2020 Historical Draft Thread: Draft over. Playoffs coming soon!

[Who]

Yeah, that's the guy (Mutombo) I was wondering about when Gobert was picked. I was wondering why Gobert went first. Do others rate Gobert over Mutombo? Or do you prefer Deke?

Is it Gobert's offense? Does that give them edge?
Do people believe Gobert defends away from the hoop better?

I am genuinely curious.

I really did not expect that to happen - Gobert getting picked before Mutombo.

I assume we're going with 34-year-old 2000-2001 Mutombo.  He was good this season... DPOY even... but was he peak Mutombo?  I remember him seeming a bit old in the playoffs that series.  Maybe that's just because he was so overmatched by Shaq?  Those are the main memories I have of him from that season unfortunately, which probably isn't fair to him.

Rudy was a similar type of defender, but has a little more height and weight to him, which could be useful in certain matchups.  I think Rudy has a little more overall skill in his game too.

I had Rudy ranked as a 4th rounder over Mutombo a 6th rounder.

Problem is that you had Mutombo going up against peak, in his prime Shaq.

Early 2000s Shaq would've made almost any center in the history of the NBA look a little rough at that point.

Yeah, I thought Mutombo looked great against everyone else. There just wasn't much he could do to slow down Shaq at Shaq's peak.

My main memory of Mutombo that season was the 2001 All Star Game. One of the best ASGs ever. Mutombo's defense inspiring a huge second half comeback. Shutting the lane down on all those amazing Western Conference stars (seriously, that team was loaded).

Mutombo did the same thing against Milwaukee in the Conference Finals to get Philly past Milwaukee's Big Three (scorers). His defense and rebounding were what Milwaukee did not have. And shut down the lane against Vince's Raptors the previous round. Kept Vince outside shooting jumpers.

--------------

I didn't realize Gobert was heavier. I assumed the opposite. I thought Mutombo was heavier. Gobert always looks a little light and flimsy to me. That he has to work so hard to keep the weight down to stay somewhat mobile on the perimeter. It would have been fun to see how big Gobert could've been if he played in 2000 instead of 2020.

I thought Mutombo was the better low post defender. That he had a stronger lower base and obviously much more experience defending the post in his era than centers today.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Selfish plug.

What do you guys think of my team currently?

Paul Pierce
Paul George
LaMarcus Aldridge
Ben Wallace

Any weaknesses I should be concerned of (like playmaking)

[Donoghus]

Selfish plug.

What do you guys think of my team currently?

Paul Pierce
Paul George
LaMarcus Aldridge
Ben Wallace

Any weaknesses I should be concerned of (like playmaking)

We have a thread for that now.

https://forum.celticsstrong.com/index.php?topic=102357.0

[nickagneta]

ANNOUNCEMENT

More Rounds! More Playoffs! More Talking Basketball! More Camaraderie! More Fun!

A decision was reached to expand the game some so that we can all spend more of our coronavirus induced downtime doing something we like. So:

A 13th and 14th rounds of the draft will be added on Thursday, April 2nd. Yes, we know this won't affect overall quality of teams but it will expand things another day. It also gives us more days to talk about your teams and players.

The additional draft day will mean pushing back the due date for when rosters are due. So I will allow trades to be made up until 6:00PM EDT on Sunday, April 5th and final rosters must be submitted by midnight that night.

Instead of voting just one time and that vote being used to determine a winner, we have decided to hold 4 votes. The initial vote will be to determine order of finish in the league and each conference, as usual.

Initial vote will take place on Monday, April 6th and all votes will need to be sent into the commissioner by 6:00 PM EST. Results will be posted before noon on Tuesday, April 7th.

The top two teams in each conference will then go head to head in votes to determine our Finals teams and the last vote will occur to select league champion.

On Tuesday, April 7th, after the league results are announced I will open up two threads where each team can post their rosters and discuss how they would match up against their opponent. Please don't hesitate to participate.

Votes on who wins each matchup will need to be sent in by every GM, even if your team is no longer playing. This is very important. We need participation by everyone until the end to do this right.

