Donut Draft Semi - Laimbeer* vs durantbird

[durantbird]

Here is a quick list of what you need in your writeup.

1. Specific years for each player on your team
2. Rotations and minutes for each player
3. Reasoning as to why your team will win and/or why people should vote for you.

Do not vote in this thread until both managers have submitted their writeups. Please ensure you give a rationale for your vote; votes with no explanation will not be counted.

If writeups aren't posted within 24 hours, we will vote solely based on the players they have drafted (and any rotations they have posted on their roster page).

We'll be using a AI vote when a matchup seems stuck, at least 24 hours since its opening. AI vote counts for a single vote.

**First to 3 votes advances**

[durantbird]

PG: Jason Kidd 09' - 7.6
SG: Kobe Bryant 08' - 20.6
SF: OG Anunoby 20' - 8.2
PF: Charles Barkley 93' - 18.1
C: Joel Embiid 22' - 19.6

Bench: Shaun Livingston 17' - 4.2
Bench: Mario Elie 95' - 6.0
Bench: JaVale McGee 18' - 3.4

7.6+20.6+8.2+18.1+19.6+6+4.2+3.4=87.7

Rotation:
PG: Jason Kidd 38 / Shaun Livingston 10
SG: Kobe Bryant 38 / Shaun Livingston 8 / Mario Elie 2
SF: OG Anunoby 24 / Mario Elie 24
PF: Charles Barkley 38 / OG Anunoby 10
C: Joel Embiid 39 / JaVale McGee 9

Vs

David Robinson (38) / Andrei Kirilenko (10)
Draymond Green (38) / Andrei Kirilenko (10)
Royce O'Neale (36) / Luc Mbah a Moute (8) / Reggie Miller (4)
Stephen Curry (28) / Reggie Miller (20)
Luka Dončić (38) / Stephen Curry (10)

Matchup
- Defensive assignments Kidd vs Steph, Anunoby vs Luka, Kobe vs O'Neale, Barkley vs Draymond, Embiid vs Robinson.
- We match up well. O'Neale is the only somewhat viable Kobe defender but I don't trust him enough against someone like Kobe. Our elite defense can terrorize Luka Steph, with Kobe being free to double down any of them and join Kidd/Anunoby. Draymond won't be able to function as an help defender and will need to be glued to Barkley, while he's also a comfortable matchup for Barkley on the other side. Kidd will have a weak defender on him which will help him orchestrate our offense.
- I like the fit of Kobe Barkley Embiid. Kobe flourished alongside elite big men and Embiid can operate alongside Barkley with his spacing. Kidd and Anunoby are perfect glue guys. Draymond Luka on the other side are clunky, and Anunoby contributes much more than O'Neale offensively. I think better fit and much better defense with Barkley not being exposed and much less defensive holes, we take the series.

[Laimbeer]

David Robinson ( 1995 ) 18.4 - MVP (1)
Draymond Green ( 2017 ) 8.0 - World Champ, DPOY (1)
Royce O'Neale ( 2021 ) 5.5 - All-D votes, 38.5% on 3.9 3PA
Stephen Curry ( 2021 ) 18.3 - MVP (6)
Luka Dončić ( 2017 ) 20.5 - World Champ, MVP (6)

Andrei Kirilenko ( 2007 ) 6.0 - DPOY (13), 2.5 blks per 36
Luc Mbah a Moute ( 2016 ) 3.0 - All-D votes
Reggie Miller ( 2004 ) 7.4 - 40.1% on 4.2 3PA

87.1

David Robinson (38) / Andrei Kirilenko (10)
Draymond Green (38) / Andrei Kirilenko (10)
Royce O'Neale (36) / Luc Mbah a Moute (8) / Reggie Miller (4)
Stephen Curry (28) / Reggie Miller (20)
Luka Dončić (38) / Stephen Curry (10)

Good luck, GM.

Offensively we're a juggernaut. Luka/DRob P&R is nightmarish and Steph will absolutely feast off-ball. Draymond can provide secondary playmaking. Old Kidd chasing Steph as a tough match-up. Reggie Miller is a game changer off the bench.

Embiid/Barkley is clunky offensively. DRob/Embiid, Draymond/Barkley, Doncic/Anuoby, O'Neale/Kobe, Steph/Kidd. Neither Embiid or Barkley have a great track record in the playoffs.

We have a huge bench edge in Reggie and AK47 versus a bargain basement.

[Fadeaway_J]

.

Still need to switch FGAs for Steph and Luka

[Fadeaway_J]

As I said the last round, Chuck and Embiid have the versatility to make the pairing work, but I don't think facing D-Rob and Draymond is a good matchup for them. There's also the concern of Chuck being drawn into the Steph-Draymond two-man game where his inattentiveness can be brutally exposed. Kobe and Kidd is a nice backcourt fit, but there's something to be said for having two MVP-level perimeter players with complementary skill sets, especially since you can stagger them over the 48 minutes as Laimbeer is doing here.

Vote: Laimbeer

[Dr Positivity]

The teams are mirror images of each other but I believe in chemistry potential of Curry and Doncic more and the bench makes the difference. Vote Laimbeer.

[flaco]

I think Draymond becomes an offensive liability next to Luka. His biggest strength on offense is his secondary playmaking, especially for shooters coming off screens. I have a hard time imagining Draymond being a mid-post passer or a short roll playmaker on a Luka team. Not even sure he'd excel at transition passing cause Luka teams are built to play in the half court. All that said, I think there would be even less synergy between db's big 3: Kobe, Chuck and Embiid are iso scorers. As talented as they are, I doubt they'd be more efficient than Luka-DRob running the PnR or Steph bombing 3s off Luka's gravity.

Vote: Laimbeer

[durantbird]

Laimbeer advances