The All Time NBA Dynasty Draft

[Cookie Monster]

Nate "The Great" Thurmond

Nate's career went from 1963 to 1977.

He was the first player ever to record a quadruple double.

His stats say it all, a beast defensively. averaging in his first 11 seasons over 10 defensive rebounds.

He averaged 15 points and 15 rebounds over his career. If it wasn't for his last couple of seasons it would have been 17 rebounds.

A very unknown player but one of the greats. His jersey retired by 2 teams in the Cavs and the Warriors.

He rounds up a pretty solid team.

[Cookie Monster]

In at the one...

Coming in at the number 2 position..

Playing the number 3

The Mailman at the 4

And finally, in at the 5


And the bench..

[Levis43]

Last pick: Bernand King

Love this guy. "Bernand King just wouldn't let them lose!" Perhaps the greatest moment in basketball history! 22.5 PPG over his career and his leadership and fighting spirit is unparralelled.


PG: Oscar Robertson
SG: Steve Nash
SF: Elgin Baylor
PF: Larry Bird
C: Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Guard: Pete Maravich
Wing: Bernand King
Big Man: George Mikan

[Jay]

Excellent work guys! I'll update the team lists and let the judges know we're finished :)

I'm thinking two scores out of 10 for each team, one on 'talent' and the other on 'fit'. ???

Any ideas?

[Cookie Monster]

Make it an epic countdown aswell.


So like, reveal each judges score for Levis team for talent, then do each judges score for my team for talent. Makes it exciting :)

[Jay]

Yep I can do that, Cook :)

Also.. I'm sure a write up, explaining why you should win and detailing the playing style of your squad would be a really good read. I'll do mine tomorrow!

[RiOtChEsS]

Yep I can do that, Cook :)

Also.. I'm sure a write up, explaining why you should win and detailing the playing style of your squad would be a really good read. I'll do mine tomorrow!

im cool with a write up, let me know if we r doing it for sure 8)

[RiOtChEsS]

Make it an epic countdown aswell.


So like, reveal each judges score for Levis team for talent, then do each judges score for my team for talent. Makes it exciting :)

killer idea CM love it :)

[Jay]

Alright guys you have a couple of days to get your write ups in, if you wish to do one.

The votes will be revealed in an epic countdown Sunday night 8)

[Jay]

Write up - Team Jayman

PG: John Stockton
SG: Dwyane Wade
SF: LeBron James
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Hakeem Olajuwon
Guard: Reggie Miller
Wing: Dennis Rodman
Big Man: Patrick Ewing

Offensive Strategy: With this team, I'd be looking at employing an "Early Offense" strategy. This offense is based on quick passes to reach the offensive operating areas before all of the defenders are set. By advancing the ball into the offensive side of the court within 2 to 3 seconds, the defenders are most often spread out, creating an opportunity for a high percentage of field goal attempts. Getting into offense before the defense can establish proper player match-ups also creates severe mismatches. With LeBron and Wade being such nightmares in transition, I feel this offense would get me several easy buckets every game. When the early push does not create a good shot or advantage, I'll be looking at employing a One-Three-One alignment. A diagram of this alignment can be seen below:

Now there are multiple 'motion' plays that can be run from this set, that I won't go into, but you get the basic idea. Hakeem is my low post threat, with Dirk operating at about the free throw line. Wade on one of the wings, and although he isn't a great 3pt shooter, the defender still has to follow him every where he goes as he is elite at cutting to the basket when he sees a weak spot in the defense. The other wing spot will be either Stockton spotting up for three, or LeBron looking to catch and drive to the basket. Stockton and LeBron will split time at the 1 and share the ball handling duties when both on the court, and be the dominant ball handler when either is off the court.

My bench guys are easy to plug into this system too. Having the threat of a Reggie Miller three will be a nightmare for defenses as he will always be paired with either an elite penetrator (Wade/LeBron) or a post threat (Hakeem/Dirk/Ewing). Rodman will be the low post guy when he comes in, as I want him to be as close to the basket as possible for rebounding purposes. I like the fit of Ewing playing the high post with his nice jump shot and big body to set screens for my ball handler. I could see an occasional paring of Hakeem and Ewing functioning well offensively too as both are so versatile.


Defensively: 6 of my 8 players made at least one All Defensive Team in their NBA careers, this wide range of defensive talent would set my team up well for stopping some of the elite offensive teams created in this draft. I put a particular emphasis on having elite Big Man defense as without this, there would be just no way my team could compete with the teams that drafted Kareem, Shaq and Wilt. Although impossible to completely stop those three guys, I feel as though Hakeem and Ewing could at least limit some of their dominance while making them work on the other end of the court.


Overall: The criteria that separates this draft from the ones we have done in the past is that you get the exact career of the player you select. For this reason, I focussed on guys who have really dominant "prime years" allowing me to win championships, but also "longevity" so I could compete for a long period of time. Wade is the only player on my roster who has missed a lot of time due to injury throughout his career, and although LeBron hasn't played the huge number of seasons that some of the other guys have, he's been incredibly durable throughout his career so its fair to project that he'll end up with similar games/minutes played numbers as possibly the Kareem and Parish's of the world. Stockton, Dirk, Hakeem, Miller and Ewing are all top 40 all-time in both the minutes played, and games played categories.

