Avengers Level Threat

So 2020 has been a marvelous year. Quite frankly if we received some kind of message from a far away planet of an alien species that is looking to take over planet earth, I wouldn’t be surprised. I don’t think any of us would. One of the most fun basketball debates is picking a squad to go against an alien race in a do or die game to save the world. We need the best of the best to save our planet. Because in the words of Jake Gyllenhaal, aka Mysterio, this is an avengers level threat.

At this point right now we have many MVP caliber players that are not in contention to make the 12 man rotation to help save us. Kevin Durant is still healing from his achilles injury and he’s already confirmed that he’s not coming back to finish off the season when it resumes in July. Steph Curry has only played 5 games this year and was struggling already to shake off the rust. He’s averaging a career low in field goal percentage and three point shooting. Klay Thompson, who is arguable the best pressure player in the game today, is still out from an ACL injury. It also has been reported that Kyrie Irving will not return from his shoulder injury and Damian Lillard doesn’t seem to want to come back from his groin injury. So it would be too risky to include these players in our team. So I’m going to play the role of Nick Fury and choose the players that are going to save the world.

The obvious choice for point guard will be LeBron James. This is the first time in his career that he’s played point guard full time and he’s leading the league in assists. He’s the best player in the world and he’s the obvious first choice.

At shooting guard I am picking James Harden. Do I feel comfortable putting a player that is most effective when he goes one on one and dribbles for 23 seconds? Absolutely not. However he seemed to fit well with team USA in the FIBA World Cup in 2014 and he did an ok job with adjusting his play style with all that talent around him. He’s undoubtedly the best shooting guard in the world and we need the best of the best.

At small forward I am picking Kawhi Leonard. He’s arguable the best wing defender in the game and we’ve seen how incredible he is in the postseason. He saves his best stuff for the big moments, and this is why he actively participates in load management. We want the defending finals MVP in this squad.

At power forward I am picking the player that is most likely to win the MVP this season, and that is Giannis Antetokounmpo. We’re obviously going to have to add the MVP from last season in the starting five.

At center I am picking Anthony Davis. His chemistry with LeBron is off the charts this season and he’s getting plenty of recognition this season of being in the MVP race. Not that he’s going to win it, but it would be no surprise to see him land in the top 5 in MVP shares.

So the starting five looks like this: PG) LeBron James SG) James Harden SF) Kawhi Leonard PF) Giannis Antetokounmpo C) Anthony Davis

If we want to intimidate these aliens, Giannis and LeBron dunking on their faces should certainly do the trick. And the aliens roaring right in the face of Kawhi as he stares blankly at him should scare the living crap out of them. Then James Harden slowing down the game with getting the refs to call egregious fouls against the aliens will certainly get into their heads. We have home court advantage, so we should expect to get all the calls. Add the versatility and length of Anthony Davis and we have a pretty good starting five. However this starting five is lacking three point shooting. So we want to make sure that we add some of that in the bench. So we continue on with the second unit for this team.

At point guard I am picking Luka Doncic. The dude is averaging a near triple double this season. He’s currently 6th in the league in scoring, 4th in assists, and 10th in defensive rebounds. He’s the only player since 1993 to be worthy of the comparison to Larry Bird. He’s currently a top 5 player in the league and he doesn’t seem to be scared of the moment. I’m rolling the dice with this young stud.

At shooting guard I am picking Bradley Beal. He’s averaging 30 points a game this year, and he even scored over 50 points in back to back games. With my life on the line I just feel more comfortable with him over Devin Booker, Zach Lavine, Donovan Mitchell, and CJ McCollum. That’s basically what I’m basing this decision on.

At small forward I’m picking Paul George. He still remains one of the best two-way players in the game and he has plenty of experience now playing in a team with a lot of talent. He adds plenty of length and three point shooting, and I give the slight edge to him over Jimmy Butler.

At power forward I’m picking Jayson Tatum. He is listed at power forward for the Celtics and he has shown a lot of growth this year. He’s not only a dangerous offensive weapon, but he’s also one of the best wing defenders in the game today. He’s incredible in wreaking havoc in the passing lanes and he has been assigned by Brad Stevens in guarding the other teams best player. That also includes players like Anthony Davis. Having him paired with Paul George would make a dangerous back court.

At center I’m picking Joel Embiid. He’s not exactly having the same MVP-like season from the prior year, but he is still arguable the best big man in the game today. For this do or die game, I would rather pick him over Rudy Gobert or Nikola Jokic. He’s just more of a complete player than those two. The key is to pick players that has as little weaknesses as possible. You question Gobert’s ability to produce offensively and the Jokers ability to hold his own defensively. We should assume that the aliens will have considerable size, and we need someone that’s not scared to give it to them.

You have to expect the alines to play dirty and it’s possible that our players could get injured. The last two slots is important for our players to fit in with the squad that’s currently in place. Those two players I’m picking is Russell Westbrook and Khris Middleton. Westbrook will give us instant offense and Middleton is one of the most efficient scorers in the game.

This is how the bench looks like: PG) Luka Doncic SG) Bradley Beal SF) Paul George PF) Jayson Tatum C) Joel Embiid

Last two spots: Russell Westbrook and Khris Middleton

Just like Thanos and his army came in the perfect time, as the avengers were divided because of the Sokovia Accords, the aliens would be coming in the perfect time as the players haven’t seen any NBA action in 3 months. They’re not ready for playoff action, let alone a game that could mean the lives of billions. There’s just not enough time for preparation for these players to build chemistry and to learn how to play with each other with such pressure on their shoulders. There’s also too many players that are currently out with injuries that would surely give us a better chance. Defeat is inevitable. We are in the endgame now…