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Pick No. 17: Team Giannis Takes Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook, who’s slashing 41.6/25.0/65.0, can’t shoot this season. And that’s just fine.
With his explosive athleticism and relentless desire to achieve dribble penetration into the heart of a defense, he’s already har enough to keep away from the basket while he suits up for the Oklahoma City Thunder. When greeted with even less resistance from Team LeBron, he’s sure to produce a few angry jams, leaving his mark on the All-Star Game in the form of a nearly shattered backboard.
Pick No. 18: Team LeBron Takes Victor Oladipo Pascal Siakam
Eric Bledsoe, Jimmy Butler and D’Angelo Russell may all be better bets to get the nod in place of Victor Oladipo, who’s out for the year with a knee injury. But the powers that be (i.e. me) have decided whoever selected last year’s Most Improved Player would get to select whoever else they coveted from the Eastern Conference.
Pascal Siakam is my guy. He does everything. He’s hitting more of his threes (38.3 percent from the corners). He hustles off the ball. He can attack off the dribble in space. He is the dude Toronto tasks with covering Giannis Antetokounmpo. He can lead the break and initiate pick-and-rolls.
Slotting him at center would be our cheat code if our entire roster weren’t one ginormous cheat code. But he fits our hyper-versatile theme while giving us a we-might-care-about-defense-more-than-you-think vibe. And if Bledsoe, Butler or Russell ends up here instead, well, nothing changes. We’ll still dominate.
Pick No. 19: Team Giannis Takes Khris Middleton
At this stage of the draft, Team Giannis needs wings. And in the interest of full disclosure, we were also planning on drafting Oladipo to replace him with Siakam—a perfect fit on any outfit filled with ball-dominant players.
Positions don’t matter in today’s NBA, particularly in an exhibition contest with all-around talents. But we still need another player who can fill the duties typically assigned to swingmen, considering Antetokounmpo is the only player on our roster who has logged much time at the 3 in recent years.
Enter Middleton, who can check opposing wings, knock down triples and keep defenders off balance with his pull-up jumpers from all over the half-court set. He might not be the most glamorous option and often fades into the background when paired with our team captain, but he can get the job done.
Pick No. 20: Team LeBron Takes Kyle Lowry
With this selection of Kyle Lowry, Team LeBron has officially met its Raptors players quota.
Lowry is made for this roster, because he doesn’t care about scoring. He seldom shot-hunted in his previous four All-Star appearances and has spent a great deal of this season chaperoning Toronto’s offense through the Kawhi Leonard experience.
Do we need him to improve upon his 0-of-8 showing from downtown in last year’s exhibition? You betcha. But also, maybe not. He’s that good of a table-setter. Two of his four All-Star cameos have included double-digit assist tallies.
Pick No. 21: Team Giannis Takes Nikola Vucevic
Forget about glitz and glamour. We’re filling the final spot on Team Giannis with a player who’s quietly emerged into a legitimate candidate for celestial status, tormenting foes with a well-rounded offensive game in spite of the relentless defensive attention to which he’s subjected on an Orlando Magic unit that can’t properly protect him.
Slowing Nikola Vucevic is tough enough when he’s surrounded by D.J. Augustin, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac—the lineup in which he’s been used most frequently this year. It might be downright impossible when Antetokounmpo, Curry, Harden and another All-Star are keeping defenders honest.
Pick No. 22: Team LeBron Takes LaMarcus Aldridge
OK, so “pick” is a stretch. Team LeBron had no choice but to take LaMarcus Aldridge.
Color us shades of not-at-all upset.
Aldridge’s 30 points across six All-Star appearances are concerning, but only marginally so. He gives us a more traditional option to milk in the post. That’s important. We’re going to spend so much time up by 15 or more points that we’ll need to slow the game and run some methodical pick-and-pops and back-to-the-basket isos. He’ll be our crutch in those situations.
Unlike Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, we’ll also encourage him to take a three-pointer or 12. He has the range, and knowing how many ankles Lillard and Irving will vaporize, he’ll damn sure have the room.
from Viral News Updates http://bit.ly/2G32gnJ
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