Redeem Team Draft - R1 - Dr Positivity* vs Snakebites

[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. Once the writeups are posted, I will add a poll, and the team with the most votes after 24 hours will advance. EACH MANAGER SHOULD ALSO VOTE FOR THEIR OWN TEAM IN THE POLL - IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS, YOU ARE SIMPLY GIVING AWAY A VOTE. If the votes are tied, we will decide the matchup via AI vote.

You are not required to state or explain your vote, but you are free to comment in the thread if you want to.

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).

[Dr Positivity]

PG: Mike Conley (2021: 12.5 FGA)
SG: Luka Doncic (2024: 23.6 FGA)
SF: Dorian Finney-Smith (2020: 7.4 FGA)
PF: Rashard Lewis (2009: 13.8 FGA)
C: Dwight Howard (2010: 10.2 FGA)

PG: Fred VanVleet (2018: 7.2 FGA)
SF: Ty Jerome (2025: 8.8 FGA)
C: Larry Nance, Jr. (2024: 4.0 FGA)

87.5 / 88

PG: Mike Conley (38) / Fred VanVleet (10)
SG: Luka Doncic (38) / Fred VanVleet (6) / Ty Jerome (4)
SF: Dorian Finney-Smith (24) / Ty Jerome (24)
PF: Rashard Lewis (38) / Dorian Finney-Smith (10)
C: Dwight Howard (38) / Larry Nance, Jr. (10)

GL Snakebites

Defensive matchups: Doncic on Iguodala, Finney-Smith on Wade, Conley on Holiday, Rashard on Mobley, Dwight on Pau

Pretty similar builds overall with the two high volume guards in Wade and peak Doncic, but Dwight is the other superstar in the series and our fit around Doncic is almost flawless with physical above the rim center, stretch PF, his favorite role player wing and secondary ballhandler. Whereas I believe the shooting of Holiday, Iguodala, Mobley and Pau is a bit lacking around Wade, without a true lockdown guy like Lewis. I prefer our bench as I'd take VanVleet and Jerome combo over O'Neale and Dudley, Nance can keep up well enough with Lively. His Doncic D is in better shape than our Wade D, but we get it back by Pau having to guard either Dwight or Lewis, while the former worked OK in real life having Doncic feeding him will help him have a good series.

[Snakebites]

PG: Jrue Holiday 20-21 13.9 FGA --- All Defensive First
SG: Dwyane Wade 09-10 19.6 FGA --- All NBA First, All Defensive First
SF: Andre Iguodala 12-13 11.0 FGA
PF: Evan Mobley 24-25 12.8 FGA --- Likely All NBA, DPOY
C: Pau Gasol 10-11 13.7 FGA --- All NBA 2nd

B: Royce O'Neale 20-21 5.5 FGA
B: Jared Dudley 14-15 5.9 FGA
B: Dereck Lively II 5.4 FGA

87.8/88 FGA

Holiday (37)/Wade (11)
Wade (26)/Iguodala (21)
Iguodala (15)/O'Neale (23)/Dudley (10)
Mobley (37)/Dudley (11)
Gasol (37)/Lively (11)

Alrightly, lets do this.

I've surrounded prime Dwyane Wade with a terrific two-way team. Gasol should pair with him similarly to how he paired with Kobe. He and Mobley form what I genuinely think is among the best front courts in this game- both All-NBA performers who complement each other on both ends of the floor. Mobley had a major breakout season this year and he spreads the floor and can guard anybody on the floor. Jrue Holiday is an ideal 3rd/4th option here, but he also gives me an elite POA defender to slot next to Dwyane Wade. Iguodala and O'Neale are solid wings who further add to the defensive identity of this team.

I've got a few things going for me that I think give me a clear advantage in this matchup.

1)D-Wade. Finney Smith is a nice defender but the challenge of Dwyane Wade is on a whole other level, and he really is the only guy they can throw at Wade here. The flip side is that Wade will be guarding DFS in this matchup which will allow him to really focus his efforts on offense- I think he's well positioned to have a great series.

2) Perimeter defense. Ours is better. We've got both Jrue and Iguodala to throw at Luka Doncic while the other guards Conley.

3) Frontcourt. I think Rashard Lewis makes this a tough matchup for Dr P given I've got two large bigmen who slot superbly next to one another. I've also got big bodies to throw at Dwight Howard. It's fair to point out that Gasol had a very strong series against Dwight in 2009 in the Finals.

[durantbird]

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Matchup is open. Dr and Snake please vote for yourselves

[durantbird]

Dr Positivity advances

[Snakebites]

I really liked this team.

Man, 2025 REALLY isn’t my year.