Voting for who wins the Conference Finals will be due into the commissioner on Wednesday, April 8th by 6:00 PM EST. The results will be posted before noon on Thursday April 9th.

Then the thread for the Finals will be opened where the final two teams can go head to head. Voting for the Finals will be due by Friday, April 10th at 6:00PM and I will announce our 2020 Historical Finals Champion at 8:00PM EDT that same Friday.

Initial voting will not change. For the initial vote, vote for total league standings and conference standings. League standings will be determined as set out in the rules, but conference standings will be determined differently. Teams will be awarded points based on finish in the conference. 6 points for 1st, 5 for 2nd and so on. Tiebreakers will be determined as explained in the OP by using who had more 1st place votes, then 2nd place votes, etc. The top two teams in each conference advance.

In the playoffs, vote for the team you think will win and provide the tally for the record of the series. Example: NY vs DET. I select NY 4-2. Teams involved in the playoffs can not vote on the game they are involved in, only the other game.

Conference tiebreakers will be determined by the team with the least amount of losses winning. If there is still a tie, the team that placed higher wins due to having home court advantage.

In the Finals, if there is a tie, it will be broken by the team with the least losses winning. If the result is tied, the team with the higher league standing wins due to home court advantage. Again, GMs of the two teams can not vote.

[smokeablount]

Team Rosters through 3 rounds:

Dallas: Lebron, Ray Allen, Doncic
Toronto:  KG, David Robinson, Vince Carter
Utah:  Shaq, J Kidd, Peja
Denver: Duncan, Payton, Draymond
LAC: Steph Curry, Grant Hill, Elton Brand
Philly: Kawhi, Klay, Chauncey
Boston: Durant, Nash, Pau Gasol
Milwaukee: Giannis, Alonzo Mourning, Karl Malone
LAL:  Kobe, Webber, Lilliard
Houston: D Wade, Harden, Amare
Indiana:  Dirk, Embiid, Tony Parker
OKC: Pierce, Paul George, Ben Wallace
Miami: CP3, Dwight, Jimmy Butler
Brooklyn: T-Mac, Ant Davis, Shawn Marion

I couldn't commit to this, but my favorite teams so far are bolded.  Couple other good looking teams that aren't bolded too.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Selfish plug.

What do you guys think of my team currently?

Paul Pierce
Paul George
LaMarcus Aldridge
Ben Wallace

Any weaknesses I should be concerned of (like playmaking)

We have a thread for that now.

https://forum.celticsstrong.com/index.php?topic=102357.0

Ah, cool. Thanks.

[nickagneta]

TEAM ROSTERS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

BOSTON - Who
Kevin Durant
Steve Nash
Pau Gasol
Marc Gasol

PHILADELPHIA - wdleehi
Kawhi Leonard
Klay Thompson
Chauncey Billups
Rudy Gobert

TORONTO - Somebody
Kevin Garnett
David Robinson
Vince Carter
Kyle Lowey

MILWAUKEE - Roy H.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Alonzo Mourning
Karl Malone
Mano Ginobili

MIAMI - RodyTur10
Chris Paul
Dwight Howard
Jimmy Butler
Brandon Roy

INDIANA- GreenFaith1819
Dirk Nowitzki
Joel Embiid
Tony Parker
Gordon Hayward

BROOKLYN - Donoghus
Tracy McGrady
Anthony Davis
Shawn Marion
Yao Ming


WESTERN CONFERENCE

LOS ANGELES LAKERS - Celtic Fan Forever
Kobe Bryant
Chris Webber
Damian Lillard
Nikola Jokic

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS - gouki88
Stephen Curry
Grant Hill
Elton Brand
Michael Redd

DENVER - RPGenerate
Tim Duncan
Gary Payton
Draymond Green
Carmelo Anthony

UTAH - action781
Shaquille O'Neal
Jason Kidd
Peja Stojakovic
Al Horford

DALLAS - Jvalin
LeBron James
Ray Allen
Luka Doncic
Dikembe Mutombo

HOUSTON - freshinthehouse
Dwyane Wade
James Harden
Amar'e Stoudemire
Chris Bosh

OKLAHOMA CITY - Yoki_IsTheName
Paul Pierce
Paul George
Ben Wallace
LaMarcus Aldridge

[Moranis]

I wasn't going to have time to do this, but now being stuck at home, I have the time and feel bad I missed out.  At least I can provide some commentary.

