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).
Offense Literally all my starters can put the ball on the floor and create their own shot. Everybody but Giannis is a reliable volume 3pt shooter. Giannis surrounded by shooters is unguardable. Nash and Giannis wreak havoc on the open court. For the record, this is Brooklyn Bridges who was used as the #1 option. I'd only ask him to be the 5th option on my team.
Defense Horford may drop or switch. Giannis roams. He's an elite help defender thanks to his freakish physical tools. We got plenty of wing defenders to throw at LeBron. Nash pre-switches and peels off to the corner. All teams have an off-ball specialist lurking in the corners. I'd expect KCP to be that guy on Fade's team. When Nash rests, we have the option to run a switch-heavy scheme. All players but Nash are switchable defenders.
FGA 2021 Kawhi Leonard 17.5 2016 Al Horford 12.8 2019 Giannis Antetokoumpo 17.3 2022 Delon Wright 3.5 2004 Steve Nash 10.8 2024 Mikal Bridges 15.8 2023 Nicolas Batum 4.9 2016 Thabo Sefolosha 5.0
18.3 ppg, 13.2 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.9 spg, 2.8 bpg, .612 FG%, .592 FT%, .630 TS% - Led the NBA in rpg, bpg, FG%, DWS (7.1), DBPM (2.8) - Defensive Player of the Year - NBA All-Star - All-NBA First Team - All-Defensive First Team
PF - Rashard Lewis (2008-09)
Spoiler:
17.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.0 spg, 0.6 bpg, .439 FG%, .397 3P%, .836 FT%, 220 3P (2.8 pg), .580 TS% - Led the NBA in 3P - NBA All-Star
25.3 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 10.2 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.5 bpg, .493 FG%, .348 3P%, .693 FT%, 148 3P (2.2 pg), .577 TS% - Led the NBA in apg, AST% (49.1) - NBA Champion - NBA Finals MVP - NBA All-Star - All-NBA First Team
Rotations C - Howard (38), Chandler (10) PF - Lewis (38), James (10) SF - Brown (38), DiVincenzo (10) SG - KCP (34), DiVincenzo (14) PG - James (30), Hill (18)
FGA Per Player
Spoiler:
LeBron James - 19.4 Rashard Lewis - 13.8 Dwight Howard - 10.2 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope - 7.3 Jaylen Brown - 17.9 George Hill - 8.1 Donte DiVincenzo - 7.5 Tyson Chandler - 3.6
Total: 87.8/88.0
This team is loosely modelled on the 2019-20 Lakers, with LeBron running point alongside an uberathletic superstar big, and solid supporting pieces around them. Lewis as a lethal stretch 4 provides an element those Lakers lacked, and Brown fits in nicely alternating with Dwight as the 2nd/3rd option. Defensively, we have great positional size with the 6-4 Hill/DiVincenzo being our smallest players, and a lineup of LeBron/KCP/Brown/Lewis gives good switchability 1 through 4. The Dwight-Chandler tandem ensures we have great rim protection and rebounding at the 5 for 48 minutes. Hill and DiVincenzo provide additional shooting off the bench.
Matchup - Initial assignments will be KCP-Nash, LeBron-Bridges, Brown-Kawhi, Lewis-Horford, Dwight-Giannis. Prime Dwight is one of the few true 5s who can keep up with Giannis athletically. Down the stretch of games, LeBron switches onto Giannis, as he did to great effect in their last matchup of the 2019-20 season. - I'm not sure who Giannis will be primarily defending, but this isn't a series where he can roam with impunity. Lewis is too deadly of a shooter, while LeBron and Brown are our primary on-ball creators. - Since KCP is a reliable movement shooter and not just a stationary Bruce Bowen type, we can use him as a screener to draw Nash into the action against LeBron and Brown. - Bridges is at a size/strength disadvantage against any of LeBron, Brown, or Lewis, and all three are very good at exploiting those situations in the post and/or off the dribble.
Both teams are pretty solid but I agree "Giannis roams" doesn't sound too good in this matchup and flaco's bench is a bit weak. I'll say Lebron/Dwight with shooters managers to pull it out against super talented flaco team. Vote Fade.
It's going to be a glorious day... I feel my luck could change
I think I broadly agree with flaco that Giannis with all this shooting is pretty much unstoppable. Maybe I'm biased after watching him drop 59 on my Pistons today, but that offense looks pretty crushing to me.
The bench isn't great but it's passable- each of the three guys flaco has is at least usable, and Fade's bench is just okay for me too given the years for DDV and Chandler.
This isn't a prefect defensive matchup for Flaco given Lewis's demand on Giannis's attention, but I still think flaco has the right defensive pieces to at least contest Lebron, and I've always thought Giannis with Nash in the open court would be pretty deadly.
Both teams fit really well and this should be a high scoring game. Fade has slightly better fit with perfect Lebron James cast but Flaco's fit is still fine. Lebron should dominate but I also think Kawhi and Giannis will
