Who do you think the top defender is at each position? Build your perfect All-Defensive team from the league right now that would be able to D up anything you threw at it. Here's mine:
1) Bradley - Now, you could easily go Paul here, too, but due to Bradley's youth, size and length advantages, and pressuring ability, he's the guy for me.
2) Smart - Starting off with two Celtics might come off biased, but I think they're both the best defenders at their position and defensively complement each other very well. Where Bradley is a pressure defender using all out hustle and footwork, Smart is a heady defender that relies on his BBIQ and strength to read and predict movements and body up defenders. He'd also have no issue of switching into 1's and 3's. Paul is too small for the 2 ideally. A case could be made for Allen here, but he's slipped with age some. Butler could be considered, too, but his larger role on offense has took away from his D in recent years.
3) Kawhi - No other answer here. 2-time defending DPOY deserves it hands down.
4) Green - This was tough, because I don't like having an undersized 4 here. However, it's tough to argue that he's not the best defensive 4 in the game. A strong case could be made for Milsap or George, too, especially with their added size, but I went with Green after watching the porous rim protection in that last Finals game.
5) DJ - This one was also tough, because I didn't know whether to take the more athletic DJ or go with the better team defender in Gasol to quarterback the defense from the paint. However, I prioritized the ability to switch onto guards and forwards, so I went with DJ, though Gasoline is certainly a worthy pick, too.
Who would you pick as the starting five of a defensive squad that could handle any team that was thrown at it?
Topic: Build the best defensive team you can from today's league (Read 1789 times)