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Cavs: I think a sane peak Ron Artest would do the job. He can shoot, gives them 3 options to guard Durant, and cover up for Thomas/Love.

Rockets: Nothing short of an ATG center like Robinson or Hakeem. I thought of Dirk but I don't think it's enough.

OKC: Was thinking Mutombo.

Spurs: Ironically, a peak Duncan or Robinson would work best.

Celtics (assume healthy Hayward): idk, Garnett maybe?

Wizards: ?

Bucks: ?

Nuggets: ?

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Minnesota would need Kevin Garnett....

Jeff Teague / Tyus Jones / Aaron Brooks
Andrew Wiggins / Jamal Crawford / Marcus Georges-Hunt
Jimmy Butler / Shabazz Muhammad / Anthony Brown
Kevin Garnett / Taj Gibson / Nemanja Bjelica
Karl-Anthony Towns / Gorgui Dieng / Cole Aldrich / Justin Patton

I wouldn't feel too uncomfortable against the Warriors with that squad.

A lot of these players would need Hercules to come onto their team.

ones I can see, to be 'even' with the warriors:
Boston: Shaq (they have a ways to go to match the Warriors)
Cavs: Moses Malone (finally, they can exploit the offensive rebounding that GSW small-ball allows)
OKC: kawhi leonard - this would give a line-up of WB/PG13/Kawhi/Melo/Adams.
Houston: peak Dwight Howard - they need a good defensive center who can roll off the ball. that's d12

ardee wrote:Cavs: I think a sane peak Ron Artest would do the job. He can shoot, gives them 3 options to guard Durant, and cover up for Thomas/Love.

Rockets: Nothing short of an ATG center like Robinson or Hakeem. I thought of Dirk but I don't think it's enough.

OKC: Was thinking Mutombo.

Spurs: Ironically, a peak Duncan or Robinson would work best.

Celtics (assume healthy Hayward): idk, Garnett maybe?

Wizards: ?

Bucks: ?

Nuggets: ?

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Artest doesn’t make the Cavs even with the Warriors. I think it would have to be a player like Kawhi.

IT (if healthy), Crowder, Kawhi, LEBron, Love or TT

homecourtloss wrote:

ardee wrote:Cavs: I think a sane peak Ron Artest would do the job. He can shoot, gives them 3 options to guard Durant, and cover up for Thomas/Love.

Rockets: Nothing short of an ATG center like Robinson or Hakeem. I thought of Dirk but I don't think it's enough.

OKC: Was thinking Mutombo.

Spurs: Ironically, a peak Duncan or Robinson would work best.

Celtics (assume healthy Hayward): idk, Garnett maybe?

Wizards: ?

Bucks: ?

Nuggets: ?

Sent from my SM-J700F using RealGM mobile app

Artest doesn’t make the Cavs even with the Warriors. I think it would have to be a player like Kawhi.

IT (if healthy), Crowder, Kawhi, LEBron, Love or TT

I think you're underestimating Artest. His peak defense was as good as or better than Kawhi's right now, plus he could shoot.

Offense wasn't the problem for the Cavs, it was defense.

ardee wrote:

homecourtloss wrote:

ardee wrote:Cavs: I think a sane peak Ron Artest would do the job. He can shoot, gives them 3 options to guard Durant, and cover up for Thomas/Love.

Rockets: Nothing short of an ATG center like Robinson or Hakeem. I thought of Dirk but I don't think it's enough.

OKC: Was thinking Mutombo.

Spurs: Ironically, a peak Duncan or Robinson would work best.

Celtics (assume healthy Hayward): idk, Garnett maybe?

Wizards: ?

Bucks: ?

Nuggets: ?

Sent from my SM-J700F using RealGM mobile app

Artest doesn’t make the Cavs even with the Warriors. I think it would have to be a player like Kawhi.

IT (if healthy), Crowder, Kawhi, LEBron, Love or TT

I think you're underestimating Artest. His peak defense was as good as or better than Kawhi's right now, plus he could shoot.

Offense wasn't the problem for the Cavs, it was defense.

I don’t think I’m underestimating him. His peak defense isn’t as good as Kawhi’s and his offense isn’t close. What lineup would you suggest he’s in thst mskes the Cavs even with the Warriors?

IT/JR/Crowder/artest/LBJ?
IT/Crowder/Artest/LBJ/Love

Both are great lineups and those teams would beat the hell out of 99%+ of all teams but I don’t they’d be even money bets with the Warriors.

Cavs are already even with the Warriors. Both teams have two MVP winners and two finals mvp winners. If anything they only lack a Joakim Noah or Tyson Chandler.

ardee wrote:

homecourtloss wrote:

ardee wrote:Cavs: I think a sane peak Ron Artest would do the job. He can shoot, gives them 3 options to guard Durant, and cover up for Thomas/Love.

Rockets: Nothing short of an ATG center like Robinson or Hakeem. I thought of Dirk but I don't think it's enough.

OKC: Was thinking Mutombo.

Spurs: Ironically, a peak Duncan or Robinson would work best.

Celtics (assume healthy Hayward): idk, Garnett maybe?

Wizards: ?

Bucks: ?

Nuggets: ?

Sent from my SM-J700F using RealGM mobile app

Artest doesn’t make the Cavs even with the Warriors. I think it would have to be a player like Kawhi.

IT (if healthy), Crowder, Kawhi, LEBron, Love or TT

I think you're underestimating Artest. His peak defense was as good as or better than Kawhi's right now, plus he could shoot.

Offense wasn't the problem for the Cavs, it was defense.

Cavs lost by about 7 points per 100 possessions last year. You'd need a legitimate superstar to make up that gap, with the generous assumption that synergy is perfect and there's no redundancy on offense. Ron Artest isn't that guy, you'd need someone at least on the level of 2008 KG.

Same answer goes for the Spurs, assuming Kawhi is healthy. Things remain to be seen for Houston. No one else is one player away, regardless of the player.

I don't think there's anything wrong with getting some top 10-20 guy to be even with the Warriors. Curry and Durant are probably in the 30s in all-time lists, but if you just take their performance on any given night, there isn't that much separation between them (if at all) against a top 10 all-time player.

Just to make this a little more interesting I'll only use players that played for that franchise.

Cavaliers - I think they have enough talent, what they're really missing is just two-way guys they can keep on the floor that aren't liabilities in any way, be it defense or shooting. Maybe Bill Laimbeer... IDK there isn't anyone in Cavs history that fits.

Rockets - Hakeem is a good pick.

Thunder - Sorry I'm saying a Sonic, but Gary Payton works. A Payton/Westbrook backcourt is fine and the Thunder can get away with one weak link on defense with Melo.

Spurs - Tim Duncan is an easy pick.

Timberwolves - 04 Garnett

Celtics - 04 Garnett

Wizards - You need Michael Jordan here... Wizards are just too far.

Bucks - Kareem

Nuggets - There's no one in franchise history that's even close. I don't know what a prime LeBron James does for this team.