[druneave3Participant]

Watching the USA vs Brazil and I found myself struggling to answer this question. If I was a General Manager and there was draft of players from around the world, and I had the 3rd pick, who would I take? This is assuming that Lebron is chosen first, then Durant. I don’t think that order of them being 1-2 is up for much debate right now. Guys like Kobe, Duncan, KG, Wade, Kidd, Dirk, Nash, and Pierce are all too old. Big men are scarce today with Howard, Bynum, Griffin, Love, and LA being the best of the bunch. This is the point guard era and there are guys like Rose, CP3, Westbrook, D-Will, and Rondo. The best wings behind James and Durant is a short list of Melo and Iggy. Do you take a young player with potential like Irving, Cousins, Favors, George, Monroe, or even Anthony Davis? Am I missing someone? I think it is a tough call. I would pick Anthony Davis. I don’t think Melo, Griffin, Howard, or anyone else in the NBA will ever beat a team with Lebron or Durant for the next few years. So I think the best route to go is to take the player with the most potential. I think the best young player with most potential is Davis. Defensively, he is a game-changer with loads of untapped potential on offensive. What do you all think? Who would you take?

[goldie92689Participant]

 If Lebron and Durant are gone, I would take Howard.

[Toronto16Participant]

 I was actually talking about this with a friend today.  The NBA is really lacking stars right now.  Kobe, Dirk, Garnett, and Duncan are all getting old.  Are Rondo, Westbrook, Irving really threats to win MVP?  Melo is a ball stopper, Dwight is a diva and Wade may be on the decline.  Outside of Lebron and Durant, who are the big stars in the NBA who are MVP threats?  Chris Paul? That’s about it.  Where are the Allen Iversons?  (young) Vince Carters? Tracy McGradys?  I just hope in the coming years these young guys turn out to be superstars (Shabazz Muhammed, Andrew Wiggans, Jabari Parker, Justin Jackson)

[Charlie SheenParticipant]

I’d pick Derrick Rose

[surveParticipant]

 second that.

[ASAP HenryParticipant]

Rose, if he’s 100% healthy. ACL injury still scares me.

Other than that, maybe Westbrook.  I think he could be an MVP candidate if he had his own team.  Sorta like Kobe back when he played with Shaq.  Yeah, he’s great, but I’ll never know how great until he has his own team.  Not saying I want him and Durant to break up tho.

Demarcus Cousins is another option for me to be honest.  I think in 2-3 years he could end up being the best center in the NBA.

Possibly Kevin Love?

[FastAndFuriousParticipant]

Russell Westbrook:

Possibly best athlete in the L(Dwyane Wade feels the same way) and extremly durable(Never missed a game in 4 years.

Huge upside.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

Derrick Rose. Explosive, world class athlete. Humble. Can score with anyone. Great handles. Improving jumper and a good passer.
If you have him it would be easier to fill out the rest of the team.

Best of the rest: Rondo, Dwight Howard, Bynum, Westbrook.

Who knows, in a couple of years MKG might be on this list. Could end up being
a cross between Wade and Pippen.

Other than D Rose and Howard who are both injured it would be a toss up between Rondo and Westbrook.
Westbrook has explosiveness. He could be the best guard in the league next year. Rondo is awesome and a
great leader. If his shot improves he is right up there with Rose and maybe just ahead of him.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

We might not see superstar personalities like Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, Iverson, and LeBron for awhile.

The league has good young talent with Rose, Durant, Dwight Howard, Westbrook, Bynum, Kevin Love, Rondo, and Blake Griffin,
but are they transcendent pop-culture superstars? That remains to be seen. Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and MKG are also some
great young talents but will they be up there with guys like Bird, Magic, Michael, Shaq, or Kobe?

We might see more parity over the next few years, both in terms of good but not great teams, but also with regards to having stars and
even superstars but not really global icons that we saw in the Eighties, Nineties, and up to Shaq, Kobe, and LeBron.

[LerinErinParticipant]

 figure I could get a decent guy later at pg.  pick would need to be young, Have no health or personality red flags. Bynum out cause oof injury fear,Howard out for being a jerk. cousin is a potential head case,  Griffin injury history scare me off?… I might actually trade the pick.

