Would this team win a championship

[Hawkeye199]

would a team with a starting line up of
smart 20 years old
bradley 23 years old
arron gordon 19 years old
ibaka 25 years old
olynyk 23 years old

win a championship

that would easily be the best defensive team in the nba and an extremely young team.

you get your rim protecter in ibaka and gordon(who is not a rim protecter but will get a few blocks)

then you have the amazing defense of bradley,smart and gordon.

on to offense
I think in a year or two smarts shooting will really come in
gordon has already had 17 points in 22 minute game. Still only had like 5 games. I think his shooting will come into form.
 I think it would be fair to say they would score 15 points each. avery bradley would also averages 15 points  since he did last year. serge ibaka averages 17 points a game. while olynyk will put in 18 points next year.
 thats 80 points from the starters. if the bench combined can put up say 13 points a night. I think they would win the championship. Golden state the best defensive team in the nba right now lets in 91 points a game on average. I think this team is better then golden state on defense. so lets say boston only lets 90 points in.  they would score 3 more points then they would let in giving them a very good winning record. If they go to the playoff's thats where defense really shines. that team could be prevail contenders.

[KGs Knee]

Olynyk is not a center, regardless of who you pair him with. Ibaka is an excellent defender but he is not really a center himself, more of a perimeter help defender type "rim protector". I don't think that front court pairing would be all that special defensively.   Olynyk, if he is to have a long NBA career needs to be utilized as a "stretch 4" type PF, ideally next to a more traditional defensive center capable of defending the post.

Besides that, the roster you have suggested would be a long way off from realizing their potential.

[Roy H.]

Too young and too offensively inconsistent to be a deep playoff team, in my mind.

[Donoghus]

No.

Lack of offense and just a go-to scorer, in general, would be this team's downfall.  Also, find yourself a legit center and move K.O. to the bench as a rotation guy.

You're also banking on a lot of potential here and best case scenarios which almost never happen in the NBA.

[Who]

Olynyk is not a center, regardless of who you pair him with. Ibaka is an excellent defender but he is not really a center himself, more of a perimeter help defender type "rim protector". I don't think that front court pairing would be all that special defensively.   Olynyk, if he is to have a long NBA career needs to be utilized as a "stretch 4" type PF, ideally next to a more traditional defensive center capable of defending the post.

I think Ibaka could play the center position now.

In the past, I didn't think it was a good use of his defensive skill-set because he was often bullied by more bigger players. Struggled to match physicality of larger opponents. But over the last few years, Ibaka has been gradually getting better at competing against those bigger opponents and I think he does so well enough now that Ibaka could play the center position full time if Oklahoma wanted him to.

I think Ibaka is a true combo PF/C now rather than just a PF who needs a bigger body alongside him to handle post defense and free Ibaka up to roam & could only play center occasionally when friendly matchups were available.

I think Ibaka has shown a lot of development. A lot of improvement defensively. Much better man-to-man defender than he used to be (against wide variety of PFs as well as Cs). Much more physical and can hold his ground better in the post.

[D.o.s.]

No.

Lack of offense and just a go-to scorer, in general, would be this team's downfall.  Also, find yourself a legit center and move K.O. to the bench as a rotation guy.

You're also banking on a lot of potential here and best case scenarios which almost never happen in the NBA.

I agree with this post.

[KGs Knee]

Olynyk is not a center, regardless of who you pair him with. Ibaka is an excellent defender but he is not really a center himself, more of a perimeter help defender type "rim protector". I don't think that front court pairing would be all that special defensively.   Olynyk, if he is to have a long NBA career needs to be utilized as a "stretch 4" type PF, ideally next to a more traditional defensive center capable of defending the post.

I think Ibaka could play the center position now.

In the past, I didn't think it was a good use of his defensive skill-set because he was often bullied by more bigger players. Struggled to match physicality of larger opponents. But over the last few years, Ibaka has been gradually getting better at competing against those bigger opponents and I think he does so well enough now that Ibaka could play the center position full time if Oklahoma wanted him to.

I think Ibaka is a true combo PF/C now rather than just a PF who needs a bigger body alongside him to handle post defense and free Ibaka up to roam & could only play center occasionally when friendly matchups were available.

I think Ibaka has shown a lot of development. A lot of improvement defensively. Much better man-to-man defender than he used to be (against wide variety of PFs as well as Cs). Much more physical and can hold his ground better in the post.

I guess I just don't agree with this.

Maybe Ibaka has gotten relatively better at this aspect of his defense, but it still is not up to snuff in my opinion, but more importantly isn't the best utilization of his skills.

[Donoghus]

They would also be a train wreck to watch attempting to run a half court offense.

