Best hypothetical past/present star pairing

[SportsGuru08]

Which of these hypothetical duos matches up best?

[penbeast0]

Which is the best pairing or which adds the most to value due to symmetry? Also, today's NBA or the past era's NBA or which would be most successful in a combination of both?

[scrabbarista]

I think I'd build around Jordan/Giannis.

Second pick Magic/Wemby.

Kobe/Jokic third.

When I finish simming my current all-time tournament, I'll put all of these pairs into 1984-85 as rookies and post the sim results.

[SportsGuru08]

I think I'd build around Jordan/Giannis.

Second pick Magic/Wemby.

Kobe/Jokic third.

When I finish simming my current all-time tournament, I'll put all of these pairs into 1984-85 as rookies and post the sim results.

Sounds interesting. Look forward to hearing the results.

[scrabbarista]

I think I'd build around Jordan/Giannis.

Second pick Magic/Wemby.

Kobe/Jokic third.

When I finish simming my current all-time tournament, I'll put all of these pairs into 1984-85 as rookies and post the sim results.

Sounds interesting. Look forward to hearing the results.

I really love this concept. It gets right at why I love historical sims.

So, I'm going to put a lot of effort into it to make it as realistic as possible (which allows for plenty of randomness...).

[scrabbarista]

Embiid and Brunson kind of don't belong with these talents. Edwards is an open question.

Wemby has proven nothing, but we all see the potential.

[SportsGuru08]

Embiid and Brunson kind of don't belong with these talents. Edwards is an open question.

Wemby has proven nothing, but we all see the potential.

I do believe Embiid would have thrived with Bird. And since Bird is much more reliable clutch, Embiid's tendency to get shrinkage in the playoffs becomes less of an issue.

As for Brunson, neither he nor Tony Parker were great defenders although Brunson goes provide more range so that does compliment Duncan well.

I'd say Edwards is about on par with Clyde relative to era. And although Hakeem didn't have Clyde at his peak, even that version of him was a still a huge upgrade over any other guard he played with.

[scrabbarista]

The game crashed after 16 seasons, but that's still a good sample, so here are the results. I created all 14 players in detail, but I did not control any of their teams.

The results here are for what each "duo" did as long as at least one of the two remained on the team. All players played at least the first nine or ten seasons before leaving in free agency. Some stayed for all sixteen seasons. The average seeding includes any years after both players left.

Magic/Wemby Lakers -

The Lakers cheated and gave their duo a strong supporting cast to start: Ainge, Woolridge, Buck Williams, Chambers, and Vinnie Johnson - all talented and young. They absolutely annihilated everyone for the first few seasons. This was in a league where I had given each team exactly two 80+ players, with the exception of the seven teams here, whose rookies were required to be their best two players. In this environment of extreme parity, the Lakers were a juggernaut. Their spurtability was crazy to see. However, after the first four seasons, the league caught up to them, and they never reached the Finals again.

Average seed: 3.625
Finals: 4
Titles: 3
MVP's: 4

Bird/Embiid Celtics -

Bird was the GoAT of the scenario, winning six FMVP's. In Season 4, he dropped 59 in a Game 6 Finals loss before capping a 56/9/9 performance in Game 7 by dropping the ball, picking it up off the floor, and sending it through air from above the top of the arc as the buzzer sounded - to break a tie and end the Magic/Wemby dynasty. The Celtics lead that game 93-62 in the third. It was the most memorable game of the whole scenario.

The Celtics, like the Lakers, also cheated, by drafting Karl Malone after Season 1. This meant they developed a Big Three in a scenario where all other teams had Big Two's. They also won a title with a noticeably slim Shaq winning FMVP over Bird in Season 13.

I didn't get to see who retired after Season 16, but Embiid was the only player to retire in the first fifteen seasons, doing so with the Lakers after Season 14. He made the Hall of Fame.

Average seed: 3.9375
Finals: 7
Titles: 7
MVP's: 0
MIP's: 1

Shaq/SGA Clippers:

Besides Shaq dunking on everyone, the Clippers' most memorable moment was when an aging SGA and a hobbled Dirk Nowitzki slew the giant Durant/Kidd/Old Hakeem Nets in a seven-game Finals in season 16. It really made me sad when the game crashed and they weren't able to defend their title. Clips gon' Clip.

Oh, and in Season 12, Shaq and SGA defeated the Curry/Nowitzki/Mullin Miami Heat 4-3 in the Finals. Shaq was so petty about SGA winning FMVP that he signed with Boston and won FMVP the very next season!

Average seed: 4.8125
Finals: 5
Titles: 3
MVP's: 0

MJ/Giannis Bulls:

The biggest story here was MJ leaving for Phoenix after Season 9 and colluding with Karl Malone who joined him there after Season 10. MJ/Giannis won a lot of awards, but their supporting cast (perhaps) was never quite good enough to establish them as dominant, and they hit the ECF ceiling pretty hard until Jordan left.

Notably, Giannis was the best player in franchise history, winning two MVP's, two DPoY's, and a FMVP - even if MJ was still the best player in the league long after leaving Chicago for Phoenix.

Average seed: 5.8125
Finals: 1
Titles: 1
MVP's: 4
DPoY's: 2

Dream/ANT Rockets:

Hakeem dominated the DPoY voting perennially, but ANT leaving after Season 9 or 10 while very much at the peak of his powers derailed the franchise. Drafting Shawn Kemp kept them in the mix, but ANT left too big a hole.

Average seed: 6.5
Finals: 1
Titles: 0
DPoY's: 10

Kobe/Joker 76ers:

Kobe abandoned Joker late-career to team up with Wemby - in Denver, of all places.

The highest-scoring game I witnessed in the scenario was 62, by Kobe.

This team was probably the most disappointing, as they lost many times in Round 1. They also put absolutely nothing around Jokic after Kobe left.

Average seed: 7.0625
Finals: 1
Titles: 0
MVP's: 1
DPoY's: 2

Duncan/Brunson Spurs:

Nothing to say here, because the Duncan Spurs are boring.

Oh, I will say I was appalled when the front office traded away a young Gary Payton (Senior!) for an even younger Devin Harris. There's no telling how much that move may have cost the franchise...

Average seed: 6.1875
Finals: 1
Titles: 0

Final Ranking:

1. Celtics
2. Lakers
3. Clippers
4. Bulls
5. Rockets
6. Spurs
7. 76ers

[An Unbiased Fan]

Kobe/Jokic

I mean that's basically Kobe + Pau 5.0 and that combo went back2back with 3 straight finals. The perfect pairing I could think of Joker is Kobe, they would be on their 5th ring right now.

[GeorgeMarcus]

Kobe/Jokic

I mean that's basically Kobe + Pau 5.0 and that combo went back2back with 3 straight finals. The perfect pairing I could think of Joker is Kobe, they would be on their 5th ring right now.

Why Kobe and not MJ?

Nvm didn't see there were options posted

[jjgp111292]

I think I'd build around Jordan/Giannis.

Second pick Magic/Wemby.

Kobe/Jokic third.

When I finish simming my current all-time tournament, I'll put all of these pairs into 1984-85 as rookies and post the sim results.

MJ/Giannis is some Satanic Black Magic ****.

LeBron/Milwaukee Ray Allen would've been pretty crazy.

[scrabbarista]

I think I'd build around Jordan/Giannis.

Second pick Magic/Wemby.

Kobe/Jokic third.

When I finish simming my current all-time tournament, I'll put all of these pairs into 1984-85 as rookies and post the sim results.

Sounds interesting. Look forward to hearing the results.

Tag.