RealGM

Which duo would you rather build a team around in today's NBA?

Paul/Duncan for me. Reasonably close but I just think it's hard to pass up on someone like Duncan in most cases, Giannis has shown a lot of greatness but I'm not really convinced he'll match Duncan in either peak or longevity. When it comes to Curry vs Paul, Curry's the better player but rings overstate what the gap really is.

I would love to see Chris Paul paired up with Tim Duncan. It seems like a perfect pair in terms of personalities with Chris Paul being a vocal leader while Tim Duncan is a consummate professional. Add in the Wake Forest Connection, and CP3/Duncan both being all-nba level players in year 2 and MVP level by year 3 with 15+ more seasons of all-star to MVP level play and its a duo which goes unmatched in NBA history in terms of success.

You have to project Giannis as having a Duncan length career or assume talent levels to make this a fair comp; Giannis hasn't played long enough yet to have a Duncan caliber career even if he were the level of Russell, MJ or LeBron. But, if you do that, I'd take Giannis and Curry.

Giannis may not be quite Duncan's level but year for year without longevity, there isn't a lot between them when you consider Duncan played 4 years of college ball where Giannis came into the NBA very young. Curry in today's NBA is better than Paul, great as Paul is, and can play off ball with Giannis handling as well as be the playmaker when Giannis is off ball or off the court. He's just an incredible guard and today's league has skewed the rules and reffing to favor Curry's strengths.

I actually might take Paul/Duncan too. People forget what Paul was looking before he started to have the lower body injuries beginning with the meniscus tear in 2010. Watch that 08 WCSF against the Spurs, he was lightning quick and could get in the paint at will while still having the midrange and P&R game with all the floor general intangible stuff. A team with that version of Paul and peak Duncan could completely dictate pace. Peak Duncan was athletic enough to guard Giannis, but Duncan is too big and skilled for Giannis to handle in the post.

Steph Giannis might be the best transition offensive duo ever

how could you possibly guard them in the open floor

It's kinda funny both Duncan and Paul were able to carve top5ish / top20ish careers after losing a decent chunk of their athleticism to injury.

Even though are easily better in terms of careers, Curry/Giannis just looks uber-ridiculous, and you always gotta take the uber-ridiculous over the boringly great, right?

Eh, this is a coinflip answer. Can't go wrong with either duo.

Paul/Duncan is obviously amazing, but Curry/Giannis in their primes is league breaking. Giannis/Steph are also just better suited for todays NBA which is what the question is.