A Little #Pickem Before Bedtime Is Completely Natural
Well well well, if it isn't my crippling addiction old friend, #Pickem! No hypothetical $15 to spend here which is a little out of my jurisdiction but what the hey? Let's give it a try.
You Can Only Keep 3: Embiid, Jokic, Towns, Simmons, Tatum, Mitchell, Booker, Young, Adebayo, Siakam
Now, there are no ground rules here. Are we just picking our favorite three? If so, that's too easy (Booker, Bam, KAT). The most accomplished three? I believe only Embiid, Jokic, and Towns have All-NBA selections on their resume`. I'm going with three I'd like to start my team around.
Joel Embiid
I'd love to pick KAT but the defensive woes. I'd love to pick Bam but after five straight weeks of watching "The Last Dance", I can't help but imagine what Embiid would do to Luc Longley or Greg Ostertag. The thought of them guarding him 1-on-1 is very funny to me. The Pacers had Rik Smits and both Davis brothers and couldn't grab one rebound to send them to the Finals. Embiid giving them 48/22 nightly.
Ben Simmons
You guys know I trend towards defense if there's any debate between guys. Understand that Elton Brand basically did this same exact #pickem and went Embiid/Simmons for his first pick and Aloysius Horford for his third pick. Tough scene. As is, I'll take the most versatile defender on the board (if not the best) and the best passer in Simmons. I promise that I will not use my next pick on a 39-year-old center.
Tobias Harris
Sike.
Jayson Tatum
Could you imagine? An Embiid/Simmons/Tatum trio?? Embiid is the force down low and defensive anchor. Simmons gets to set the table for everyone and handle the tough perimeter assignments defensively. Tatum pretty much gets to handle everything else. He's a plus two-way player and if his last two months were any indication, he's a walking 25 points per night with the ability to rise to the occasion with just about anybody on a bucket-to-bucket basis when he's hot. Imagine if the Celtics traded Brad Wanamaker and Enes Kanter for Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Or imagine the Sixers swapped out Mike Scott for Jayson Tatum. Or....OR, dream with me for a minute:
Someone at Basketball Reference is pretty slick with the photoshop!!! If only.