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2024 annual Jazzfanz current draft competition round 1 match Phoenix Suns vs. the Sacramento Kings

Who would win a seven game playoff series?

  • Total voters
    24
  • Poll closed .
Thee Idiotic Minivan K

Thee Idiotic Minivan K

Well-Known Member
Sacramento Kings
Pg- Jalen Brunson, Andrew Nembhard
Sg- Trey Murphy, Tyler Herro
Sf- Scottie Barnes, Lu Dort
Pf- Jalen Johnson, Jabari Smith
C- Joel Embiid, Bobby Portis

Vs.

Phoenix Suns
PG - Derrick White / Fred VanVleet
SG - Alex Caruso / Anfernee Simons
SF - Jalen Williams / Donte DiVincenzo
PF - Giannis Antetokounmpo / Tari Eason
C - Brook Lopez / Wendell Carter Jr
 
Phoenix Suns write up

"Offensively my team runs through two elite wing creators. It's geared towards creating dunks and 3s, with the best driver/rim finisher surrounded by some of the top 3pt shooters (accuracy + volume) in the league. What sets my offense apart is my ability to combine the top deflection players in the league with the top transition player in the league, for lots of easy baskets.

Defensively I have arguably the two top perimeter defenders with great wing defenders and one of the top 5 rim protectors in the league, there are no weak points to attack. If I happen to play a team who is capable of beating a drop big defense I have the bigs on my bench to create a lineup of elite switch everything defenders.

Basically if you don't like my team it's because you don't like Giannis which means you probably don't like puppies or sunsets, and I feel sorry for you”
 
I really like both of these teams and its hard to poke holes in them.

Ironically the Suns team is very reminiscient of the 2021 Bucks championship team that beat the Suns in the finals. That team obviously had Giannis and Lopez in it with the difference of Jrue, PJ Trucker and Middleton starting at 1-3 in the playoffs instead of White, Caruso and JDub. The biggest questionmark I have for this team is whether JDub is ready to step up or not, since White and Caruso arent really slashers or high volume self-creators, so for the spacing concept to work as intended they need JDub to handle the ball on the perimeter and attack a lot more than he does behind SGA.

The Kings team has more ballhandling with Brunson, Scottie Barnes and Embiid all being great on-ball creators. White and Caruso could make life difficult for two of them but Brunson has shown that he is tough to stop 1on1. Its hard to analyze this team without the writeup since I dont really know how they would operate on offense. I'm assuming Scottie Barnes is playing mostly off the ball but he isnt really a great off ball player so I dont know what to make of him. I think Barnes can be a great defender but since he isnt a shooter he may muck up spacing a bit here with JJ also not being a bonafide shooting threat.

So JDub being able to handle the load vs Barnes being effective in his role is the seesaw in my eyes that could go both ways. However both teams are great and its a close matchup, and ultimately for me the deciding factor here was championship pedigree, which clearly favors the Suns team.
 
HermanG said:
I really like both of these teams and its hard to poke holes in them.

Ironically the Suns team is very reminiscient of the 2021 Bucks championship team that beat the Suns in the finals. That team obviously had Giannis and Lopez in it with the difference of Jrue, PJ Trucker and Middleton starting at 1-3 in the playoffs instead of White, Caruso and JDub. The biggest questionmark I have for this team is whether JDub is ready to step up or not, since White and Caruso arent really slashers or high volume self-creators, so for the spacing concept to work as intended they need JDub to handle the ball on the perimeter and attack a lot more than he does behind SGA.

The Kings team has more ballhandling with Brunson, Scottie Barnes and Embiid all being great on-ball creators. White and Caruso could make life difficult for two of them but Brunson has shown that he is tough to stop 1on1. Its hard to analyze this team without the writeup since I dont really know how they would operate on offense. I'm assuming Scottie Barnes is playing mostly off the ball but he isnt really a great off ball player so I dont know what to make of him. I think Barnes can be a great defender but since he isnt a shooter he may muck up spacing a bit here with JJ also not being a bonafide shooting threat.

So JDub being able to handle the load vs Barnes being effective in his role is the seesaw in my eyes that could go both ways. However both teams are great and its a close matchup, and ultimately for me the deciding factor here was championship pedigree, which clearly favors the Suns team.
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Jalen would be in the same position he was last year, which was a role he thrived in. He should be even better in that role this year. If you needed more ball handling you could play FVV, but honestly why would you take the ball out of Giannis's hands any more than necessary?
 
SoberasHotRod said:
Jalen would be in the same position he was last year, which was a role he thrived in. He should be even better in that role this year. If you needed more ball handling you could play FVV, but honestly why would you take the ball out of Giannis's hands any more than necessary?
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Giannis has had nearly equal touches to either one of Dame/Jrue in each of past three seasons, and in the year they won their chip it was actually pretty much a 3 way tie between Giannis, Jrue and Kris, with both Kris and Jrue having more touches per game in the playoffs.

I wouldn t want to increase his usage form where it is, as he already does so much. Thats why I think that having Jalen be the co-star would be the way I would go about it.
 
HermanG said:
Giannis has had nearly equal touches to either one of Dame/Jrue in each of past three seasons, and in the year they won their chip it was actually pretty much a 3 way tie between Giannis, Jrue and Kris, with both Kris and Jrue having more touches per game in the playoffs.

I wouldn t want to increase his usage form where it is, as he already does so much. Thats why I think that having Jalen be the co-star would be the way I would go about it.
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Yes, that's the idea. Jalen was really good at leading OKC in their non Shai minutes and as a number 2 when Shai was on the court. I didn't mean that Giannis would literally do everything. Also White averaged 5 assists this year, so he can handle some of the play making as well.
 
Saint Cy of JFC said:
I would probably start FVV over Caruso. Need a strong ball-handler who can set these guys up.
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I think White is more than fine as the third ball handler and it would basically be the same role he has on the Celtics today. That said, starting FVV could be a good way to go depending on the matchup. Either way he should get plenty of time on the court with an 8 man playoff rotation.
 
FWIW, I just looked it up and White led the Celtics in assists per game this year. Jalen Williams was 2nd on OKC in the playoffs, and should be 2nd on OKC next season. Caruso was 4th in assists on the Bulls. Giannis was 2nd on the Bucks.

Assists don't tell the whole story, but does show the kind of unselfish basketball I would expect that group to play.
 
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