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).
Donovan Mitchell - 2025 - 18.6 FGA - 1st Team All-NBA, 36.8 3P% on 8.9 att, 1st Place in the East Nikola Jokic - 2023 - 14.8 FGA - 2nd in MVP, 38.3 3P% on 2.2 att, NBA Champion Andrew Wiggins - 2022 - 14.0 FGA - All-Star, 39.3 3P% on 5.5 att, NBA Champion Derrick White - 2024 - 11.5 FGA - 2nd Team All-Defense, 39.6 3P% on 6.8 att, NBA Champion Jaden McDaniels - 2023 - 9.1 FGA - 39.8 3P% on 3.4 att Aaron Nesmith - 2025 - 8.4 FGA - 43.1 3P% on 4.3 att, NBA Finalist Serge Ibaka - 2012 - 7.4 FGA - 2nd in DPOY, NBA Finalist Nick Collison - 2013 - 3.7 FGA - Highest WS/48 of Career Total: 87.5/88 FGA
Rotations: Derrick White (36) / Donovan Mitchell (12) Donovan Mitchell (26) / Aaron Nesmith (22) Andrew Wiggins (36) / Jaden McDaniels (8) / Aaron Nesmith (4) Serge Ibaka (30) / Jaden McDaniels (18) Nikola Jokic (40) / Nick Collison (8)
Writeup:
Helluva team as always Fade, best of luck.
Defensively we will start with White on SGA, Mitchell on KCP, Wiggins on Pierce, Ibaka on Siakam, and Jokic on Gobert. Nesmith/McDaniels will both see time on the combo of SGA/Pierce/Schrempf.
I think we match up really well here defensively. Mitchell and Jokic are my two worst defenders and here they are matched up with limited offensive weapons in KCP and Gobert. White/Nesmith/McDaniels/Wiggins/Ibaka make for a dynamic defensive group to guard his biggest threats.
I think we are going to thrive offensively as well with subpar answers for Jokic. Gobert is an elite defender and rim-protector but not an ideal defender for Jokic. KCP is the only other great-elite defender on Fade's team, with all other 6 players ranging from weak to solid albeit unspectacular.
I think my main edge here is how devastating the Mitchell-Jokic two man game would be. Jokic makes the whole team better. And here he has a significant upgrade over Murray in Mitchell as well as a ton of shooting to space the floor. The Murray-Jokic two man game has been nigh-impossible to stop at times in the playoffs the past few years, keeping them in games/series where the Nuggets had a noticeable talent disadvantage. Hell, they brought OKC to 7 games this year!
14.0 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 1.3 apg, 0.7 spg, 2.1 bpg, .661 FG%, .638 FT%, .675 TS% - Led the NBA in DWS (5.8) - Defensive Player of the Year - All-Defensive First Team
We've surrounded MVP Shai with a lethal supporting cast. Pierce and Siakam are monster co-second bananas who can play off ball and space the floor for Shai as well as create their own shot at a high level. Schrempf brings a similarly varied skill set and carries our second unit. Defensively, we have high-level contributors all over the roster, with Gobert as the anchor, KCP at the point of attack, and the Shai/Pierce/Siakam trio being quality defenders in addition to their offensive talents.
Matchup - We start out with the alignment that has proven to be most successful against Jokic in recent years, with a rangy wing (Siakam) battling him and making his catches difficult while our rim protector (Gobert) stays near the basket to provide help. Ibaka's low-volume scoring and lack of three-point range won't do much to hold Gobert's attention. For the remaining matchups, we feel perfectly comfortable with KCP as the primary Mitchell defender and no real weak spots if someone has to switch onto him in a pinch. - Any one of Shai, Pierce, or Siakam can use Gobert/KCP as a screener to draw Jokic or Mitchell into the action and attack them one-on-one. This is where we have an advantage as Schrempf is the only below-average defender in our rotation, and he's coming off the bench. By contrast, Jokic and Mitchell are starting and playing big minutes, which means we always have a place to attack. - Ibaka guarding Siakam limits the extent to which he can drop and protect the paint, which is a problem given that Jokic is a relative non-factor in that regard.
