Peak Jordan,Bird and Ewing with Nets roster: Predict their Season

[Wolfy1983]

They play in West. How will they do?

[therealbig3]

They'd win the title.

They've got some talent, just nothing that could LEAD a team to a lot of wins. You give them 3 franchise players like that, they can definitely give them decent support and help them win a title. Jeremy Lin is a very underrated PG, and Allen Crabbe is one of the best shooters in the league. RHJ and Levert aren't too shabby either.

I think DLo sucks, but everyone else I mentioned can be helpful.

[JordansBulls]

I don't see how they don't win the title with 2 bad ass assasins and a dominant big who can punish the west.

[Brooklyn_34]

Don't know if you are asking the question for each one individually or all three together.

All three together, title definitely.

Separately: No....but Jordan would have the best chance out of the three.

[Wolfy1983]

Well so far, 3 posters have selected no. Keep in mid that it is all three guys with a below average roster against a pretty stacked Western conference with a heavy stacked and deep Warriors team who can shoot you out of the building.

[Dr Positivity]

Good matchup with Golden State. Nets have better top 3 players, but Klay and Iguodala help even it up for Warriors. I lean Warriors

[euroleague]

Easy win. People forget MJ's dominance on defense. he was DPOTY. Bird was an elite defender, and 6'10 and big. Ewing would have nobody to stop him. Draymond would be destroyed by Bird, Ewing would take down zaza. MJ would lock down Curry. they just need DeMarre Carroll to do an ok job defending KD on the perimeter - Ewing is an all-time great help defender on the interior, and Bird is also a great help defender.

Just make KD play iso ball all day, and let MJ go to work with Bird's passing and Ewing's finishing.

[Jiminy Glick]

They have Hollis-Jefferson who can play defense and is a good passer and Carroll is a good defender. Then Lin and Russell can provide scoring.

Bird > Curry
Jordan > Durant
Ewing > Thompson

Warriors would give them a good fight and it would be close. I think the Nets roster would be better if you replaced Lin, Russell, and others with some European players and other international talent who are good passers and defenders.

[Theverdad]

Easy win. People forget MJ's dominance on defense. he was DPOTY. Bird was an elite defender, and 6'10 and big. Ewing would have nobody to stop him. Draymond would be destroyed by Bird, Ewing would take down zaza. MJ would lock down Curry. they just need DeMarre Carroll to do an ok job defending KD on the perimeter - Ewing is an all-time great help defender on the interior, and Bird is also a great help defender.

Just make KD play iso ball all day, and let MJ go to work with Bird's passing and Ewing's finishing.

Are you serious? Bird was a mediocre defender.Either way the Warriors are a deep team that can outshoot that team pretty handly.The Warriors have Iguodala,West and Livingston on the bench.The Warriors have KD that is a lock 30+ points scorer when he tries.The Warriors have Curry which is alredy the best shooter ever.The Warriors have Green that is a very versitile player and they have Klay that is a great defender and one of the greatest spot up shooter of all time.
You have to take into account that bigs are not as dominant with boards currently as teams shoot more from outside so the ball bounces away from the paint.The advantage that Ewing brings over Zaza/McGee would not be as determinant as it would be in the 90's.

[TheSheriff]

Easy win. People forget MJ's dominance on defense. he was DPOTY. Bird was an elite defender, and 6'10 and big. Ewing would have nobody to stop him. Draymond would be destroyed by Bird, Ewing would take down zaza. MJ would lock down Curry. they just need DeMarre Carroll to do an ok job defending KD on the perimeter - Ewing is an all-time great help defender on the interior, and Bird is also a great help defender.

Just make KD play iso ball all day, and let MJ go to work with Bird's passing and Ewing's finishing.

Are you serious? Bird was a mediocre defender.Either way the Warriors are a deep team that can outshoot that team pretty handly.The Warriors have Iguodala,West and Livingston on the bench.The Warriors have KD that is a lock 30+ points scorer when he tries.The Warriors have Curry which is alredy the best shooter ever.The Warriors have Green that is a very versitile player and they have Klay that is a great defender and one of the greatest spot up shooter of all time.
You have to take into account that bigs are not as dominant with boards currently as teams shoot more from outside so the ball bounces away from the paint.The advantage that Ewing brings over Zaza/McGee would not be as determinant as it would be in the 90's.

Are you serious? Bird was three time all defense, and four times lead the NBA defensive winshares. He also had good DBPM.

