Patrick Everclear Jim Harden Travis Ariza Don Montgomery Chad Acapella I'd be shocked if they didn't win 5 rings.
Lowry / Schroder Wiggins / McCollum Leonard / Giannas Lebron / Towns Davis / Gobert + 3 vet min players, and Pops as coach, Suns medical staff. BOOM, I didn't do the math but should work, even with 2016-17 contract numbers (AD contract's jumps to 21 mill, all rookie scale contracts go through as well)
The last poster got it. It's not simply the players. Yes, GSW is deep, but that depth comes from players strengthening each other, not because everyone is the best at his position. Synergy. Be it coaching, Guys liking each other, Hunger for success..... it's what makes a team unstopable through adversity. We had glimpses of it last year. OKC had that ball to the walls do or die attitude for a few games but it was brittle. GSW otoh is consistently a team where players opt in to the system for a common goal. So throwing a mashup of stars+superstars is not going to fix it (see the Cavs last year). There has to be a spirit.
There are a few weaknesses they have, starting with their bigs. Specifically, Draymond Green has a hard time with bruising bigs, as we saw with Stephen Adams. We also saw that they're small ball line up can be countered if you have a tough big to man the paint. I would start with defense on the wings, which for me would mean Chris Paul, Kawhi Leonard, and Kevin Durant. In the middle you need a tough big with mobility, and Stephen Adams fits the bill there. My power forward would be LaMarcus Aldridge because he has the size to really bother Draymond Green. This would mean that my bench would be substandard, but I think it could still work. To that end, I'd get plenty of shooters to keep the Warriors from being able to pack the paint. I'd go with JJ Reddick, Jeremy Lin, Boris Diaw, Kristaps Porzingis, Alex Len, and Nicolas Batum. With this roster, you'd have plenty of skilled size off the bench and enough firepower in a variety of starters, which would allow them to play effectively with the bench, which has some decent shooting on it. This roster should be able to do it if all goes well in terms of chemistry.
You basically need players who can play in a Spurs system, shoot from all over + play elite level defense chasing those shooters around + a bunch of underpaid role players. My picks would be, just about at the 70M cap. 1. Conley (9.5M) - makes his teammates better, plays good defense, unselfish scorer 2. CJ Mccollum (2.5) - Can hit the 3, play decent defense 3. Lebron (23) 4. Paul Millsap (18.5)- Elite defense on the wing+post, can shoot the 3 5. KAT (5.7) - Can play 4 or 5. ----- 6. Greek Freak (2) - can play 1-4, especially off the bench 7. J-lin (2) - leads bench squad at the 1 or 2 with Giannis 8. Whiteside (1) - best deal for a defensive, rebounding big man who can hit FTs (75%) 10. David West (1.5) 11. Robert Covington (1) - Can shoot, play 3 or 4, probably doesn't get much time behind Lebron 12. Gobert (3) - Elite defense, third center.
Ron Harper Michael Jordan Scottie Pippen Dennis Rodman Luc Longley or Derrick Fisher Kobe Bryant Rick Fox Robert Horry Shaquille O'Neal or Mike Bibby Doug Christie Peja Stojakovic Chris Webber Vlade Divac Basically my three favorite non-Rocket teams from my youth.
CF's worst poster strikes again. The amount of salt in your body would be enough to supply the world for a century.
A little bit of research goes a long way... The column in gray is the difference amount between total team salary and salary cap. As you can see, GSW is $25 Million over the cap. So no, they are not above the curve.
A starting lineup of: PG - Avery Bradley ($8 million) SG - Paul George ($18 mil) SF - Kawhi ($17 mil) PF - Giannis ($2.9 mil) C - Karl Anthony Towns ($5.9 mil) With $20 million to build a bench. Rim protection, athleticism, 3 point shooting, lengthly arms, lockdown perimeter defense.
Can't help but agree with this - however, preferential treatment does have to help, no? Nobody else in the league can replicate what Bogut and Green are doing. Dwight Howard or Yao Ming would've been suspended by the 2nd round.
C - Jonas Valanciunas -- $4.6 MM PF - Al Horford -- $12.0 MM SF - Giannis Antetokounmpo -- $1.9 MM SG - Paul George -- $17.1 MM PG - Kyle Lowry -- $12.0 MM Nerlens Noel -- $3.4 MM Arron Affalo -- $8.0 MM Kyle Korver -- $5.7 MM Jerryd Bayless -- $3.0 MM Steven Adams -- $2.2 MM Coach: Mike Budenholzer