This team is going to be elite over a long period of time, and once we get to the prime years of LeBron and Hakeem, watch out 8)

[Cookie Monster]

Write up - Team Cookie Monster

PG: Isiah Thomas
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Karl Malone
C: Moses Malone
Guard: Clyde Drexler
Wing: Dominique Wilkins
Big Man: Nate Thurmond

Offensive Strategy:
I feel, along with a lot of the other teams, that i can pretty much trust anyone in my team to run the ball and i don't have to rely on one certain gameplan or play for my team to succeed. I have Isiah who's assisting ability can when on the attack give us 5 scoring options. Some players over time have been guarded less because of their inability to score. I think the greatest asset to my offence is that it's great both inside and outside and players can all play different roles in the offence. With Jordan and KD the fastbreak will definitely be a strong part of my game. But if the opposition defense can get back in time i feel any of my players can make slower plays.

Wilkins, Drexler and Thurmond are all great offensive and defensive players so i can rely on them to do their role when on the offense. Crashing the boards, spreading the floor, hitting the outside shot and running to the rim. I feel all of my players give a great offensive output that a lot of teams may struggle to hold up.



Defensively:
I have 3 great big men who average 10+ defensive boards over their career. And 5 others who are great one on one defenders. KD can guard from the likes of Alan Iverson to LeBron James (Was gonna say Kareem, but no one can guard Kareem). Jordan is great getting back to stop the fast break and picking off passes as is Isiah. Karl, Moses and Nate are beasts in the defensive paint and can pull down any rebound in their radius.
I feel i don't have any liability's on defense i think every one of my players are great defenders in the paint and on the outside.

Overall:
Overall i have no problem on my team, i'm not going to say it's perfect and would win a championship every single season. But the longevity of Malone and Jordan. There is only 2 players who played less than 1000 games in their career's. One of them is still currently playing.
I think my team would be hard to beat in this format, some may say that players like Isiah and Jordan can't play together because they hate each other. I think if put in the same team, they would work out a way to play if it meant winning.
All of my players have been extremely durable, only a couple missed parts of a season due to injury.

I think the best part about the team, is having 5 guys i can trust to make that game winning shot.

[Jay]

Excellent read, Cookie :)

[RiOtChEsS]

Riotchess Triangle

C: Shaquille O'Neal
PF: Kevin Garnett
SF: Scottie Pippen
SG: Kobe Bryant
PG: Steph Curry

G: Ray Allen
W: Paul Pierce
B: Anthony Davis



Triangle Offense
The triangle offense was coached by Phil Jackson and has bagged him 11 titles, its also the system that MJ, Scottie, Shaq and Kobe won their rings in.
The system's most important feature is the sideline triangle created by the center, who stands at the low post, the forward at the wing, and the guard at the corner. The team's other guard stands at the top of the key and the weak-side forward is on the weak-side high post â€" together forming the "two-man game." The goal of the offense is to fill those five spots, which creates good spacing between players and allows each one to pass to four teammates. Every pass and cut has a purpose and everything is dictated by the defense.
After drafting Shaq i surrounded him with the pieces that brought him success and those that had played the same game.

Duo   Years   Games   PPG   RPG   APG
MJ w/ Pippen   87-98   1509   48.9   12.2   10.8
Shaq w/ Kobe   96-04   1075   48.6   16.6   7.4

Kobe Bryant and Scottie Pippen, 11 rings in the triangle, Paul Pierce (4th all time in 3's), Ray Allen (1st all time in 3's) and Kevin Garnett played together and in a similar styled offense and have the chemistry necessary to keep the same offensive flow throughout.
My two wild cards are Steph Curry (future 3pt king) and Anthony Davis, Steph was an important pick for the team as he doesnt need the ball in hand to do damage, in 4 and a half seasons he is 66th all time in triples, ahead of Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant, he is going to get open looks and he will bury most of them.
Anthony Davis does not have a weakness in his game, he is a more efficient and dare i say a better version of a young Shaq, i really dont need to harp on about him if youve been watching NBA in the last 2-3 years.

Defense
The hallmark of a Phil Jackson defense is a help defense, guys that can fly around create chaos and block shots from anywhere, the best defensive player he ever coached is at his disposal again in Scottie Pippen, even if there were liabilities elsewhere Pippen would have to be the greatest 'help' defender of all time, a quick peak at his defensive highlight reel reveals some of the most exciting defensive plays in NBA history.
Shaq, Garnett and Davis are elite paint defenders, Paul Pierce is a solid wing defender and Steph Curry is a thief, the defense is good but the plan is we are just going to score more points than anyone else through efficiency in a system that has proven to be the greatest Offense in the history of the game.

[RiOtChEsS]

Great write ups Young Blood and Cookie Monster 8)

[Jay]

Great write ups Young Blood and Cookie Monster 8)

Thanks mate! Really like how you've reunited the Celtics big 3, and Shaq/Kobe 8)

AD will probably turn into the best value pick of this draft. If he stays healthy, his floor is a top 20 player of all-time :o