Best running mates for young stars

[warfelg]

So seeing Luka do the things he's doing, and how Dallas has managed to really build the "perfect Luka team" around him to maximize what he's good at, I was thinking about how many young stars don't have the greatest team built around them. So taking some of the best young stars who would you put around them to build the best team within the cap that you can?

List of players to consider:
Devin Booker -
Ben Simmons -
Joel Embiid -
Trae Young -
Karl Anthony Towns -
Zion Williamson -
RJ Barrett -
De'Arron Fox -
Donovan Mitchell -

Consider trades, signings, or just simple rotational changes that you could do. Or within reason of the cap just name the players you would like to see surround the players listed.

[warfelg]

Some of my own personal answers:
Devin Booker - I'd love to see them put some more defensive players around him with catch and shoot abilities to them. Josh Richardson would actually be a good fit with him, as well as getting Saric and a healthy Baynes more minutes.

Rubio - Booker - JRich - Saric - Barnes

Ben Simmons & Joel Embiid - I lumped these two together because the building around them is actually same. Move one of them for a star wing player or just below star+other parts. I've been thinking about how interesting it would be to see LaVine and Markkanen move for Simmons. Both sides benefit as LaVine feels like a good fit with Embiid, Markkanen would be a better fit as a stretch 4 as well.

Milton - JRich - LaVine - Harris - Embiid OR Simmons - JRich - LaVine - Harris - Horford

Trae Young - He's like Booker where you need to put a bench of 3-n-D players around him. I think Atlanta is trying that but they just are struggling to get the right pieces for it.

Karl Anthony Towns - Honestly I have no clue. They've tried some things and it just hasn't worked.

Zion Williamson - I mentioned a start elsewhere, that a Holiday for Horford swap would be a good start for them as it gets a post player with good vision and ability to space the floor at the 5 to open things for Zion to do more cutting and pull bigs away from the paint. I'm not sure of their cap situation this offseason, but targeting Goran Dragic and moving Lonzo to 6th man would be an interesting fit.

Dragic - Redick - Ingram - Zion - Horford

RJ Barrett - Yes he's still very young and there's lots of growth to be had around him. But Mitchell Robinson needs more minutes, the PG rotation is a mess, and they don't have many trade chips to use. I'm big on LaMelo Ball for them if they get a top 2 pick. If not I'm actually more for them kicking the can a year and then going in. If they don't want to, Danilo Gallinari might be the best target for them.

Ball - Barrett - Knox - Gallinaru - Robinson

De'Arron Fox - They feel like they are a team trying so hard to do the right thing around Fox but just barely missed with some of their moves. Holmes is a great PnR partner, and Bogdanovic is a solid SG to have next to him, which makes the Hield extension sort of confusing. I'd be looking at moving Hield and Bagley together for a SF and slide Barnes to the PF spot. Now I think the move here is rather interesting, Hield/Bagley for Dipo and McDermott

Fox - Bogdonovic - Oladipo - Barnes - Holmes

Donovan Mitchell - Honest frustrating thing here: They might have been better off keeping Rubio over trading for Conley. I wonder how likely a Conley for CP3 swap would be, as CP3 would fit with Mitchell a touch better by being able to take over primary ball handling responsibilities.

CP3 - Mitchell - Ingles - Bogdanovic - Gobert

[crewfan13]

Booker is probably a Kris middleton type to be honest and pairs best with a guy like a giannis or a Ben Simmons or a lebron.

Simmons needs 4 shooters and an athletic big who can at least stretch it a little. The realistic solution is to deal one of embiid or Simmons. But if you choose to keep Simmons, you build a team similar to what the bucks did for giannis. Horford could play the Lopez role, but they still need more shooters. Tobias probavly isn't a perfect fit either as Simmons should probably play a 4 type of spot and that's were Tobias best fits too.

Embiid can be a traditional center. Need some shooters around him, but Simmons is basically the one thing you cant have. Don't need 4 major plus shooters, but one entirely non shooter isn't going to work for embiid. Tobias probably slots well next to embiid as the 4. The get 2 3 and D types and 1 more starter who can break a defense down some and still be a solid shooter.

