RealGM

Which trio would you take if you were starting a new franchise and why?

Magic / Kobe / Bird because I think they would have much better chemistry.

No contest, group B; group A is full of ball-dominant guys. Sure, Jordan played well off-ball and sure, Oscar showed he could defer to Kareem, but they're all perimeter guys with some post, they wouldn't have hot chemistry.

Magic and Bird alone make that team compelling because of their unselfish, all-around nature, and Kobe would be a staggering scoring talent supported by those two and buoyed by his own undeniable talent.

That team would be TERRIFYING, even with two scrubs at the PF/C spots (actually, they'd probably run Bird at the 4, and add in a squeaky small guard and a decent 8/8 center).

I think the first group has better overall talent, plus has the best player, but the second group plays better off the ball.

"Yeah, that first group of guys with career averages of 9.5, 5.3, and 6.7 assists per game would have way too much trouble sharing the basketball."

People all assume LeBron needs to dominate the ball because he's never had decent teammates, so doing so is the best way to win. Did no one watch the Olympics? On a stacked team, he was picking his spots to score, but mostly facilitating. Kobe was the one shooting jumpers like he was still in the NBA, shooting twice as frequently as the average Team USA member and hitting like 40 percent of them while everyone else had FG% in the high 50s if not 60s.

Give me Oscar/Jordan/LeBron. More offensive firepower, and far better athleticism and defense.

I would take MJ and Lebron over Kobe and Bird really easily, but Magic imo is much better than oscar, so it closes the gap overall. the first trio though wins because of defense and offense is just flat out better.

John Doe [MN] wrote:"Yeah, that first group of guys with career averages of 9.5, 5.3, and 6.7 assists per game would have way too much trouble sharing the basketball."

People all assume LeBron needs to dominate the ball because he's never had decent teammates, so doing so is the best way to win. Did no one watch the Olympics? On a stacked team, he was picking his spots to score, but mostly facilitating. Kobe was the one shooting jumpers like he was still in the NBA, shooting twice as frequently as the average Team USA member and hitting like 40 percent of them while everyone else had FG% in the high 50s if not 60s.

Give me Oscar/Jordan/LeBron. More offensive firepower, and far better athleticism and defense.

Great post, you hit all the main points.