So these are the two teams getting the most debate, huh?
Milwaukee Bucks (bucknersrevenge)- Kevin Durant, Paul Millsap, J.R. Smith, Rodney Stuckey, Brendan Haywood, Jamario Moon, Luke Ridnour, Ben Wallace, Tyler Hansborough, Rashad McCants, Tony Battie, Anthony Johnson, JR Giddens, Sean May, Marko Jaric
Denver Nuggets (Wdleehi)- Greg Oden, Kevin Love, Mike Conley Jr., Jeff Green, Randy Foye, Udonis Haslem, Miekael Pietrus, Kelenna Azubuike, Yao Ming, Brandon Wright, Josh Boone, Mardy Collins, Brian Scalabrine, Dwayne Jones, James Gist, Semih Erden, Morris Almond, Nedžad Sinanović, Tadija Dragicevic
Both teams definitely have good cores. From my perspective, though, Milwaukee has holes at the PG and C positions, which are two important places. Rodney Stuckey, to me, just isn't a future elite PG. Also, Milwaukee's front line suffers from a size problem. They have no young center, and Millsap and Hansborough are both undersized power forwards.
I really like Denver and how the pieces fit together, on the other hand. At PG, I like Mike Conley, and was really impressed by his numbers in the second half last season. (On paper, there's not a huge distinction between Conley and Stuckey yet, but at this stage, I'm much more impressed by Conley). At center, I'm a believer in Greg Oden. I like Kevin Love and Brandan Wright a lot, as well. I think Foye, Green, and Azubuike form a good scoring core on the wings. Also, I think Denver is going to be better committed to defense than Milwaukee's guys. I didn't even really take Yao into consideration, although I do think he's a big asset on Denver's roster.
Here's the thing that swayed me Milwaukee's way. Dons said to disregard contracts and such and judge simply by talent.
Durant, Milsap, and Smith are all exceedingly young and already proven talents.
Denver is relying on game growth to enhance their position and unfortunately as much as I think Oden and Conley will become goo to great players they have yet proven they can be those players.
I would argue that the only two proven young players on Denver are Green and Love. Much of the other young guys are still just hopefuls. And honestly I wouldn't take Love or Green over any of Milwaukee's proven three young stars.
For that reason, and I am a believer in Conley and Oden, I think Milwaukee is better faster and a better bet to be better later. So they got my vote.