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How far would this KG led team go in todays league? All players in their primes.

G-Deron Williams
G-CJ McCollum
F-Nicholas Batum
F-Robert Horry
C-Kevin Garnett
Coach: Frank Vogel
Bench: Javale McGee, Kent Bazemore, Markelle Fultz, Kyle Kuzma, Maurice Harkless

If you told me I was getting actual peak Deron Williams, this is a title team.

EmpireFalls wrote:If you told me I was getting actual peak Deron Williams, this is a title team.

"Against whom" becomes the pertinent question.

But yeah, that'd be a pretty good squad.

I think that team would be very competive as a championship contender, but match-ups would be extremely important.

A strong bench would be needed to contend even with good health as you need a defender to sub for CJ and a true big to sub for Horry v. certain matchups. KG is an ATG, prime (Utah) Deron was a 2nd/3rd team All-NBA player, Horry and Batum are solid 3&D, and CJ is a fine tertiary scorer.

Might win a Finals if everyone is hot, but I'd say on average they get bounced in semis/ECF. Batum and Horry scale much better to the modern era, but I am not at all high on Deron as a championship level lead guard (fairly meh ORTGs once Deron passed Boozer in usage, then he gets traded and they are #6 in ORTG the year after, while the Nets never got higher than #8 with him as the lead guard)

KG/Horry/Batum all at peak is a filthy defensive frontcourt, and that might carry them, especially since prime KG also scales really well to modern basketball (think but McCollum is really mid as a starter (really should be a 25 mpg backup) and Williams just isn't that good at leading elite offenses, and he's had bigs as good offensively as prime KG.

A big question - can KG become a reliable 3 point shooter? If so, that helps a lot, as his efficiency goes up quite a bit and it helps his creation as well.

"All in their primes" is pretty powerful imo. While the starting five doesn't seem to be overpowered (KG has only one All-Star/All-NBA level teammate to help), the supporting cast is pretty deep: Portland McCollum is a very good 3rd option (though a better defender would be a nicer fit) and Portland Batum and Rockets Horry are better than average 4th and 5th starters - even for a contender.

Where I see strength is the bench really: Wizards' Kuzma would probably be one of the best 6th mans in the league and Hawks' Bazemore is also more of a regular starter than a bench player. Lakers' McGee, Magic's Fultz and Blazers' Harkless are all weak starters or very decent bench players, so that seems to be a quite deep team. I wouldn't bet my money on them blindly, but, as others said, in case of favorable matchups, I can see them winning it all.

Very flawed +7 or +8 team with a bad bench like the 14 Clippers.

Horry is their second best player.

Deron is a good guard but not a dominant one.

They’d be offensively potent with a very average defense. Maybe decent defense due to Horry and Batum.

Very beatable in the playoffs despite the name recognition.

Doug_12 wrote:"All in their primes" is pretty powerful imo. While the starting five doesn't seem to be overpowered (KG has only one All-Star/All-NBA level teammate to help), the supporting cast is pretty deep: Portland McCollum is a very good 3rd option (though a better defender would be a nicer fit) and Portland Batum and Rockets Horry are better than average 4th and 5th starters - even for a contender.

Where I see strength is the bench really: Wizards' Kuzma would probably be one of the best 6th mans in the league and Hawks' Bazemore is also more of a regular starter than a bench player. Lakers' McGee, Magic's Fultz and Blazers' Harkless are all weak starters or very decent bench players, so that seems to be a quite deep team. I wouldn't bet my money on them blindly, but, as others said, in case of favorable matchups, I can see them winning it all.

With all due respect as a Wizards fan, Kuzma was never what I would consider performing at a SMOY contender level. He was always a guy who could get his own buckets but not efficiently, not a strong rebounder if you play him at the 4, not good handles and playmaking for a 3 though not terrible, weak defense. The ability to get your shot without efficiency is a real NBA skill but one that tends to be overrated. I rate him at his Wizards prime as a decent bench forward, not a strong one. I'd have to look into the rest of the bench more deeply before I commented on anyone else.