TNT’s Ultimate NBA Draft

[Ed Monix]

The Ultimate Draft, where 8 teams were drafted from the 75 greatest.

There were 4 wildcard players added to the list to allow every team to draft 10 players.

The first pick went to Dominique Wilkins and the last pick went to D.L Hughley (comedian). It was conducted as a snake draft which meant that the person who had the last pick would have the first pick in the next round.

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Domique Wilkins

Domique Wilkins
Moses Malone
Oscar Robertson
Karl Malone
James Harden
Patrick Ewing
Paul Pierce
Lenny Wilkens
Bob Pettit
Dolph Schayes

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Jerry West

Kobe Bryant
Wilt Chamberlain
Charles Barkley
Elgin Baylor
John Stockton
David Robinson
Carmelo Anthony
John Havlicek
Nate Thurmond
Bill Sharman

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Sue Bird

LeBron James
Larry Bird
Kevin Garnett
Steve Nash
Anthony Davis
James Worthy
Pete Maravich
Nikola Jokic (WC)
Sam Jones
Dave Debusschere

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Inside the NBA
(O’Neal, Smith, Barkley)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Dwyane Wade
Clyde Drexler
Isiah Thomas
Dave Cowens
Reggie Miller
Bob McAdoo
Nate Archibald
Wes Unseld
Billy Cunningham

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NBA on TNT
(Wade, Lefkoe, Parker)

Shaquille O’Neal
Kevin Durant
Jerry West
Chris Paul
Scottie Pippen
Klay Thompson (WC)
Earl Monroe
Robert Parish
Bob Cousy
George Mikan

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Quavo

Stephen Curry
Allen Iverson
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Dennis Rodman
Julius Erving
George Gervin
Walt Frazier
Russell Westbrook
Elvin Hayes
Hal Greer

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According to Sources
(Charania, Haynes)

Michael Jordan
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell
Kawhi Leonard
Ray Allen
Damian Lillard
Chris Bosh (WC)
Rick Barry
Willis Reed
Paul Arizin

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D.L Hughley

Hakeem Olajuwon
Tim Duncan
Kevin McHale
Dirk Nowitzki
Jason Kidd
Gary Payton
Bill Walton
Tracey McGrady (WC)
Dave Bing
Jerry Lucas

[Roy H.]

Sue Bird.

Seriously, you've got Lebron, Larry, Jokic, KG, and Nash as the potential starters?  Brow and Worthy first off the bench?

What does "WC" stand for?

[Who]

Nique

G: Oscar Robertson, Lenny Wilkens
G: James Harden
F: Paul Pierce, Dominique Wilkins
F: Karl Malone, Bob Pettit, Dolph Schayes
C: Patrick Ewing, Moses Malone

He drafted only 1 SG.

I like the Oscar - Malone - Ewing troika to build around. Strong defensive & rebounding duo in Malone and Ewing. Both guys can run the floor well and shoot jump shots to provide spacing. Versatility. And in Oscar you got one of the greatest leaders of All-Time.

I don't much like James Harden and do not like having zero backup for him. I don't like his fit next to Oscar. They have strong backup bigs with Moses, Pettit and Schayes but that extra PF cost them a backup SG.

The SF rotation is okay with Pierce and Nique. Pierce more well rounded.
 

[Who]

Jerry West

G: John Stockton
G: Kobe Bryant, Bill Sharman
F: Elgin Baylor, John Havlicek, Carmelo Anthony
F: Charles Barkley
C: Wilt Chamberlain, David Robinson, Nate Thurmond

I absolutely love that starting five. Wilt is awesome to build around. Then you give him 3 dynamic well-rounded offensive threats in Kobe, Baylor and Barkley. Plus one of the ultimate floor generals of All-Time in John Stockton. Fantastic five.

I like Sharman and Havlicek off the bench. Not wild about Melo. I love D-Rob as the bench five but I see no value in having Nate Thurmond as well. Two wasted picks on Thurmond and Melo hurt the bench depth.

Still, that starting five and 3 of their main bench guys are awesome.

[Who]

Sue Bird

G: Steve Nash
G: Sam Jones, Pete Maravich
F: LeBron James, James Worthy
F: Larry Bird, Kevin Garnett, Anthony Davis, Dave Debusschere
C: Nikola Jokic,

Not wild about this team from a traditional positional format. Let's see.

G: LeBron James, Steve Nash
G: Sam Jones, Pete Maravich
F: Larry Bird, James Worthy
F: Kevin Garnett, Dave DeBusschere
C: Nikola Jokic, Anthony Davis

Okay, that is a bit better.

