Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What would be your current and retired NBA Dream Teams?
Here are mine:
Current
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: LeBron James
PF: Anthony Davis
C: Karl-Anthony Towns
Retired
PG: John Stockton
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Karl Malone
C: Wilt Chamberlain
Current:
Backcourt: Steph, Harden
Frontcourt: LBJ, KD, Anthony Davis
Bench Backcourt: Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, DeRozan
Bench Frontcourt: Giannis, Draymond, Cousins (pre-Achilles), Kristaps
Historic:
Backcourt: Magic, MJ
Frontcourt: Kareem, Karl Malone, Bird
Bench Backcourt: Steve Nash, Jerry West, Pistol Pete
Bench Frontcourt: Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Kobe
Unfortunately for the historic team: it doesn't have much shooting, especially from the frontcourt. The current team can run a spread pick & roll with its starters that would be completely unguardable. The historic team needs zone defense to be illegal so that its starters can isolate in the post--where MJ, Kareem, and Malone are all unguardable.
Backcourt: Steph, Harden
Frontcourt: LBJ, KD, Anthony Davis
Bench Backcourt: Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, DeRozan
Bench Frontcourt: Giannis, Draymond, Cousins (pre-Achilles), Kristaps
Historic:
Backcourt: Magic, MJ
Frontcourt: Kareem, Karl Malone, Bird
Bench Backcourt: Steve Nash, Jerry West, Pistol Pete
Bench Frontcourt: Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Kobe
Unfortunately for the historic team: it doesn't have much shooting, especially from the frontcourt. The current team can run a spread pick & roll with its starters that would be completely unguardable. The historic team needs zone defense to be illegal so that its starters can isolate in the post--where MJ, Kareem, and Malone are all unguardable.
Those are some very good teams. I was very tempted to include Kevin Durant since he's one of my favorite players. However, I chose Anthony Davis due to the fact that he is one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA. KD has improved considerably at blocking shots himself, but Davis has been an excellent shot-blocker his entire career really.
I will admit that one of the reasons why I chose Karl-Anthony Towns in my current Dream Team is because of his excellent shooting for a seven footer. Even with the evolving game today, there aren't too many seven footers out there who have a reliable three-point shot, and can make their free throws.
Seven footers shooting three-pointers well was pretty much unheard of in the past. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, for example, only hit one three-pointer his whole career. That was during the 1986-1987 season, when the Lakers won 65 games and defeated the Boston Celtics in the Finals in six games. Kareem was one of the best centers in NBA history however, because of his well-known skyhook shot. The only player who successfully blocked his skyhook shot was Wilt Chamberlain. Another thing is there were no three-pointers during Kareem's early years in the NBA. Three-pointers didn't exist until the 1979-1980 season. Even then, most players who shot three-pointers reliably at first were either guards or forwards.
As mentioned, what rules will be played would have a major impact on selection.
Allow hand-checking, or a shortened 3-point line and wow....player values swing wildly unless you start to *adjust* for how they would have played lol. Then it gets messy as h*ll.
Such a tough question unless you scope it in terms of players each of which would perform in the rules they played in during their career but then it gets rough mixing\matching across eras.
For example under the rules of 1995, imagine DG trying to guard a playoff team with Shaq on it? *yikes*
Or in converse, a pounding team from that era trying to deal with Curry etc. from the arc without the hand-check?
These aren't minor changes. The NBA is essentially in completely new eras every 20 years or so.
Backcourt: Steph, Harden
Frontcourt: LBJ, KD, Anthony Davis
Bench Backcourt: Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, DeRozan
Bench Frontcourt: Giannis, Draymond, Cousins (pre-Achilles), Kristaps
Historic:
Backcourt: Magic, MJ
Frontcourt: Kareem, Karl Malone, Bird
Bench Backcourt: Steve Nash, Jerry West, Pistol Pete
Bench Frontcourt: Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Kobe
Unfortunately for the historic team: it doesn't have much shooting, especially from the frontcourt. The current team can run a spread pick & roll with its starters that would be completely unguardable. The historic team needs zone defense to be illegal so that its starters can isolate in the post--where MJ, Kareem, and Malone are all unguardable.