Trae is basically a slightly bigger version of what Houston is doing around harden. Harden can at least play a little post D due to his size which young can't. But you need athletic defenders around him that can switch a ton and create chaos on defense. Allow young to be hidden on the worst guy and play passing lanes.

Fox should be built similar to how youd build around Westbrook. Get him a high level PNR partner and a bunch of shooters. He's not the centerpiece of a great team though which makes it a bit awkward.

Mitchell is weird. His rookie year was the worst thing for him. He should have been a better offensive, slightly worse defensive Marcus smart, which is more of a high level #3. He should be a number 3 that can meld with virtually any team, but because he had a good rookie year, probably thinks he should be the guy on offense when he probably can't.

[R. Johnson#3]

Booker - Get him on a team with KAT

Simmons - Let him run the point on a team full of shooters

Embiid - Let him live in his fantasy World. Sucks off the PnR, only ever picks and pops and he gets out muscled by big men down low. He's a defensive minded C who can shoot free throws.

Young - no idea

KAT - Get him and Booker together

Zion - Honestly, he's in a great spot. Having a PG like Lonzo to dish the ball to himself and Ingram while they have some solid veteran leadership in Jrue and Reddick isn't going to get much better.

RJ Barrett - RIP

De'Aaron Fox - Needs an actual offensive big man who knows how to run the PnR. If Fox had an actual big man to work with then the Kings would be a playoff team. Bagley is made of glass.

Donovan Mitchell - Again, solid situation. He's the focal point on a well balanced offence and is part of a great defensive team.

[warfelg]

Booker - Get him on a team with KAT

KAT - Get him and Booker together

I find this interesting as neither is really known for defense. Would the plan to be surround them with 3-n-D type guys? Or at least defensive minded players?

[R. Johnson#3]

I find this interesting as neither is really known for defense. Would the plan to be surround them with 3-n-D type guys? Or at least defensive minded players?

It's more so KAT being a baby and Booker never really having an opportunity to succeed. KAT has all the talent in the World but has the weakest motor. Obviously defence will have to be addressed but I think KAT's biggest issue is between the shoulders.

[KnicksorBust]

RJ Barrett - RIP

Instantly hit me with 2 emotions.



then...

[warfelg]

It's more so KAT being a baby and Booker never really having an opportunity to succeed. KAT has all the talent in the World but has the weakest motor. Obviously defence will have to be addressed but I think KAT's biggest issue is between the shoulders.

Interesting. I think placating KAT like that would only make him worse in those regards TBH.

[R. Johnson#3]

Interesting. I think placating KAT like that would only make him worse in those regards TBH.

Well he doesn’t like players on his team pushing him around (Jimmy) and he has no leadership qualities. I can’t imagine a team full of gritty defenders being okay with his *****y attitude. I just think at this point you have to do everything you can to make him happy. It’s frustrating as hell to watch him play though.

[R. Johnson#3]

Instantly hit me with 2 emotions.



then...

The funny thing is Thibs probably won’t even play him that much at the start. I can see him making him earn his minutes. Then eventually everyone will be hurt by week 2 and he’ll be logging 40 mins a night.

[KnicksorBust]

The funny thing is Thibs probably won’t even play him that much at the start. I can see him making him earn his minutes. Then eventually everyone will be hurt by week 2 and he’ll be logging 40 mins a night.

I think one of the things I'm the most excited about with Thibs is that we will have continuity with our rotation and lineup. I don't think RJ and Mitchell Robinson will be wasted behind vets. I think they will play and play a lot. Maybe that is just wishful thinking.

[Iggie]

Devin Booker - Bam easily. The next Kobe and Shaq.
Ben Simmons - Bam, can you imagine that defense?
Joel Embiid - I would have to say Bam, imagine that high/low game between the 2.
Trae Young - If I had to choose 1 here it would be Bam. They’d be perfect.
Karl Anthony Towns - Probably Bam, KAT will stretch the floor good and Bam will just lock everyone up since KAT can’t guard a traffic cone.
Zion Williamson - This would be Bam. The force of those 2 would just be so overwhelming.
RJ Barrett - Hes trash
De'Arron Fox - Bam just like in college.
Donovan Mitchell - Easily Bam, they would be a force. The next Kobe and Shaq.