[crimson_stallion]

would a team with a starting line up of
smart 20 years old
bradley 23 years old
arron gordon 19 years old
ibaka 25 years old
olynyk 23 years old

win a championship

Absolutely not...I actually have doubts as to whether this team would even make the playoffs...because I'm pretty convinced that our current lineup is better given that (at this stage of their careers): 

* Rondo is much better then Smart
* Jeff Green is much better than Aaron Gordon
* Neither Ibaka nor Bradley (the two top scoring options on this team) are good enough offensively to be the #1 option on a championship team

As far as potential goes here is how I see it...

Marcus Smart
I think Smart has a good amount of potential, and that he could be an All-Star or borderline All-Star some day. 

I believe that he will develop a capable (if not elite) jump shot sooner rather than later, and I can see him putting up 17 point, 5 rebound, 6 assist, 2 steal type numbers while also making multiple All-Defensive teams.   I can see him becoming a bit of a mini Andre Iguodala type. 

Avery Bradley
I think Bradley has some potential to improve, but more as a scorer than anything else.

This is now the third season of AB's career that he's averaged around 45% from the field, 39% from three and close to 80% from the line, so it can no longer be considered an anomaly.  The guy can shoot.

He's also already showed that he has skill as a cutter, in transition and on the pull up. 

Lately I've started to see him add a few more things to his offensive game as well (like finishing off drives and around the basket, floaters, etc) so it seems like he's still developing his offensive game.

As far as passing and ball handling, he does seem to have improved - not to the point where he is good or even above average, but simply to the where he no longer bounces the ball off his foot or throws passes in to the stands on a consistent basis (i.e. he at least is not a liability). 

Defensively I think what you see is pretty much what you get...don't anticipate he'll develop much more in that regard.

Aaron Gordon
I don't think much of Gordon at all, to be honest. 

His career FT% indicates he is beyond terrible as a shooter, and I don't think he has the ball handling skills, passing skills or rim-attacking ability to compensate for his lack of shooting (i.e. to allow him to be anything more than a liability on offense). 

Defensively I really believe he's only ever going to be 'solid'.  If he ever becomes as good defensively as Jeff Green, then I believe that will just about be his ceiling.  He's not quick enough to have a decisive advantage over NBA small forwards, and he's not big (or strong) enough to hold his own against NBA PF's. I think he'll forever be a tweener defensively. 

Gerald Wallace seems to be a pretty good comparison in terms of his overall game.  Not a bad player, but not exactly superstar material.   

Serge Ibaka
Ibaka is a nice player, I really like him.  He's a good defensive player and an excellent rim protector, he's an excellent athlete, and he has enough offensive talent to be consistently productive on that end of the floor too.

Can he be the #1 option on a good playoff team though?  I doubt it. 

The way I see it Ibaka is basically Emeka Okafor 2.0, only with three point range.  Emeka was a very nice player in his prime, but he could never have shouldered the offensive load as the #1 option on a serious playoff team. 

Like Okafor, I see Ibaka as a complimentary player, not a star.


Kelly Olynyk
Jury is still out on KO.  I think he's going to be an excellent offensive player when all is said an done, but good enough to be the #1 option on a good playoff team?  We'll have to wait and see.  He's incredibly versatile on offense and can shoot the hell out of the ball, but hard to say whether he'll ever be a dominant scorer...and he probably won't ever be more than average on defence.


f you're asking whether this team has good potential, then I would say yes.  If you ask if this team might be able to win a championship 3 years from now, then maybe (but probably not).  If you're asking if this team could win a championship right now - hell no.

[manl_lui]

would a team with a starting line up of
smart 20 years old
bradley 23 years old
arron gordon 19 years old
ibaka 25 years old
olynyk 23 years old

win a championship

Absolutely not...I don't even know if that team would make the playoffs.  I'm actually completely convinced that this team would be worse than the one we already have right now.

* Rondo is better then Smart
* Jeff Green is (MUCH) better than Aaron Gordon
* Ibaka would be our best player, and there's no way he can be a #1 guy on a championship team

If you're asking whether this team has good potential, then I would say yes.  If you ask if this team might be able to win a championship 3 years from now, then maybe (but probably not).  If you're asking if this team could win a championship right now - hell no.

what he said

[pearljammer10]

They'd be more likely to get a top 3 pick in the draft.

[mgent]

that would easily be the best defensive team in the nba and an extremely young team.

I don't think they'd be the best defensive team in the league, and certainly not "easily."  At least Memphis would be better.

No, they definitely wouldn't win a championship given the current production of those players.  Maybe 5 years from now if they stayed together.  And even then, that'd only be if at least 3-4 out of the 5 made leaps and bounds offensively.

[RAcker]

They would also be a train wreck to watch attempting to run a half court offense.

Second.

[BballTim]

They'd be more likely to get a top 3 pick in the draft.

  Agreed.

[gpap]

Not even close.

Who would provide the offense?