We'll probably see a lot of the same answers in this thread, so I'll add a wrinkle and give my FUTURE dream team, comprised of the younger guys in the league:
Just look at the combination of size, athleticism, and actual basketball skill that this lineup possesses. Just an unbelievable pipeline of talent for the league to look forward to, not to mention guys like Tatum, Towns, and Jokic.
Backcourt: Steph, Harden
Frontcourt: LBJ, KD, Anthony Davis
Bench Backcourt: Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, DeRozan
Bench Frontcourt: Giannis, Draymond, Cousins (pre-Achilles), Kristaps
Historic:
Backcourt: Magic, MJ
Frontcourt: Kareem, Karl Malone, Bird
Bench Backcourt: Steve Nash, Jerry West, Pistol Pete
Bench Frontcourt: Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Kobe
Unfortunately for the historic team: it doesn't have much shooting, especially from the frontcourt. The current team can run a spread pick & roll with its starters that would be completely unguardable. The historic team needs zone defense to be illegal so that its starters can isolate in the post--where MJ, Kareem, and Malone are all unguardable.
If you're expanding to include the bench, Kawhii Leonard has to be somewhere in there.
We'll probably see a lot of the same answers in this thread, so I'll add a wrinkle and give my FUTURE dream team, comprised of the younger guys in the league:
Just look at the combination of size, athleticism, and actual basketball skill that this lineup possesses. Just an unbelievable pipeline of talent for the league to look forward to, not to mention guys like Tatum, Towns, and Jokic.
That's a pretty good team with the young guys in the league. All of those guys have a lot of potential in them.
As mentioned, what rules will be played would have a major impact on selection.
Allow hand-checking, or a shortened 3-point line and wow....player values swing wildly unless you start to *adjust* for how they would have played lol. Then it gets messy as h*ll.
Such a tough question unless you scope it in terms of players each of which would perform in the rules they played in during their career but then it gets rough mixing\matching across eras.
For example under the rules of 1995, imagine DG trying to guard a playoff team with Shaq on it? *yikes*
Or in converse, a pounding team from that era trying to deal with Curry etc. from the arc without the hand-check?
These aren't minor changes. The NBA is essentially in completely new eras every 20 years or so.
You make a valid point. Forgetting about the rules, what would your current and retired "Dream Teams" be?
PG: Donovan Mitchell / Goran Dragic
SG: Jimmy Butler / Jaylen Brown
SF: Gordon Hayward / Zach Lavine
PF: Giannis Antetokuompo / Lauri Markkanen
C: Dwight Howard / Karl Anthony Towns
Some solid players at bench: Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, Daniel Theis
PG: Donovan Mitchell / Goran Dragic
SG: Jimmy Butler / Jaylen Brown
SF: Gordon Hayward / Zach Lavine
PF: Giannis Antetokuompo / Lauri Markkanen
C: Dwight Howard / Karl Anthony Towns
Some solid players at bench: Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, Daniel Theis
I like those teams. Donovan Mitchell has already show a lot of promise with him, averaging over 20 points per game. Not very many rookies average at least 20 points per game.
Jimmy Butler has show to be a critical piece to Minnesota with his ability to score for the team. Jaylen Brown has a lot of potential, and has improved his shooting considerably this year.
Both Hayward and LaVine have gone through significant injuries at least once in their careers, and it really pains me when players I enjoy watching get hurt. Really hoping Hayward will come back soon stronger than ever. I really liked LaVine while he was in Minnesota. He has such tremendous leaping ability, and that resulted in him winning back to back Slam Dunk Contests.
The Greek Freak has been having a great season this year. Milwaukee's future is bright. Markkanen has potential with his shooting for a big man.
I'm not too much of a fan of Howard due to his poor free throw shooting, but I really like Towns. Hasn't missed a game in his career so far, and makes the Timberwolves a dangerous team with his shooting for a seven footer and his defense.
The younger guys have a lot of potential in them. Can't wait to see how their games develop.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