That is interesting. I liked LeBron and Bird as forwards similar to those East teams in the early 80s with Dr J and Bird. They were so dynamic and difficult to matchup to.

Three high level playmakers in Jokic, LeBron and Bird. Then Garnett as your 4th best passer. Insane. Sam Jones as a shooter. Jokic and Bird are strong shooters. KG too. Lot of shooting as well as passing. Offensively dominant team. With Nash and Maravich to come off the bench and add even more offense.

I like Nash at PG more than LeBron. More willing to give up the ball. Share the ball. I worry a bit about LeBron sharing with those other talented high usage offensive players.

AD will have some problems matching up to more physical centers in this format. He is more of a PF in the land of these physical giants. DeBusschere is good but overkill with AD & KG at PF plus the option of going small with Bird and LeBron at forward. Not wild about Maravich. Worthy is rock solid as always.

Defense might be trouble with Nash, Bird and Jokic on the floor at the same time but the offense should be so good that it likely won't matter.

[nickagneta]

According to Sources:

Who cares about their bench. Here is the starting lineup.

Russell
Bosh
Jordan
Allen
Magic

The best defensive player, the best offensive player, the best shooter, the best passer and Bosh.

[Who]

Inside the NBA
(O’Neal, Smith, Barkley)

G: Isiah Thomas, Nate Archibald
G: Dwyane Wade, Clyde Drexler, Reggie Miller
F: Billy Cunningham
F: Bob McAdoo
C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, Wes Unseld

Wow, these guys really do not like forwards!

The forward rotation will doom them next to these other dominant teams. Billy Cunningham is very good. Not wild about Bob McAdoo; too shot happy.

Zeke is awesome at PG. He was tremendous in ASGs next to all that offensive talent. His passing and fastbreak game was supreme. One of the most under-rated ASG players of all time. He is fantastic for this group. Tiny is a great backup too.

Kareem is excellent at center. Then Cowens as backup center is tremendous. Excellent 1-2 punch. Wes Unseld is unnecessary here. Cowens will probably have to play some PF to balance out the team better but he was a better C than PF.

Drexler will have to play some SF to make way for Wade and Reggie. That will leave him in some tough matchups against bigger SFs.

I might start Reggie for his shooting ability. That starting five needs a shooter.

[Vermont Green]

According to Sources:

Who cares about their bench. Here is the starting lineup.

Russell
Bosh
Jordan
Allen
Magic

The best defensive player, the best offensive player, the best shooter, the best passer and Bosh.

I second this.  It could be argued that Jordan, Magic, and Russell are the 3 best players ever.  I am most surprised by how little Russell was valued.  If I am following this correctly, Bill Russell was the 23rd pick?

[Who]

NBA on TNT
(Wade, Lefkoe, Parker)

G: Chris Paul, Bob Cousy
G: Jerry West, Klay Thompson, Earl Monroe
F: Kevin Durant, Scottie Pippen
F:
C: Shaquille O’Neal, Robert Parish, George Mikan

So I guess they are going small with Durant at PF. Again, only 2 forwards selected and both are SFs this time. 5 guards and 3 centers.

G: Chris Paul, Bob Cousy
G: Jerry West, Earl Monroe
F: Scottie Pippen, Klay Thompson
F: Kevin Durant
C: Shaquille O’Neal, Robert Parish, George Mikan

I love the Big Four of Shaq, Durant, CP3 and West. Shaq is utterly dominant in the middle. Durant and West are two of the best shooters ever. CP3 is good shooter. CP3 has been a phenomenal ASG PG pushing the ball and creating shots for his teammates.

Pippen is a great all-rounder for ASG. Brings defensive intensity and transition offense. Plus passing in the halfcourt. All the glue guy stuff teams need to win.

Cousy is an awesome backup PG. Klay and Monroe are fine bench guards. Parish is a good bench center. Mikan is unnecessary as 3rd string center. They should have dropped Monroe as well and picked two forwards instead of Mikan and Monroe.

[Who]

Quavo

G: Stephen Curry, Walt Frazier, Russell Westbrook
G: George Gervin, Allen Iverson, Hal Greer
F: Julius Erving
F: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dennis Rodman, Elvin Hayes
C:

Huh ... okay. No centers.

I was not liking this roster with AI and Curry as starting guards but was thrilled to see Gervin there later on to fill in as starting two guard. Then ... no centers. Huh.

