Who would be the best current starting five to you?

[PayDaPiper]

With no set position, 5 man team, switching everything

Lebron
Durant
Kawhi
Giannis
Green

[mngopher35]

I went with green because when you have the top 4 players in ball things like screens, spacing, rebounding, defense etc become a little more needed than more scoring/playmaking from an individual. I did think about a small guy r even AD but with curry/kawhi/Durant/lebron I just am not sure harden brings as much to a team already loaded with scoring/playmaking

And I completely get that, but I think more like the Dream Team, at a certain point the sheer individual talent level of each player becomes too much to deal with lol

Ya I was kinda split tbh but felt like the fit for talent drop wasn't too big. I think the top 4 players had enough talent to go for like a borderline top 10 type guy who fit better instead of looking for the 5th best player in general who's skill set might not be as effective off ball.

[nastynice]

By "Lebron ball," do you mean "playing at a ridiculous level in the postseason that only Michael Jordan was ever capable of matching?" There isn't a team in the league that wouldn't want Lebron James in their starting five, and they'd be insane to say otherwise.

I think he means taking elite talent and making it look extremely mediocre

I can promise you the warrior do NOT want lebron in our starting 5

[nastynice]

Curry
Klay (Kawhi is TOUGH to leave out, but Klay and Curry work so well together)
KD
Green
Gasol (Though I considered AD, then mini-Draymond Jordan Bell who I think will be starting next year and is in the Warriors top 4 5 man units).

scoots!!!

Replace Gasol with iguadala and it's pretty much the best possible starting 5 in the nba

[mngopher35]

Pretty crazy how often the Warriors are getting 3 and I even saw 4 players on the same teams. I don't think anyone else has had even 2 on the same team and in fact AD/Cousins might be the only other team with 2 players mentioned in the thread total.

In case people were starting to run with the idea the competition was getting close now and Warriors won't win easily lol. We are still screwed for a while

[mightybosstone]

I think he means taking elite talent and making it look extremely mediocre

I can promise you the warrior do NOT want lebron in our starting 5

Really? Who has he done that to? Bosh and Love? Two guys who were getting tons of touches on bad basketball teams? Aside from those two guys—who you'd have very little evidence to support—I have no idea where you're getting this argument from.

[nastynice]

Pretty crazy how often the Warriors are getting 3 and I even saw 4 players on the same teams. I don't think anyone else has had even 2 on the same team and in fact AD/Cousins might be the only other team with 2 players mentioned in the thread total.

In case people were starting to run with the idea the competition was getting close now and Warriors won't win easily lol. We are still screwed for a while

It’s all about fit. How many people would legit rank Klay as the best sg in the league? Not many, but he’s on all these lists cuz he’s a perfect fit next to ball dominant players. Same with curry, altho he is arguably the best point guard in the league also

[nastynice]

Really? Who has he done that to? Bosh and Love? Two guys who were getting tons of touches on bad basketball teams? Aside from those two guys—who you'd have very little evidence to support—I have no idea where you're getting this argument from.

You know kyrie’s a legit tier 2 mvp candidate right now, right?

And what you mean “aside from those two”?? lol, that’s huge, how you gonna ignore that. A top 10 player, arguably elite and if not then one step beneath, in bosh. The consensus best power forward in the game in love. These are two HUGE examples

[mngopher35]

It’s all about fit. How many people would legit rank Klay as the best sg in the league? Not many, but he’s on all these lists cuz he’s a perfect fit next to ball dominant players. Same with curry, altho he is arguably the best point guard in the league also

Yes it is partially due to fit for sure on top of their talents. Klay/Green are not top 5 talents but fit perfectly next to stars. On top of that you get 2/4 top players in the league next to them. They are not only far and away the most talented team in the league but they have guys who fit perfectly next to stars as well (then depth/coaching).

No one is even remotely close to this team lol

[mngopher35]

You know kyrie’s a legit tier 2 mvp candidate right now, right?

And what you mean “aside from those two”?? lol, that’s huge, how you gonna ignore that. A top 10 player, arguably elite and if not then one step beneath, in bosh. The consensus best power forward in the game in love. These are two HUGE examples

You are ignoring how they play and who else they were with. Look at Love right now without any other stars, he is killing it again (I believe his PER and WS/48 higher than Durant so far this season. One post after talking about the fit of Green/Klay I hope you would also be capable of seeing how a 1st option to a 3rd option might have to take a volume hit to fit in. There is only one ball to go around which is why players like Green are so key and far greater as a 3rd option next to volume guys as compared to players like Love/Bosh.

If either of those guys were top 10 defenders etc.

[europagnpilgrim]

Lebron
Leonard
Durant
Davis
Cousins

[KnicksorBust]

Curry
Kawhi
Durant
Lebron
AD

[mightybosstone]

You know kyrie’s a legit tier 2 mvp candidate right now, right?

But Lebron was hardly holding the kid back. Look at his numbers this year, and they're pretty similar to last year's numbers. In fact, he's taking fewer shots in Boston than he did in Cleveland, so you can't tell me Kyrie didn't get the chance to prove himself in Cleveland.

And what you mean “aside from those two”?? lol, that’s huge, how you gonna ignore that. A top 10 player, arguably elite and if not then one step beneath, in bosh. The consensus best power forward in the game in love. These are two HUGE examples

Are guys putting up elite players on bad teams really elite? Because I'd argue that Bosh was a better overall player in Miami because of his improved defensive effort and ability to stretch the floor with his 3-pointer. And Love is putting up some of the best numbers of his career in Cleveland now that he's getting more touches with Kyrie gone.

Also, there's a pretty big double standard here. Durant goes to Golden State, and everyone's numbers take a slight hit. Is that a result of Curry "playing Curry ball" or Durant playing "Durant ball?" No. It's common freaking sense. If you have three top 10-15 guys on the same team, they're not going to get as many looks as they were getting on inferior teams. Bosh and Love were the odd men out playing with two ball dominant guys. Lebron hardly made those guys worse.

[nastynice]

You are ignoring how they play and who else they were with. Look at Love right now without any other stars, he is killing it again (I believe his PER and WS/48 higher than Durant so far this season. One post after talking about the fit of Green/Klay I hope you would also be capable of seeing how a 1st option to a 3rd option might have to take a volume hit to fit in. There is only one ball to go around which is why players like Green are so key and far greater as a 3rd option next to volume guys as compared to players like Love/Bosh.

If either of those guys were top 10 defenders etc.

Yea I get this, this is my whole point. This is why we wouldn't want lebron on our team, he never "fits" next to other very good to elite dominant players.

[valade16]

You know kyrie’s a legit tier 2 mvp candidate right now, right?

And what you mean “aside from those two”?? lol, that’s huge, how you gonna ignore that. A top 10 player, arguably elite and if not then one step beneath, in bosh. The consensus best power forward in the game in love. These are two HUGE examples

But did he really hold Kyrie back at all though? Kyrie made an All-NBA team playing next to LeBron and certainly was allowed to shine in the postseason.

Heck, Kyrie averaged more PPG last season on Cleveland (25.2) than he is now in Boston (24.8). Was Kyrie able to be the absolute team leader on Cleveland? No, because they had LeBron, but that didn't really hold him back in any way.