MVP Franchise Decades Draft - R1 - Laimbeer vs durantbird*

[durantbird]

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. Please ensure you give a rationale for your vote; votes with no explanation will not be counted.

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).

**First to 3 votes advances.**

[durantbird]

PG: Chris Paul 18' - 13.8
SG: Jamal Murray 23' - 16.0
SF: Nicolas Batum 24' - 4.3
PF: Kevin Garnett 03' - 18.1
C: Amar'e Stoudemire 07' - 12.9

Bench: Dikembe Mutombo 02' - 8.0
Bench: Brent Barry 05' - 5.7
Bench: Jerami Grant 20' - 8.9

Rotation:
PG: Chris Paul 38 / Jamal Murray 10
SG: Jamal Murray 28 / Brent Barry 20
SF: Nicolas Batum 28 / Jerami Grant 20
PF: Kevin Garnett 38 / Amar'e Stoudemire 10
C: Amar'e Stoudemire 24 / Dikembe Mutombo 24

87.7/88

Vs


Tim Duncan (38) / Erick Dampier (10)
Luol Deng (38) / Toni Kukoč (10)
Jimmy Butler (38) / Toni Kukoč (10)
Danny Green (38) / Terry Porter (10)
Kyrie Irving (38) / Terry Porter (10)







Matchup:
- Defensive assignments: Paul vs Kyrie, Murray vs Green, Batum/Grant vs Butler, Garnett vs Duncan, Amar'e vs Deng.
- We match up nicely. Paul Batum Garnett as the bases for our defense match up perfectly against his trio. Amar'e is truly our only weak defender on the squad, and Deng is not an efficient scorer we are concerned about.
- Our quick backcourt of Paul Murray will do a lot of trouble for Kyrie, Philly Green or even Butler who is best against larger wings. Duncan will be fully occupied with either Amar'e or peak KG which will take away from his ability to help.
- The Paul Garnett combo should produce a historically great basketball IQ leadership. The fit around them is great with lots of shooting, versatile scoring and defense.
- KG Mutombo minutes will provide ridiculous rim protection against Butler Duncan.
- Our big advantage here is having a true legit fourth option - whether it's Murray or Amar'e - Deng is nowhere on that level, with a fifth All Star off the bench, and the quickness of our backcourt which will be a problem. We are also legit 8 deep as opposed to Dampier who is a filler.

[Laimbeer]

Tim Duncan ( 2003 ) 17.2
Luol Deng ( 2016 ) 10.1
Jimmy Butler ( 2017 ) 16.5
Danny Green ( 2021 ) 7.9
Kyrie Irving ( 2015 ) 16.5

Erick Dampier ( 2008 ) 3.8
Toni Kukoč ( 2001 ) 9.0
Terry Porter ( 2000 ) 6.8

87.8

Tim Duncan (40) / Erick Dampier (8)
Luol Deng (34) / Toni Kukoč (14)
Jimmy Butler (38) / Toni Kukoč (10)
Danny Green (36) / Terry Porter (6) / Toni Kukoc (6)
Kyrie Irving (38) / Terry Porter (10)


Our offense is nicely constructed around Duncan and two elite closers in Butler and Kyrie. Garnett would be better served as a help defender as opposed to being consumed with Duncan.

Defensively, Duncan/KG, Deng/Amare, Butler/Batum, Green/Murray, and Kyrie/Paul are pretty solid. Paul and Murray overlap as playmakers.

Duncan is the best player in the series and we have three of the top five with Butler and Kyrie. Kukoc is the best bench player here.

[ardee]

Vote: durantbird

At first, Laimbeer seems like he has the more traditionally constructed team that doesn't give you pause about how it's going to work, but when you really look at how the teams matchup, DB begins to shine through.

Duncan is the best player yes, but basically being the only big against a Garnett/Amare/Deke frontcourt rotation is going to drain him of his very soul on both ends of the floor. DB wins the backcourt battle too, frankly I'd take both Paul and Murray over this version of Kyrie. I think the fit with those two will be fine, remember Paul made it work with Harden that year, who is way more ball dominant than Murray.

I don't particularly like 35 year old Batum starting for DB and Butler easily wins that matchup, but across the rest of the court he has enough of an advantage that it doesn't matter.

[Fadeaway_J]

I think Murray is enough of a hybrid type guard that he can function well enough alongside CP3. Philly Batum as a starter is a bit of a stretch, I'd go with Grant instead. Either way, durantbird seems to a have bit too much firepower in this one, and even peak Duncan is facing an unenviable task as an offensive focal point against KG and Deke.

Vote: durantbird

[JimmyPlopper]

not a good enough version of Chris Paul to make this one worthwhile (and I'm typically not a major stickler for seasons in that sense. Laimbeer has a strong defensive presence between Duncan, Green, Butler, and Deng - vote Beer

[Dr Positivity]

Close but I think Mutombo makes the difference here especially in a matchup with Duncan. Butler downgrade hurts and Paul/Amare should fit well together. Vote durantbird.

[durantbird]

Durantbird advances