[euroleague]

Easy win. People forget MJ's dominance on defense. he was DPOTY. Bird was an elite defender, and 6'10 and big. Ewing would have nobody to stop him. Draymond would be destroyed by Bird, Ewing would take down zaza. MJ would lock down Curry. they just need DeMarre Carroll to do an ok job defending KD on the perimeter - Ewing is an all-time great help defender on the interior, and Bird is also a great help defender.

Just make KD play iso ball all day, and let MJ go to work with Bird's passing and Ewing's finishing.

Are you serious? Bird was a mediocre defender.Either way the Warriors are a deep team that can outshoot that team pretty handly.The Warriors have Iguodala,West and Livingston on the bench.The Warriors have KD that is a lock 30+ points scorer when he tries.The Warriors have Curry which is alredy the best shooter ever.The Warriors have Green that is a very versitile player and they have Klay that is a great defender and one of the greatest spot up shooter of all time.
You have to take into account that bigs are not as dominant with boards currently as teams shoot more from outside so the ball bounces away from the paint.The advantage that Ewing brings over Zaza/McGee would not be as determinant as it would be in the 90's.

Ewing would dominate the offensive boards. the point is that even if KD gets 30 it won't be enough. this team can shut down every other option.

Warriors can shoot, but who is guarding MJ?... Iguadala? Who is guarding Larry Bird - who won multiple 3 point contests, and is getting open feeds from MJ wh- while he is perhaps the best off-ball player ever? Ewing's strength is in help defense, which allows the perimeter defenders to deny outside shots. who is denying Ewing on offense?

These are 3 hard defenders, two of them DPOTY level. If Carroll/Hollis-Jefferson can do anything on KD, this is an easy win. If they can't, it's a less easy win.

[The-Power]

Warriors can shoot, but who is guarding MJ?... Iguadala?

Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. Both are better equipped to guard Jordan than most of his actual competition back in the day. Not to mention the more sophisticated defensive schemes these days with more effective help defense and Iguodala off the bench is a pretty great additional option to have, yes.

Who is guarding Larry Bird

The best defensive player in the NBA, Draymond Green? And Kevin Durant who is longer and quicker than Bird.

while he is perhaps the best off-ball player ever?

He's not, in my eyes. He would be more effective off the ball in today's era but Golden State alone might have two superior off-ball players in Curry and Thompson.

Ewing's strength is in help defense, which allows the perimeter defenders to deny outside shots. who is denying Ewing on offense?

First of all, Ewing is exactly the type of Center Zaza Pachulia plays pretty well. A big player who doesn't shoot 3's. Ewing also wasn't a dominant offensive rebounder, something the Warriors have struggled with at times. If the Warriors go small I'll take the chance at defending an offense run through Ewing in the post while trying to run as much as possible and to get him involved in as many PnRs and switches as possible.

These are 3 hard defenders, two of them DPOTY level.

Who's the second? Neither Jordan nor Bird are legitimate DPOY candidates in today's game – and they weren't back in the day but voting is often skewed by reputation (that mostly stems from offense and athelticism coupled with engagement (not even consistently) on that end).

As far as the question in the OP is concerned: I voted ‘maybe‘. I can see them beating the Warriors as they have the talent and it's a solid fit. But it's not a given by any means as the Warriors are equally equipped to beat them and I could also see them losing against a couple of teams who can get hot from 3 over the course of a series (Cleveland and potentially the 2018 Rockets). Spurs would probably play them well but ultimately they are overmatched talent-wise unless they manage to play out of their mind for an extended period.

[bledredwine]

Oh my god that would be amazing. I always secretly wished to see the two alphas in Ewing MJ on the same NBA squad. That defense would be insane. Add birds dynamic abilities and range? Steph KD Klay and dray can go eat some poo.

[bledredwine]

Warriors can shoot, but who is guarding MJ?... Iguadala?

Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. Both are better equipped to guard Jordan than most of his actual competition back in the day. Not to mention the more sophisticated defensive schemes these days with more effective help defense and Iguodala off the bench is a pretty great additional option to have, yes.

Who is guarding Larry Bird

The best defensive player in the NBA, Draymond Green? And Kevin Durant who is longer and quicker than Bird.

while he is perhaps the best off-ball player ever?

He's not, in my eyes. He would be more effective off the ball in today's era but Golden State alone might have two superior off-ball players in Curry and Thompson.

