Building a NBA Franchise right now...Who would you take

[m33p0]

Yes.

then consider this: bulls with pippen + grant with hakeem in the middle for their first le as against rockets with jordan + rookie cassell + rookie horry. which one has the more realistic chance of winning a championship?

here's another one: since the rockets will be picking jordan, portland will get the center they have always wanted in hakeem. how do you think portland will be remembered? hakeem with drexler early in their careers.

think about it.

[DPG21920]

You are making wayy to many assumptions. Fact remains that Jordan is widely considered the best player ever.

[m33p0]

You are making wayy to many assumptions. Fact remains that Jordan is widely considered the best player ever.

yes he is. i don't doubt that. i'm a card carrying member of the "Jordan is GOAT" club. but being the best doesn't automatically translate into having a great team. you have to build a team that is able to play both offense and defense. and the best way to start is by putting in the center piece and build from there.

consider that portland team with hakeem at center and drexler at 2 guard. even without hakeem, they went to finals a couple of times. with a hakeem, they would have clobbered the bulls even if they had jordan. how do i know this? sabonis was killing them and he ain't no hakeem.

[DPG21920]

That would be like me saying imagine Jordan with Malone.

[m33p0]

that would be impossible since utah didn't have a top 3 pick that year.

[DPG21920]

So what, you are theoretically putting Hakeem with Clyde.

[m33p0]

so you're saying houston made a blunder when they drafted hakeem instead of jordan even though they had no idea that jordan will be widely regarded as the greatest of all time some years later?

Yes.

So what, you are theoretically putting Hakeem with Clyde.

[DPG21920]

And by the way, how can you make such huge assumptions with guards and not bigs. You say matter-of-factly that the guards today are comparable to the best guards of all time, when CP3 and Deron Williams have not even been in the league that long? They are not considered any where near the top guards of all time.

[DPG21920]

What does that have to do with anything? You are saying that IF they would have taken Jordan and IF the Blazers took Hakeem that the WOULD beat the whomever. That did not happen and there is no way to logically say that your scenario is any more real than Santa.

Try and stick to the facts. IF Houston had to do it over, knowing what they know now, would they still have drafted Hakeem? I think not.

[m33p0]

What does that have to do with anything? You are saying that IF they would have taken Jordan and IF the Blazers took Hakeem that the WOULD beat the whomever. That did not happen and there is no way to logically say that your scenario is any more real than Santa.

Try and stick to the facts. IF Houston had to do it over, knowing what they know now, would they still have drafted Hakeem? I think not.

lol. i think they would. but you may be right. the rockets did have 7'4" ralph sampson. and hakeem might have ended up in portland with drexler.

[DPG21920]

It is just hard to argue, knowing what we all know now, that any team would take somebody over Jordan.

[DPG21920]

By the way, let me clarify that I do not think you are wrong and I understand the big man argument. To me, if you are drafting truly great players, it is a win-win. I just have my reasons for thinking truly elite guards impact the game more than truly elite bigs. Each champion needs other good guys to win either way.

[Fernando TD21]

8 out of 10 times I'd take the bigs, the other 2 times I'd take MJ or Magic.

Shaq and Duncan have 8 of the past 10 championships, that's how I know.

[DrHouse]

I would rather build my franchise around Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal in their primes than Michael Jordan.

It's much easier to build a winning team when you have a dominant center who can impact the game on both ends of the floor.

Jordan needed a very good and very rare supporting cast around him until he started winning championships.

[Killakobe81]

No way. Great point guards are more useful than Bigs. Bigs do not handle the ball 90% of the game, the guards do. Without good pg's, the bigs are rendered useless for the most part.

The play makers like CP3 always have the ball in their hands and set the tempo. That is not to say that bigs suck, but when it comes to guards vs bigs, great guards > great bigs.

Silly so you take CP3 over duncan in his younger prime? no duncan best Wake forest product ..id still take TD over chris paul even over a healthy bynum ...playing like he did last week but if bynum comes back healthy beasting in playoffs i take this back

[DPG21920]

Silly so you take CP3 over duncan in his younger prime? no duncan best Wake forest product ..id still take TD over chris paul even over a healthy bynum ...playing like he did last week but if bynum comes back healthy beasting in playoffs i take this back

Not a fair argument. Duncan has been in the league and I have had the luxury of seeing what he can do over a large sample size. The same cannot be said about CP3. Tim will without a doubt be a hall of famer, you cannot say that about Paul.

[m33p0]

It is just hard to argue, knowing what we all know now, that any team would take somebody over Jordan.

knowing what i know, i would still take a great center over jordan. and magic before jordan, too.

[Ghazi]

Celtics won without a big man.

[z0sa]

Celtics won without a big man.

Every Celtics le-winner had a dominant big man.

[Ghazi]

Garnett's only big in stature, he's not remotely similar to Duncan/Hakeem/Shaq

And then there's Perkins, lulz

[mystargtr34]

I agree with Ghazi. Garnett obviously isnt your typical back to the basket, collapse the D type of big guy. Ie Hakeem, Duncan or Shaq.

Plus, Garnett wasnt even remotely as dominant statistically like those guys throughout the playoffs.

The 08 Celtics and the 04 Pistons belong in the same group of 'Champions'. While Duncan's and Shaq's teams belong in a group together.

[m33p0]

Garnett's only big in stature, he's not remotely similar to Duncan/Hakeem/Shaq

And then there's Perkins, lulz

he has the dominating defensive presence of any great center with his shot blocking.

[Ghazi]

I guess Josh Smith is the next great big man then.

[DrHouse]

The '08 Celtics had 3 superstar HOF players. They are nothing like the '04 Piston team IMHO.

Pierce = Kobe-lite
Allen = Best pure shooter in the game
Garnett = Defensive nightmare

[Ghazi]

Bonner > KG

http://youtube.com/watch?v=puXDg637X10