bench players struggling to score. Jimmy Butler benefited from Nate Robinson and Kirk Hinrich. Patrick Beverly benefits from James Harden creating. Obviously Danny Green benefits from one of the ultimate creators Tony Parker as well as Manu Ginobili. This is my biggest issue with his team overall. Who is going to create for player who struggle to get their own shot? Finally I think Parker may have wasted 4.6 million for Thomas Robinson. He could have dropped Robinson and swapped Noah for Hibbert and upgraded to Lebron James. Anytime you get a chance to build around the number one player in the last 15 year you have to take it.