If you were starting an NBA franchise, who would you choose with your first pick?
LeBron? Kobe? Durant? Rose? Say the NBA was initiating a fantasy draft for all teams, and your franchise had the first pick, who would you take to lead your team to glory? Here at Behind The Box Score, we have been pondering this question for some weeks now and decided to pose it to all of our readers. We will give you a list of possible candidates, and leave it up to you to decide in the comment section. So let’s get it started.
LeBron James (27 years old, 8 year veteran)
As the leader of the NBA’s best Miami Heat, James is having a career year in 2011-12. Averaging 27.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 6.8 apg, LeBron is the obvious pick for best complete player in the league. James has been known as a great teammate, and many say his greatest quality is his ability to make the ones around him better basketball players. The only knock against James is his recent late game struggles, most notably the fourth quarter collapses in the NBA Finals last season vs Dallas.
Kobe Bryant (33 years old, 15 year veteran)
Bryant, one of the greatest scorers in NBA history is having another outstanding season in the purple and gold. Known as the best closer in the NBA, Bryant has often drawn many comparisons to Michael Jordan for his leadership and will to win. What separates Bryant from most players in the league is his killer instinct late in games, and his ability to hit clutch shots. The only negative aspect surrounding Kobe is that he is on the wrong side of 30, and with deep playoff experience, Bryant has an intense amount of mileage on his legs. (2012 stats, 28.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.9 apg)
Kevin Durant (23 years old, 4 year veteran)
Durant, the back to back scoring champion in the NBA has infinite potential. In leading the Oklahoma City Thunder from obscurity to tops in the Western Conference in just a few short years, Durant is the pick for many NBA experts as the next megastar. Last Sunday, Durant had the highest scoring output of the season against Denver, in which Durant shot 18-25 from the field for 51 points in an overtime win. The one thing that Durant has going against him is the fact that many analysts believe Russell Westbrook has control of his team, which should not happen with a player of Durant’s caliber. (2011-12 stats, 27.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.4 apg)
Derrick Rose (23 years old, 3 year veteran)
Rose, the defending MVP, has helped bring Chicago basketball back to glory. After a career season in 2010-11, Rose and the #1 seeded Bulls were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. Returning another talented squad, Rose has been a big part of Chicago’s success thus far this season. Although Rose is battling a back injury, the lightning quick point guard has put up very good numbers. All he needs is another scorer to play alongside with, and Rose could bring the first championship to Chicago since the legendary Michael Jordan. (2011-12 stats, 21.8 ppg, 7.7 apg)
These are our four candidates we feel are worthy enough to be chosen for the #1 overall pick in a theoretical fantasy draft, but it’s now up to you to decide who you think should be chosen with the first pick. Leave your choice in the comment box and tell us why you think your player deserves to be the top pick. Your choice not listed? That’s fine, choose a different player and tell us why you would choose them first overall. It’ll be interesting to see who the people think is the most valuable player in the league.