Christmas Day 2024 Draft - R1 - Larry Russell 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. AI vote counts for a single vote.

**First to 3 votes advances**

[durantbird]

First pick: Jokic-Booker (Denver-Suns)
Second pick: Paul-Gordon (Denver-Suns)
Third pick: McDaniels-Marion (Minny-Dallas)
Fourth pick: Bowen-Hartenstein (Spurs-Knicks)

PG: Chris Paul 21' - 12.6
SG: Devin Booker 24' - 19.2
SF: Bruce Bowen 03' - 5.8
PF: Aaron Gordon 23' - 11.2
C: Nikola Jokic 23' - 14.8

Bench: Jaden McDaniels 23' - 9.1
Bench: Shawn Marion 11' - 10.4
Bench: Isaiah Hartenstein 24' - 4.9

88/88

Chris Paul 38 / Devin Booker 10
Devin Booker 28 / Bruce Bowen 16 / Jaden McDaniels 4
Bruce Bowen 16 / Jaden McDaniels 22 / Shawn Marion 10
Aaron Gordon 30 / Shawn Marion 17 / Nikola Jokic 1
Nikola Jokic 37 / Isaiah Hartenstein 11

Vs

PG: Holiday (34) / Alexander-Walker(14)
SG: Butler (38) / Alexander-Walker (6) / Pietrus (4)
SF: Howard (38) / Pietrus (10)
PF: Nowitzki (38) / Horford (8) / Pietrus (2)
C: Horford (30) / Gasol (18)

Matchup
- Assignments: Paul on Holiday, Booker on Howard, Bowen on Butler, Gordon on Dirk, Jokic on Horford.
- We match up well here. We've got great defenders for all of his main guys, while Bowen McDaniels Marion Gordon is an insane defensive wing rotation that will make life hard for both Butler and Dirk. On the other side I guess Horford guards Jokic, but that leaves LR without rim protection. Old Lakers Gasol plays extended minutes and will struggle with Jokic or a perimeter guy.
- We've got the better leading trio in Jokic Booker Paul versus Butler Dirk Horford. We also enjoy from two proven combinations in Paul Booker and Jokic Gordon.
- Philly Holiday (less than 50% regular season TS%) and Lakers Gasol (who plays too much) are highly meaningful downgrades. So I think we overall have a nice depth gap in our favor, and McDaniels Marion Hartenstein is a much better bench than NAW Pietrus Lakers Gasol.

[Larry_Russell]

PG: Jrue Holiday (2011-12) 12.8
13.5ppg, 3.3rpg, 4.5apg, 1.6spg, 38% on 2.6-3pta

SG: Jimmy Butler (2017-18) 15.6
22.2ppg, 5.3rpg, 4.9apg, 2spg, 35% on 3.4-3pta
MMVP-10, DPOY-12, NBA-3, DEF-2, AS

SF: Josh Howard (2006-07) 15.4
19ppg, 6.8rpg, 1.8apg, 1.2spg, 0.8bpg, 38.5% on 3.5-3pta
All defense and All NBA vote shares, AS

PF: Dirk Nowizki (2010-11) 16.2
23ppg, 7rpg, 2.6apg, 0.5spg, 0.6bpg, 40% on 2.3-3pta
FMVP, MVP-6, NBA-2, AS

C: Al Horford (2017-18) 10.5
13ppg, 7.4rpg, 4.7apg, 0.6spg, 1.1bpg
DPOY-5, Def-2, AS, All NBA Votes received

PG/SG: Nickeil Alexander-Walker (2023-24) 6.6
8ppg, 2rpg, 2.5apg, 0.8spg, 0.5bpg, 39% on 4-3pta

SF/PF: Mickael Pietrus (2007-08) 5.9
7.2ppg, 3.7rpg, 0.7apg, 1spg, 0.7bpg, 36% on 2.8-3pta

C: Marc Gasol (2020-21) 3.7
5ppg, 4rpg, 2apg, 0.5spg, 1bpg, 41% on 2.3-3pta


PG: Holiday (34) / Alexander-Walker(14)
SG: Butler (38) / Alexander-Walker (6) / Pietrus (4)
SF: Howard (38) / Pietrus (10)
PF: Nowitzki (38) / Horford (8) / Pietrus (2)
C: Horford (30) / Gasol (18)

86.7/88

Defense. I have miles of it.

Straight up matchups. Dirk gets to hide on Gordon. Jrue mans up paul
Butler locks up booker
Howard cheats off Bowen to double up on Jokic helping out the incredible adept Horford.

Offensively I click great with an upgraded championship dallas team that more fits the modern game with spacing.

Dirk in season chosen had arguable the most elite playoff run of all time in terms of who he beat.

My team maximizes him.

[Fadeaway_J]

This series would be fun to watch with the level of skill and basketball IQ on display. Jokic + the Suns backcourt is a tough combo; Booker is a more natural fit, but this version of CP3 is also better suited to share primacy with Jokic than prior years, and the pick-and-roll would be deadly. Dirk-Butler-Horford-Howard works nicely as well. 2012 Jrue as a starter seems like a bit of a stretch, as does NAW as his backup. For durantbird, I would have preferred more a shooter like DFS rather than introducing Marion to a rotation that already features Gordon (not to mention, I would start McDaniels over a one-dimensional corner shooter like Bowen). Ultimately, Jokic-Booker-CP3 has a higher offensive ceiling to me, and that combined with several quality defenders is enough to carry the day here.

Vote: durantbird

[Dr Positivity]

Both teams are pretty solid but I think durantbird's depth is excellent and I consider 2012 Holiday to be a meaningful downgrade. Vote durantbird.

[wackbone]

db has a significant edge in playmaking and depth. It's hard to build a truly viable team in these games with 28 FGA on 2012 Jrue and Josh Howard, but Larry did an admirable job.

Vote: durantbird

[durantbird]

durantbird advances