Build your team

amarshal2

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And if they're going to include Westbrook in their list, why not add Kawhi to yours?
I love Ray Allen, but if you are building for not the best 2 guard of all time but a role, don’t you consider taking...Klay? He’s not one of the 25 best players to ever live but he’s the greatest 3 and D complimentary player to ever live.
 

Cesar Crespo

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And if they're going to include Westbrook in their list, why not add Kawhi to yours?
No Giannis either. I guess that's at least somewhat understandable given his career length. Maybe there was a cutoff.

edit: 12 year careers? I dunno. Westbrook is at 12 seasons, Harden is at 11.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Ugh, forgot about Kawhi! Someone who presumably observes NBA basketball gave Kawhi-Durant-Pippen a total of one point combined and Melo two.
 

Kliq

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What if the point was not to just list the 15 best players but instead just put 15 players people will recognize and react too?

Hypothetically, if I put together a list of the five best players at each position in history, and ranked them on a dollar value, it would look something like this:

Centers:

$5 - Bill Russell
$4- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
$3- Wilt Chamberlain
$2- Shaquille O'Neal
$1- Hakeem Olajuwon

PF:

$5 - Tim Duncan
$4 - Kevin Garnett
$3 - Karl Malone
$2 - Elgin Baylor
$1- Dirk Nowitzki

SF:

$5- LeBron James
$4 - Larry Bird
$3 - Kevin Durant
$2 - Kawhi Leonard
$1 - Scottie Pippen

SG:

$5 - Michael Jordan
$4 - Kobe Bryant
$3 - Jerry West
$2 - Dwyane Wade
$1 - Allen Iverson

PG:

$5 - Magic Johnson
$4 - Steph Curry
$3- Oscar Robertson
$2 - Isaiah Thomas
$1 - John Stockton

You have $15.
 

Auger34

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bakahump

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Jordan -5
James -5
Russell -2
Garnett -2
West -1

They would kick ass.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Bingo. Floor spacing might be a little bad there but Hakeem and Dirk can both shoot from distance.
I'd have Hakeem at 4 points and slide the rest of the centers down but I'm an Hakeem fanboy. At 1 point, he's easily the biggest steal on Kliqs list imo.
 

Kliq

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I'd have Hakeem at 4 points and slide the rest of the centers down but I'm an Hakeem fanboy. At 1 point, he's easily the biggest steal on Kliqs list imo.
It is hard though, because I wouldn't rate him overall being better than Wilt, Kareem, Russell or Shaq, although I like to project a lot of evolution for the old guys. I actually think the better way to do that kind of list might be to make Dirk and Steph both $5, because even though they are not the greatest PF/PG of all time, everyone wants their shooting so if you want to have them you have to pay through the nose.
 

Cesar Crespo

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It is hard though, because I wouldn't rate him overall being better than Wilt, Kareem, Russell or Shaq, although I like to project a lot of evolution for the old guys. I actually think the better way to do that kind of list might be to make Dirk and Steph both $5, because even though they are not the greatest PF/PG of all time, everyone wants their shooting so if you want to have them you have to pay through the nose.
When they faced each other, Hakeem owned Shaq. Pretty sure he owned all the top centers. I just see Hakeem as the most likely to develop an outside game based on the FT shooting and the fact he had a really good mid range game. It is hard though. I tried revaluing the original list on the previous page.

I think I'd have Dirk at 3, then Malone, then Baylor. Modern day KG would be shooting 3s. Tim Duncan is interesting because he's probably worth $5 but no one would pick him as their PF because he doesn't really mesh well with the listed centers.

I'd probably have Harden list at SG instead of AI too. Greek Freak hasn't been around long enough but Harden's been around forever and has been a top 5-10 player for almost a decade. Some would say the same about AI too though, I guess. Like you said, it's hard.
 

Kliq

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When they faced each other, Hakeem owned Shaq. Pretty sure he owned all the top centers. I just see Hakeem as the most likely to develop an outside game based on the FT shooting and the fact he had a really good mid range game. It is hard though. I tried revaluing the original list on the previous page.

I think I'd have Dirk at 3, then Malone, then Baylor. Modern day KG would be shooting 3s. Tim Duncan is interesting because he's probably worth $5 but no one would pick him as their PF because he doesn't really mesh well with the listed centers.

I'd probably have Harden list at SG instead of AI too. Greek Freak hasn't been around long enough but Harden's been around forever and has been a top 5-10 player for almost a decade. Some would say the same about AI too though, I guess. Like you said, it's hard.
Hakeem beat young Shaq, IDK how he would have fared against older Shaq. Hakeem never won a back-to-back-to-back, so I give Shaq the slight nod in that department. I love Hakeem too.

The problem with Duncan is as you state, he skill set is kind of redundant with the great Centers, so it is easier to go with a more versatile option. Based on FT percentage, Baylor could be about as good of a three point shooter as LeBron. If you look at his rebounding numbers and how transformative he was as a player, he was kind of like a 1960s version of Giannis. Obviously he wouldn't be as dominant today with everyone playing above the rim.