 

Ok I know I can’t do that. Would swing for the fences and risk it all on the unibrow.

this is nice in a fantasy world ….. In reality I would pick Howard and pray he behaved.

[LerinErinParticipant]

Deserve for being wishy washy

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 Dwight Howard: He is the NBA’s best two way threat after LeBron.  He is a game changing defensive player who is the league’s best offensive center.  Bynum has gotten a lot of hype because of his post moves, but he will never be the offensive player Howard is, much less the defensive one.     

I wouldn’t take a pg just because there are so many good pgs out there.  The difference between Howard and the league’s 15th best center is much bigger than that between Chris Paul/Derrick Rose and the league’s 15th best pg.  Plus, a team built around Howard has already made the Finals.  

Derrick Rose’s Bulls are great because of their elite defense and slightly above average offense.  Now, their offense is not nearly as good without Rose and they aren’t a serious contender without him, but Rose doesn’t carry the Bulls on both ends of the floor the way Howard does with the Magic.

[Brew Meister SmithParticipant]

Obviously James and Durant can dominate the game by themselves.  But if I’m building a team to counter that, I think it would start from either the point or the centre position.  For the point guards, I’d rank Rose #1 just because he has the power to dominate almost as much as Lebron and Durant.  But D-Will and Paul would be very close for their ability to run a solid team offence.

At centre I would definately go with Howard…IF…his back is not an issue, and IF he actually wants to play for my team.  He has been acting like a little baby as of late, but he still has the power to dominate.  Bynum, again has some growing up to do, but a dominant centre is hard to come by these days.  I think the Raptors building around Valenciunas for the future fits this bill if he lives up to the hype.

In the end D-Rose for sure.  Loyal guy.  No character issues.  No one can stop this guy.  Hope his knee is %100 soon.

[TyroberParticipant]

 1. LeBron

2. KD

3. Rose

4. Howard

5. I really have no idea. Kobe and Wade are getting up there so I think going young might be the best option since there really isn’t a consensus guy to end the top 5. Davis and Irving are going to be very special players and could very well be the best player at their position in about 4-5 years. 

[jmarg25Participant]

I would take Howard as well because he is so much better than the next center (Andrew Bynum). If I took a point guard, like Rose, other teams will still have guys like Westbrook.

 

[HaleParticipant]

Rose, Howard, Bynum in that order if all are healthy.

[Ghost01Participant]

 Rose. I understand the argument for Howard, but his recent lack of professionalism and the fact you really can’t depend on him to be a go to guy slots him down at number 4. Still, his defensive impact and athleticism alone keeps him there.

 

The real question: Who do you take at number 5?

[lilballa141Participant]

In this order

1. Westbrook

2. Rose

3. Irving

4. AD

5. Howard

6. Love

.. paul would be after westbrook if it wasnt for the injury concerns

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

Howard (assuming he is healthy for his back surgery, which I don’t think we know for sure). After Howard, CP3. Rose would be in the mix.

There are tons of stars in the league. There are old stars (Kobe), psuedo stars (Melo), under-hyped stars (Harden), over-hyped stars (Lin), highlight stars (Griffin), foreign stars (Rubio), still a star but needs to actually win some games quick stars (Wall), broken stars (Roy), not actually played stars (Davis), I can’t believe he is still playing stars (Kidd), garbage time stars (Scalabrine). Lots of different types of stars. So many it seems like every team has got a few.

[HoosierHoopsParticipant]

 I’ll probably get negged a bunch, but I’d have to say Rondo.  If the C’s didn’t have him the last couple years, the Big 3 would’ve been a bust and the Celtics would’ve have been a 7 or 8 seed year after year.  Rondo is one of those few players in the league who just controls games and dictates the pace on the court.  Even without a solid outside jumper,  Rondo is deadly on the offense end with his ability to finish in the lane and his unbelievable passing ability which is, in my opinion, best in the league.

 

Also his defense is a game-changer, something that a lot of good offensive PGs nowadays lack. 

[Author]

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