Ewing's strength is in help defense, which allows the perimeter defenders to deny outside shots. who is denying Ewing on offense?

First of all, Ewing is exactly the type of Center Zaza Pachulia plays pretty well. A big player who doesn't shoot 3's. Ewing also wasn't a dominant offensive rebounder, something the Warriors have struggled with at times. If the Warriors go small I'll take the chance at defending an offense run through Ewing in the post while trying to run as much as possible and to get him involved in as many PnRs and switches as possible.

These are 3 hard defenders, two of them DPOTY level.

Who's the second? Neither Jordan nor Bird are legitimate DPOY candidates in today's game – and they weren't back in the day but voting is often skewed by reputation (that mostly stems from offense and athelticism coupled with engagement (not even consistently) on that end).

As far as the question in the OP is concerned: I voted ‘maybe‘. I can see them beating the Warriors as they have the talent and it's a solid fit. But it's not a given by any means as the Warriors are equally equipped to beat them and I could also see them losing against a couple of teams who can get hot from 3 over the course of a series (Cleveland and potentially the 2018 Rockets). Spurs would probably play them well but ultimately they are overmatched talent-wise unless they manage to play out of their mind for an extended period.

Neither Ewing or Jordan were DPOY candidates in today's game? Yet Dwight and kawhi have won how many? I can't take posts like this seriously.

[bledredwine]

Reality check for the posters who apparently haven't watched much jordan. I get it - he's considered GOAT so we like to assume that he wasn't one of the best perimeter defenders we've seen. Well, he was a MONSTER! And several of the stars even called him the greatest defender in the league (Is still prefer Hakeem's impact). He was considered a better defender than Pippen pre-first retirement (93 and before). His combo of ability to pick off passes, make smart help defensive plays, lock players down (esp when he was most competitive), and ability to steal the ball in important situations is unparalleled. Calling him a non-DPOY candidate is laughable.

Watch on YouTube

[The-Power]

Neither Ewing or Jordan were DPOY candidates in today's game? Yet Dwight and kawhi have won how many? I can't take posts like this seriously.

Kawhi's defensive peak was superior to Jordan's and I still don't consider Kawhi a strong DPOY candidate relative to Green and Gobert. I know he one two awards, and one of them was arguable, but in the end he's not a contending candidate in most years in my eyes. Howard was a different beast entirely at his peak and someone Jordan has zero arguments over as far as I'm concerned. I can't take blind fandom seriously, so the feeling is mutual and we're good on that front.

[bledredwine]

Neither Ewing or Jordan were DPOY candidates in today's game? Yet Dwight and kawhi have won how many? I can't take posts like this seriously.

Kawhi's defensive peak was superior to Jordan's and I still don't consider Kawhi a strong DPOY candidate relative to Green and Gobert. I know he one two awards, and one of them was arguable, but in the end he's not a contending candidate in most years in my eyes. Howard was a different beast entirely at his peak and someone Jordan has zero arguments over as far as I'm concerned. I can't take blind fandom seriously, so the feeling is mutual and we're good on that front.

I consider defensive peak Jordan and it's not even that close. What he did as a perimeter defender in an era of defensive big men was unusual. He was the only perimeter player in his DPOY who had an impact like an elite defensive center (which was unusual back then). I guess we must agree to disagree.

[euroleague]

Warriors can shoot, but who is guarding MJ?... Iguadala?

Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. Both are better equipped to guard Jordan than most of his actual competition back in the day. Not to mention the more sophisticated defensive schemes these days with more effective help defense and Iguodala off the bench is a pretty great additional option to have, yes.

Who is guarding Larry Bird

The best defensive player in the NBA, Draymond Green? And Kevin Durant who is longer and quicker than Bird.

while he is perhaps the best off-ball player ever?

He's not, in my eyes. He would be more effective off the ball in today's era but Golden State alone might have two superior off-ball players in Curry and Thompson.

Ewing's strength is in help defense, which allows the perimeter defenders to deny outside shots. who is denying Ewing on offense?

First of all, Ewing is exactly the type of Center Zaza Pachulia plays pretty well. A big player who doesn't shoot 3's. Ewing also wasn't a dominant offensive rebounder, something the Warriors have struggled with at times. If the Warriors go small I'll take the chance at defending an offense run through Ewing in the post while trying to run as much as possible and to get him involved in as many PnRs and switches as possible.

These are 3 hard defenders, two of them DPOTY level.

