SF included
San Antonio
Dallas
Sacramento
Honorable mention: Portland, Washington, Brooklyn
With KD healthy, OKC bumps Sacramento.
Cleveland next in line.
PF & C only
Memphis
LAC
Chicago
Honorable mention: NOP, OKC, Portland
Washington next in line.
Question for those who have watched NBA basketball longer than I have since I'm a youngster: Any particular player(s) from the pre-2000s that Marc Gasol reminds you of?
I'm confused why with KD healthy OKC bumps Sacramento when OKC with KD healthy is worse than Cleveland. I mean Varejao >>> Adams. Love > Ibaka (though this is very close given Ibaka is a much better defender). James > Durant.
I just don't get your reasoning on Cleveland at all (or pretty much everyone else that posted in this thread). Cleveland has the best player in the game by a wide margin at SF. They have a top 3 PF. They have a very good all around player at center (not a rim protector or great offensive player, but the kind of guy that does all of the little things and is a pretty solid rebounder). Frankly, I'd be hard pressed to not take them first given they have James and Golden State and Memphis are probably the only teams I'd even consider over them, but they both lack a dominant scorer which diminishes how much I'd like them.
My darkhorse would be New Orleans with Davis, Asik, and Evans. They are really doing nice things and are pretty [dang] young. Houston with Howard, Jones, and Ariza could also cause teams fits (assuming Dwight is healthy).
At the end of the day, I think I'm going Cleveland for SF, PF, and C, and I think I'd win a series with that lineup (assuming everyone was healthy).