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Down to Buck in Splash City  The Bulls: For most of last year the Bulls were an average team. Stephen Curry had to carry the team pretty much by himself. But this year the Bulls are probably one of the most exciting teams to watch thanks to the acquisition of Klay Thompson. The Windy City is now Splash City. Daz had to pay a king’s ransom to obtain Klay. He lost a lot of depth in the process, but he was able to fill a lot of the spots in summer free agency. The Bulls starting lineup is loaded with shooters. First you have the best shooter in the NBA, Stephen Curry. Then you have the 2nd best shooter, Klay Thompson. But you also have 6th all-time scorer, Dirk Nowitzki. Garrett Temple is also a good three point shooter. This perfect harmony of shooters keeps the lanes wide open allowing for lots of threes and easy buckets. I’ll also note that Mike Scott was one of the cheesiest players last year. He was 2K16’s version of Gerald Green. Daz manage to pick him back up in free agency this summer. And although he isn’t as cheesy in 2K17, it can happen if his three pointer ratings raise back up this year. The Bucks: The Bucks have been a powerhouse since I joined the league. Milwaukee has two of the most athletic human-beings in the world in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Russell Westbrook. They also have the best center in the game – Karl-Anthony Towns. This team doesn’t have many shooters (just Young and Miles). So the lanes are pretty small with this team. But Milwaukee’s top players are such dynamic scorers that they don’t even need open lanes to score. As long as the Bucks have Westbrook, Giannis, and Towns, they will always be a top 4 team in the Eastern conference. Match-Ups: C: Dewayne Dedmon vs. Karl-Anthony Towns Dewayne Dedmon: 10.0 PTS, 10.3 REB, 0.7 BLK, 3.3 STL Karl-Anthony Towns: 30.3 PTS, 12.3 REB, 1.5 BLK, 2.0 STL After trading away Robin Lopez in a package to obtain Klay Thompson this summer, Chicago had a glaring hole at the center position. Because of this, the addition of Dedmon has to be Chicago’s best move in summer free agency. He’s a serviceable center that does just about everything you could ask for in a center - defend, rebound, and dunk. But he’s not a star, and Chicago doesn’t need him to be. But everyone knows that Towns is the clear winner here. The man is such an offensive beast. I don’t think anybody can guard him. Dedmon just has to do his thing – (1) protect the paint, (2) do not allow any offensive rebounds, and (3) depend on his teammates to score a lot of points.  PF: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo Dirk Nowitzki: 20.3 PTS, 7.0 REB, 5.5 AST, 0.0 BLK, 1.7 STL Giannis Antetokounmpo: 20.3 PTS, 10.3 REB, 3.3 AST, 1.5 BLK, 1.5 STL Man, I’m looking at Greek’s ratings. A 6’11 player with 91 speed and 90 ball speed. How is this even possible? I’ve never seen players that big run so fast. He hasn’t hit a three pointer yet this season, but he is scoring at a good field goal percentage. This tells me that Giannis isn’t stretching the floor. Dirk is the ultimate floor stretcher. He only hit 4 three pointers so far this season, but anyone guarding the big German knows not to leave him open. Of course Giannis can guard stretch fours. Dirk’s defense, however, is a bit lacking. I think Giannis wins this matchup.  SF: Garret Temple vs. CJ Miles Garrett Temple: 6.0 PTS, 4.3 REB, 2.0 AST, 1.3 STL, 0.7 BLK CJ Miles: 0.0 PTS, 0.0 REB, 0.0 AST, 0.0 STL, 0.0 BLK This one is pretty tough because CJ Miles hasn’t recorded any played minutes for the year. So we can only take a guess based on ratings, what the player is doing in the NBA, and what we know about the player in the past. Both are similar players. Both are sharpshooting vets. Both are the 4th scoring options on their team. CJ doesn’t play defense in real life, but in the NLL, he has enough to be a starter. But I got to give it to Garrett on this one since he is the better defensive player. Offensively, I think these two are pretty much the same. I also got to give it to Garrett because Chicago entrusts him with big minutes while CJ is stuck in a time-share with Thaddeus Young.  SG: Klay Thompson vs Donovan Mitchell Klay Thompson: 17.7 PTS, 2.7 REB, 5.0 AST, 0.3 STL, 5.0 3PTM Donovan Mitchell: 6.3 PTS, 2.5 REB, 2.0 AST, 1.0 STL, 2.0 3PTM Klay is the seasoned veteran. He’s probably one of the best wings in the game. And he’s also one of the best defenders. 2K clearly loves him. He gets the best stats every year. He’s the clear winner. Donovan is still very raw. He does have decent defensive ratings to hang with opposing starter SGs. While he is just stroking it in the NBA, the shots haven’t translated to NLL yet.  PG: Stephen Curry vs. Russell Westbrook Stephen Curry: 29.7 PTS, 2.3 REB, 7.3 AST, 1.3 STL; 19.0 3PTM Russell Westbrook: 24.0 PTS, 4.3 REB, 7.3 AST, 2.8 STL; 16.0 3PTM I never took Westbrook to be 3-point shooter, but he has been hitting a lot of threes this season. He is 3rd place in 3-pointers made right behind Curry. Both are very good defenders. Westbrook excels at all the physical stats while Curry excels in all the skill related stats. Both are very good players. I’m going to have to give this one to Curry though because he’s doing it on efficient shooting. He’s shooting with a 0.53 FG percentage and a 0.50 3PT percentage. Westbrook, on the other hand, is only shooting with a 0.36 FG percentage and a 0.31 3PT percentage. I feel like Giannis can’t stretch the floor. And neither can Donovan Mitchell at this point of his development. This forces Westbrook to stretch the floor a bit for Milwaukee, and that’s just not what he is known for.  Benches: Chicago – Mike Scott, Omri Casspi, Shaun Livingston Chicago runs a very thin bench. Mike Scott and Omri Casspi are sharpshooting forwards with decent 3-point shooting ratings. Casspi, despite his 78 standing shot three, is shooting an efficient 0.56 3PT percentage. Both guys are averaging about 9 points a game off the bench. Shaun Livingston, on the other hand, doesn’t do much. Milwaukee – Thaddeus Young, Taurean Prince, Jakob Poetl, Iman Shumpert, Skal Labissiere Milwaukee has a much deeper and much better bench. Thaddeus Young, who is actually playing starter minutes, is playing a 6th man role. He is an ideal stretch four who can shoot threes, rebound, and score in the paint. Taurean Prince is a high energy athlete that can attack the paint and shoot threes. Poetl is a 7’1 glass cleaning rim protector. Skal Labissiere is a post scorer who hasn’t been scoring. And Iman Shumpert is both a mid-range and long-range shooter who can defend. |
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This is the best center in the game. The #1 draft pick in fantasy basketball. Towns can produce regardless of who is guarding him. 
He carried the team last year. Now he has teammates who can actually hang in the same stratosphere. He’s the best shooter in the game and can pretty much ball with Jesus Christ with those handles.| X-Factor |
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| It’s only been a small sample size, but the one game that Chicago lost was because Rudy Gay got hot. This was Dirk’s assignment. Dirk’s defense is very vulnerable. Giannis is a much bigger threat than Gay. So Dirk will have a lot of work to do. If the Chicago coaching staff can figure a way to defend Giannis, then they can walk out of this one with a win. |