G: Stephen Curry, Walt Frazier, Russell Westbrook
G: Allen Iverson, Hal Greer
F: Julius Erving, George Gervin
F: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dennis Rodman
C: Elvin Hayes

Mmm ... do not like it.

This team is going to get walloped in the paint.

I love the Dr J & Giannis forward duo running the floor and causing chaos in transition. I love Gervin next to Doc. Those two were great together. Rodman is a cool pick for his defensive energy and hustle.

Too many small guards. Curry and AI are tiny together. Then you have big PGs in Frazier and Westbrook. Another smaller two guard in Hal Greer. Too many guards and I don't like the fit / combinations. None of them feel well suited to each other.

Hal Greer might need to start to get a shooter / off ball player in there. Curry and Frazier are good PG options. Westbrook should not play. AI is terrific but it is hard to see where he fits on this team.

The lack of centers hurts.

I loved the Curry - Gervin - Doc - Giannis quartet. This team could've been something special if it had some centers and better complementary guards.

[Who]

According to Sources
(Charania, Haynes)

G: Magic Johnson, Damian Lillard
G: Michael Jordan, Ray Allen
F: Kawhi Leonard, Rick Barry, Paul Arizin
F: Chris Bosh
C: Bill Russell, Willis Reed

Awesome team. I would've liked some more muscle at PF but whatever. This team is so loaded that they should be fine.

I love the Magic - MJ - Kawhi trio on the perimeter. Ray Allen and Rick Barry are supreme backup wings.

I am not wild about Lillard. Selfish guard. I'd prefer to have someone who gets others the ball when there is so much talent up and down this team. Still though, he is a high quality shooter and scorer.

The Russell & Reed 1-2 punch at center is strong. Reed might even play next to Russell some times when they need more muscle at PF. To matchup against guys like Karl Malone. This team is great for Russell with all it's offensive talent in Magic, MJ, Kawhi, R.Barry, Lillard, R.Allen.

Not much of a role for Arizin there with Kawhi and R.Barry already in position. I am guessing we'll see Magic play some PF as well when the team goes smaller. That can work with any combination of the other perimeter players. They are all so flexible & versatile.

Awesome team.

[liam]

 That Sue Bird team would be so much fun to watch.

[Who]

D.L Hughley

G: Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Dave Bing
G:
F: Tracy McGrady
F: Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin McHale, Jerry Lucas
C: Bill Walton, Hakeem Olajuwon

Wow, 4 PFs. Only 1 legit wing.

I love the 1-2 punch of Payton and Kidd at PG. Less wild about them together. This team needs a shooter at SG. They could play Bing at SG or go big with T-Mac at SG and Dirk at SF.

G: Gary Payton, Jason Kidd
G: Tracy McGrady, Dave Bing
F: Dirk Nowitzki,
F: Tim Duncan, Kevin McHale, Jerry Lucas
C: Bill Walton, Hakeem Olajuwon

I love Walton at center. His passing, defense & rebounding is a fantastic building block for the rest of the team. McHale and Duncan would be tremendous next to Walton as well. As would Hakeem. Twin towers at all times. Amazing defensive combos. Jerry Lucas does not get to play.

Dirk Nowitzki would be great at PF next to Walton, Hakeem or Duncan at center. Even McHale. Hard to find everyone minutes though. If he plays SF it'll cause some defensive problems but the lack of wings likely makes this necessary. The twin defensive towers behind him will make things easier for him.

The big men & the PG duo are supreme. T-Mac is awesome. They can probably get enough out of Dirk at SF to get by. The backup wings are still an eye-sore though.

[footey]

According to Sources:

Who cares about their bench. Here is the starting lineup.

Russell
Bosh
Jordan
Allen
Magic

The best defensive player, the best offensive player, the best shooter, the best passer and Bosh.

I second this.  It could be argued that Jordan, Magic, and Russell are the 3 best players ever.  I am most surprised by how little Russell was valued.  If I am following this correctly, Bill Russell was the 23rd pick?

Third it; this is unbeatable.  Would pay big bucks to watch this team when in their prime. 

[Who]

Okay so that is 8 teams.

The one without centers is clearly the worst - Quavo.

1 -- Magic, MJ, Kawhi and Russell
2 -- LeBron, Jokic, Bird and KG
3 -- Wilt, Stockton, Kobe, Baylor, Barkley

4 -- Walton, Dream, Duncan, Dirk, Payton
5 -- Shaq, CP3, Durant and West
6 -- Oscar, K-Malone, Ewing

7 -- Kareem, Zeke and Wade

8 -- Doc, Giannis, Steph and Gervin