[nickagneta]

I wasn't going to have time to do this, but now being stuck at home, I have the time and feel bad I missed out.  At least I can provide some commentary.

We have already discussed possibly having another draft game later in the spring or early summer if things are still stay at home crazy. Maybe you can join in there?

[Donoghus]

I wasn't going to have time to do this, but now being stuck at home, I have the time and feel bad I missed out.  At least I can provide some commentary.

We have already discussed possibly having another draft game later in the spring or early summer if things are still stay at home crazy. Maybe you can join in there?

My guess it that we're probably gonna have a lot of time to do this in the upcoming months.

[Moranis]

I wasn't going to have time to do this, but now being stuck at home, I have the time and feel bad I missed out.  At least I can provide some commentary.

We have already discussed possibly having another draft game later in the spring or early summer if things are still stay at home crazy. Maybe you can join in there?

Perhaps. 

I'm still surprised at some of the talent on the board.  Still can make a pretty darn good team and one that would be competitive if you pieced it together correctly.

[action781]

I wasn't going to have time to do this, but now being stuck at home, I have the time and feel bad I missed out.  At least I can provide some commentary.

Wish we could have you.  But I also appreciate hearing some impartial perspective from peeps not in the game, so TP to you for providing that so far.

[Jvalin]

Yeah, that's the guy (Mutombo) I was wondering about when Gobert was picked. I was wondering why Gobert went first. Do others rate Gobert over Mutombo? Or do you prefer Deke?

Is it Gobert's offense? Does that give them edge?
Do people believe Gobert defends away from the hoop better?

I am genuinely curious.

I really did not expect that to happen - Gobert getting picked before Mutombo.

I assume we're going with 34-year-old 2000-2001 Mutombo.  He was good this season... DPOY even... but was he peak Mutombo?  I remember him seeming a bit old in the playoffs that series.  Maybe that's just because he was so overmatched by Shaq?  Those are the main memories I have of him from that season unfortunately, which probably isn't fair to him.

Rudy was a similar type of defender, but has a little more height and weight to him, which could be useful in certain matchups.  I think Rudy has a little more overall skill in his game too.

I had Rudy ranked as a 4th rounder over Mutombo a 6th rounder.

He won DPOY, he made the All-NBA second team (behind Shaq) and he led the league in rebounds per game. This was the only time throughout his career that he made the All-NBA second team. His other selections (1998, 2002) were for the third team.

Not to mention, he helped the Sixers reach the 2001 NBA Finals.

I'm quoting from wikipedia:

In arguably his best season as a pro, Mutombo earned his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award that season. During the 2001 Playoffs, they defeated the Indiana Pacers in 4 games, Toronto Raptors in 7 games and Milwaukee Bucks in a 7-game series. During Game 7 against the Bucks, Mutombo scored 23 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked 7 shots to win the series. Mutombo helped the Sixers reach the NBA Finals. After pulling off an upset and winning Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers (the only playoff game the Lakers lost in 2001), the Sixers lost the next four games and the series. Matched up against Shaq, Mutombo averaged 16.8 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.

In terms of accomplishments, this was hands down his peak season. He went on to play 7 more seasons in the NBA. It's not like he was close to retirement.

[nickagneta]

Surprised by the lack of comments regarding extra rounds and expanded playoffs. If people don't want to or can't do this, we don't have to. The staff here at CS just thought it might be a fun way to help kill all the extra time we all have on our hands.

Feedback?

[RPGenerate]

Surprised by the lack of comments regarding extra rounds and expanded playoffs. If people don't want to or can't do this, we don't have to. The staff here at CS just thought it might be a fun way to help kill all the extra time we all have on our hands.

Feedback?

Sorry, it kinda got lost in the shuffle. Anyways, I'm down for literally anything that can kill time. It sound like fun!