Iverson is overpriced in the original list but is a fascinating candidate for two reasons. First, if he is playing in the modern day with no hand-checking he would be even more of an explosive scorer than he was in the slow-mo era. Second, assuming your squad would be matched up against other people's squads, anyone that is going all-out on a super-big lineup with LeBron as PG might have trouble corralling someone as quick as Iverson. He'd be murdered on defense for sure, but he would be a huge problem for other teams to stop.
 

mauf

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With a team of all-time greats, you want the best passers.

LeBron, Magic, Bird, Durant, West.

LBJ runs point like he currently does in LA. Magic plays the 5 like he did in Game 6 of the 1980 Finals. Or maybe the other way around — positions are passé at this point.
 

bigq

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LeBron (5)
MJ (5)
Durant (1)
KG (2)
Russell (2).

LeBron plays point. Only weakness is (potentially) outside shooting but I think KD and KG provide enough spacing
I am nearly the same but I switched out Durant for Stockton.

Stockton (1)
MJ (5)
LeBron (5)
KG (2)
Bill Russell (2)

This would be a great defensive team with good floor spacing on offense and I think if KG came into the league now he would develop a three point shot.
 

Average Game James

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I am nearly the same but I switched out Durant for Stockton.

Stockton (1)
MJ (5)
LeBron (5)
KG (2)
Bill Russell (2)

This would be a great defensive team with good floor spacing on offense and I think if KG came into the league now he would develop a three point shot.
KG made so many 18-20 foot fall aways and in his prime was a low-80s FT shooter, so it’s hard to think he would be anything but a good 3pt shooter. With his length and a decent 3 ball, he’d be a pretty devastating offensive weapon in today’s game.
 

Jimbodandy

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The rankings on the OP are a bit wack, but given them:

Durant 1
Russell 2
Garnett 2
Jordan 5
James 5

I don't need as much outside shooting because nobody will score on this team.
 

Sam Ray Not

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The rankings on the OP are a bit wack, but given them:

Durant 1
Russell 2
Garnett 2
Jordan 5
James 5

I don't need as much outside shooting because nobody will score on this team.
Given that like half the posts in this thread arrived at this answer independently, I think it's safe to say it's the correct one. (Edit: I mean, other than the four-man Kobe-Isiah-Iverson-Melo death gauntlet).

It's fun to think about some team from like 1966 trying to figure out what to do with this lineup.
 

Jimbodandy

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It's fun to think about some team from like 1966 trying to figure out what to do with this lineup.
Yeah that's always entertaining. Frankly, I find that comparing across eras in hoop is even more fascinating than baseball sometimes, probably in part because the advanced stats aren't yet as advanced. Even a lot of the counting stats didnt exist for Wilt/Russell. We didn't have guys that "grew up shooting the three" until the 90s.

For example, Cousy played 13 years and lead the leage in assists 8 times. But he averaged 7.6 assists and never broke 10 in a single season. Wilt averaged 23rpg for his career. It was a completely different league.
 

the moops

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When they faced each other, Hakeem owned Shaq. Pretty sure he owned all the top centers.

Regular season, Shaq was 14-6 against Hakeem. Outscored him 22 to 18, outrebounded him 12 to 9. Outshot him 54% to 45%

Playoffs, Shaq was 3-5 against Hakeem, but still outscored (29 to 23), outrebounded (11 to 9), and outshot (56% to 47%) him.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Regular season, Shaq was 14-6 against Hakeem. Outscored him 22 to 18, outrebounded him 12 to 9. Outshot him 54% to 45%

Playoffs, Shaq was 3-5 against Hakeem, but still outscored (29 to 23), outrebounded (11 to 9), and outshot (56% to 47%) him.
I was mostly referring to 94-95 in the playoffs. Those numbers also include his final years and Hakeem played 3-4 years too long.
 

bigq

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I was mostly referring to 94-95 in the playoffs. Those numbers also include his final years and Hakeem played 3-4 years too long.
In the 95 Finals sweep Hakeem outscored Shaquille by a 131-112 margin. Shaq did have a 50-48 rebound advantage and assist advantage of 25-22 and a higher FG% on significantly fewer attempts. Hakeem is also 10 years older and was 32 during that matchup. Hakeem was a better player than Shaq in the 95 Finals. His career declined from there while Shaq was just getting started. Looking at their respective cumulative careers it’s debatable who was better but a peak Shaq vs peak Hakeem matchup would have been fun to see.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Shaq
Russell
KG
Bird
Who's your 5th? That's an interesting and very big team. Teams wouldn't be able to score inside and KG would be able to defend the perimeter. I think you'd need another lenghty KG type player though. Kevin Durant?

Shaq C
Russell PF
KG SF
Durant SG
Bird PG

Not the team I'd go with but damn. Bill Russell would be the shortest player. Maybe Bird. Still. You'd have to hope KG could extend his game to the 3 point line though.
 

TripleOT

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Who's your 5th? That's an interesting and very big team. Teams wouldn't be able to score inside and KG would be able to defend the perimeter. I think you'd need another lenghty KG type player though. Kevin Durant?

Shaq C
Russell PF
KG SF
Durant SG
Bird PG

Not the team I'd go with but damn. Bill Russell would be the shortest player. Maybe Bird. Still. You'd have to hope KG could extend his game to the 3 point line though.
#CelticsOnly.