Billups Carter Draft - SF1 - durantbird vs Dr Positivity*

[durantbird]

Here is a quick list of what you need in your writeup.

1. Specific years for each player on your team
2. Rotations and minutes for each player
3. Reasoning as to why your team will win and/or why people should vote for you.

Do not vote in this thread until both managers have submitted their writeups. Please ensure you give a rationale for your vote; votes with no explanation will not be counted.

If writeups aren't posted within 24 hours, we will vote solely based on the players they have drafted (and any rotations they have posted on their roster page).

**First to 3 votes advances.**

[durantbird]

PG: Derrick White 24' - 11.5
SG: James Harden 21' - 16.7
SF: OG Anunoby 20' - 8.2
PF: Paul Millsap 15' - 12.7
C: Nikola Jokic 23' - 14.8

Bench: Kyle Korver 15' - 8.0
Bench: Aaron Gordon 24' - 9.8
Bench: Reggie Bullock 23' - 6.0

Rotation:
PG: Derrick White 36 / James Harden 12
SG: James Harden 24 / Kyle Korver 24
SF: OG Anunoby 30 / Reggie Bullock 12 / Aaron Gordon 6
PF: Paul Millsap 24 / Aaron Gordon 24
C: Nikola Jokic 38 / Paul Millsap 10

87.7/88

vs

PG: Chris Paul (38) / Charlie Ward (10)
SG: Mitch Richmond (36) / Charlie Ward (12)
SF: Jayson Tatum (22) / James Posey (26)
PF: Amare Stoudemire (32) / Jayson Tatum (16)
C: Al Horford (34) / Marcin Gortat (8) / Amare Stoudemire (6)

Matchup:
- Defensive assignments straight up. When Gordon is in, he spends time on both Richmond and Amar'e.
- We are pretty much well suited to guard Dr P's team. Anunoby and White are great counters to Paul and Tatum, with Millsap/Jokic/Gordon providing cover against Amar'e and Horford. We have a lot of defensive versatility to cover up for matchups like Harden on Richmond, even though recent years' Harden has seen a defensive improvement. Dr P can run into issues defending White-Harden as a defensive use for Tatum against quick guards isn't ideal.
- We built a team that should fit very well around Jokic. Spacing all around with Harden, White, Korver, Anunoby, Millsap, Bullock and reliable lob threats like Gordon. We also got some nice playmakers in White and Harden to set Jokic up.
- We have the best player in the series in Jokic, plus a great second option in Harden, and overall superior depth in my eyes. While Dr P has a solid leading five, with Korver and Gordon off the bench we have 6 players who displayed All-Star worthy performances and are significant offensive threats.
- With Horford having his hands full trying to contain Jokic, Dr P's interior may be exposed. We are less prone to a similar issue as even though Horford has range, either Millsap or Jokic will stay closer to the basket guarding Amar'e.

[Dr Positivity]

GL durantbird

PG: Chris Paul (2017: 12.9 FGA)
SG: Mitch Richmond (1998: 17.4 FGA)
SF: Jayson Tatum (2024: 19.3 FGA)
PF: Amare Stoudemire (2007: 12.9 FGA)
C: Al Horford (2018: 10.5 FGA)

PG/SG: Charlie Ward (2001: 6.1 FGA)
SF: James Posey (2008: 5.6 FGA)
C: Marcin Gortat (2010: 2.8 FGA = 3.0

87.7 / 88

PG: Chris Paul (38) / Charlie Ward (10)
SG: Mitch Richmond (36) / Charlie Ward (12)
SF: Jayson Tatum (22) / James Posey (26)
PF: Amare Stoudemire (32) / Jayson Tatum (16)
C: Al Horford (34) / Marcin Gortat (8) / Amare Stoudemire (6)

Defensive matchups: Paul on White, Tatum on Harden, Richmond on Anunoby, Amare on Millsap, Horford on Jokic

While his guard/big combo is more talented overall, I think Paul and Amare will have better chemistry than Harden and Jokic, with Nets Harden being at his best as a playmaker which is less necessary on a team with Jokic, not to mention Harden is uninterested in playing off ball. We also have more talent around those pairs with another superstar in Tatum, Richmond (still 23ppg and 3rd team All-NBA, enough to score well on Harden) and Horford. Horford dragging out Jokic could cause him some problems. Paul once swept Jokic so having a pick and roll driven team could be a tough matchup against him. While Korver and Gordon is a stellar bench combination, his 3 worst players are more like 2020 OG, Korver and Bullock, which is still a better bench than Ward, Posey and Gortat but more manageable. Our starting lineup advantage gets the job done with the 2 best perimeter players in Paul and Tatum helping us close it out.

[Fadeaway_J]

Dr P's team didn't grab me initially, but it does seem to cover a lot of bases. CP3-Amar'e pick-and-roll is a good foundation, and having five quality offensive players who don't step on each other's toes is hard to deal with, especially if you're trying to give guys like Harden and Korver a place to hide. Horford is an interesting cover for Jokic - he's undersized, but an excellent post defender and very mobile - and I think the combination of CP3 as the ballhandler with those two bigs can put a lot of stress on Jokic defensively.

Vote: Dr Positivity

[wackbone]

Still not a huge fan of 21 Harden as the second option but overall I still prefer db's squad. I'm not as high on the Richmond-Tatum wing duo as most will be.

Vote: durantbird

[durantbird]

[parsnips33]

Don't love the Jokic Harden fit, but note sure if Dr P has enough in the frontcourt to deal with Jokic - think he'll be able to get a lot of what he wants. On the other side, CP3 and Amare fit together really nicely and seems like that 2 man game would be a good starting point for any possession. Add in Tatum getting set up by an elite PG, and I think I've talked myself into Dr P here.

Vote: Dr Positivity

[durantbird]

[Dr Positivity]

Help pls

[Snakebites]

I think I broadly prefer Dr P's team. Horford works for me as a cover for Jokic, at least as decent as a single coverage for him can be. The CP3/Amare two man game has enough space to operate and there's a diversity of solid playmakers.

I think there's a talent edge and that this team counters db's fairly well.

Vote Dr P

[Laimbeer]

I think Dr. P has this one

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

[durantbird]

Dr Positivity advances