[xxplayerxx23]

The funny thing is Thibs probably won’t even play him that much at the start. I can see him making him earn his minutes. Then eventually everyone will be hurt by week 2 and he’ll be logging 40 mins a night.

RJs gonna play lol

[xxplayerxx23]

Devin Booker - Bam easily. The next Kobe and Shaq.
Ben Simmons - Bam, can you imagine that defense?
Joel Embiid - I would have to say Bam, imagine that high/low game between the 2.
Trae Young - If I had to choose 1 here it would be Bam. They’d be perfect.
Karl Anthony Towns - Probably Bam, KAT will stretch the floor good and Bam will just lock everyone up since KAT can’t guard a traffic cone.
Zion Williamson - This would be Bam. The force of those 2 would just be so overwhelming.
RJ Barrett - Hes trash
De'Arron Fox - Bam just like in college.
Donovan Mitchell - Easily Bam, they would be a force. The next Kobe and Shaq.

Fired.

[zookman65]

Some of my own personal answers:
Devin Booker - I'd love to see them put some more defensive players around him with catch and shoot abilities to them. Josh Richardson would actually be a good fit with him, as well as getting Saric and a healthy Baynes more minutes.

Rubio - Booker - JRich - Saric - Barnes

Ben Simmons & Joel Embiid - I lumped these two together because the building around them is actually same. Move one of them for a star wing player or just below star+other parts. I've been thinking about how interesting it would be to see LaVine and Markkanen move for Simmons. Both sides benefit as LaVine feels like a good fit with Embiid, Markkanen would be a better fit as a stretch 4 as well.

Milton - JRich - LaVine - Harris - Embiid OR Simmons - JRich - LaVine - Harris - Horford

Trae Young - He's like Booker where you need to put a bench of 3-n-D players around him. I think Atlanta is trying that but they just are struggling to get the right pieces for it.

Karl Anthony Towns - Honestly I have no clue. They've tried some things and it just hasn't worked.

Zion Williamson - I mentioned a start elsewhere, that a Holiday for Horford swap would be a good start for them as it gets a post player with good vision and ability to space the floor at the 5 to open things for Zion to do more cutting and pull bigs away from the paint. I'm not sure of their cap situation this offseason, but targeting Goran Dragic and moving Lonzo to 6th man would be an interesting fit.

Dragic - Redick - Ingram - Zion - Horford

RJ Barrett - Yes he's still very young and there's lots of growth to be had around him. But Mitchell Robinson needs more minutes, the PG rotation is a mess, and they don't have many trade chips to use. I'm big on LaMelo Ball for them if they get a top 2 pick. If not I'm actually more for them kicking the can a year and then going in. If they don't want to, Danilo Gallinari might be the best target for them.

Ball - Barrett - Knox - Gallinaru - Robinson

De'Arron Fox - They feel like they are a team trying so hard to do the right thing around Fox but just barely missed with some of their moves. Holmes is a great PnR partner, and Bogdanovic is a solid SG to have next to him, which makes the Hield extension sort of confusing. I'd be looking at moving Hield and Bagley together for a SF and slide Barnes to the PF spot. Now I think the move here is rather interesting, Hield/Bagley for Dipo and McDermott

Fox - Bogdonovic - Oladipo - Barnes - Holmes

Donovan Mitchell - Honest frustrating thing here: They might have been better off keeping Rubio over trading for Conley. I wonder how likely a Conley for CP3 swap would be, as CP3 would fit with Mitchell a touch better by being able to take over primary ball handling responsibilities.

CP3 - Mitchell - Ingles - Bogdanovic - Gobert

Gee I know what would have been good for the Kings - drafting Luka Doncic over Marvin Bowie Bagley.