Who's the second? Neither Jordan nor Bird are legitimate DPOY candidates in today's game – and they weren't back in the day but voting is often skewed by reputation (that mostly stems from offense and athelticism coupled with engagement (not even consistently) on that end).

As far as the question in the OP is concerned: I voted ‘maybe‘. I can see them beating the Warriors as they have the talent and it's a solid fit. But it's not a given by any means as the Warriors are equally equipped to beat them and I could also see them losing against a couple of teams who can get hot from 3 over the course of a series (Cleveland and potentially the 2018 Rockets). Spurs would probably play them well but ultimately they are overmatched talent-wise unless they manage to play out of their mind for an extended period.

I get it. Klay and KD can't guard a 32 year old LBJ with no help, but MJ playing with Larry Bird - too easy to guard.

Larry Bird - destroyed double teams and super physical play as a 3x MVP playing off the ball... but he can't outplay a PF who he has 5 inches on? He's in his peak, arguably a top peak of all time as a shooter (50/40/90 on 25ppg) playing from PF - but, oh no it's draymond green! Larry Bird can shoot over screens from Ewing - i'd like to see draymond green go around that, or switch off with zaza.

Ewing carried multiple teams to the finals. But zaza will lock him down, right? who was hakeem, compared to zaza?

Ewing/MJ were DPOTY level, not Bird.

[The-Power]

I get it. Klay and KD can't guard a 32 year old LBJ with no help, but MJ playing with Larry Bird - too easy to guard.

No, you don't get it. Stop exaggerating to make a point. I never said it was an easy task to guard them but they are both good defenders and would do as good a job as possible on them. By the way, 32 year old LBJ is still one of the best offensive players in the game, better than peak Bird and still close to Jordan – for much of the year the question whether this is peak LeBron or not was raised and it was/is legitimate. Oh, and you bet Klay Thompson would do a better job on Jordan than he ever could on LeBron. LeBron is a completely different animal physically while Jordan wouldn't be able to just overpower Klay. This should be pretty obvious.

Larry Bird - destroyed double teams and super physical play as a 3x MVP playing off the ball... but he can't outplay a PF who he has 5 inches on? He's in his peak, arguably a top peak of all time as a shooter (50/40/90 on 25ppg) playing from PF - but, oh no it's draymond green! Larry Bird can shoot over screens from Ewing - i'd like to see draymond green go around that, or switch off with zaza.

This again... I'm not saying Bird can't outplay Green. From what I've read you're not exactly the type of poster who is interested in a healthy discussion but at least stop putting words in my mouth. You asked ‘who is guarding Bird‘ and the answer is Green. Green is a DPOY who has dealt effectively with much bigger players than Bird. What do you expect Bird to do? If he plays his usual game then there are few players better equipped to deal with him than Draymond Green. He would arguably be the best defensive player Bird ever had to deal with in a direct match-up.

Ewing carried multiple teams to the finals. But zaza will lock him down, right? who was hakeem, compared to zaza?

Okay, I'm out at this point. I really don't feel like engaging with someone who blatantly and without any shame puts words in other posters' mouths in an attempt to ridicule them – while only ridiculing himself. It's pathetic, really. This board has been, and still is, the best place to discuss basketball but in order to preserve that I seriously hope the increasing incidents of such behavior will be looked into more closely by the moderators and result in sanctions if necessary.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Nets beat the Warriors in 7 games.
Nets have improved their roster and have a supporting cast for this big 3. Allan Crabbe will get open 3s. The nets have decent 3 point shooting to take advantage of the gravity of Jordan, Bird and Ewing. Jordan and Bird help with the questionable Nets playmaking. Ewing plays Center which is currently the Nets weakest position. Peak Ewing was mobile enough to play pick and roll defense and was physically dominant enough to overpower many of current era's centers.


For those that did not watch the 1980s Celtics or focussed on offense rather than defensive assignments let me inform you that Bird was actually a power forward.


D'Angelo Russell G 6-5
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson F 6-7
DeMarre Carroll F 6-8
Sean Kilpatrick G 6-4
Jeremy Lin G 6-3
Timofey Mozgov C 7-1
Trevor Booker F 6-8
Allen Crabbe G-F 6-6
Isaiah Whitehead G
Caris LeVert G-F 6-7
Joe Harris G 6-6 219
Spencer Dinwiddie G 6-6
Quincy Acy F 6-7 240
Jarrett Allen F-C 6-10 234