For our most recent podcast, Carl and I decided on the best lineups for each team choosing ONLY players that team had drafted. This made for some interesting lineups, but the pod wasn’t enough for us. We decided to add in two more teams, the Seattle Supersonics and an all-Undrafted team, to get our total teams up to 32; the perfect number for some bracket madness. We seeded each lineup during the pod as well and we are going to put the polls up on Twitter, so be sure to follow @sportcodex to be kept up to date. If you need a refresher on the draft rules, you can check out Part One here.

Today, we have the final matchups of the first round; Teams 13 vs 20, 14 vs 19, 15 vs 18 and 16 vs 17. Let’s go.

13. Charlotte Hornets vs 20. Sacramento Kings

Charlotte

G – Kemba Walker
G – Kobe Bryant
F – Kendall Gill
F – Larry Johnson
C – Alonzo Mourning
6th Man – Baron Davis

Here we have my favourite team; current four-time all-star and the man with the most underrated handles, Kemba Walker who just had a “bad” season while averaging 20 points on solid efficiency; the late, great Kobe Bean Bryant, who was famously drafted by the Hornets then promptly traded to the Lakers for Vlade Divac; Kendall Gill, a obvious weak point in this lineup but was an excellent defensive player over his career and still holds the record for most steals in a game (11); Grandmama Larry Johnson was an absolute beast before a back injury took his powers away. A ferocious dunker and double double machine; Zo is more known for his Miami tenure but he spent his first three seasons in Charlotte, where he averaged 20 points, 10 boards and 3 blocks a game; Finally, Baron Davis was the last great pick of the Hornet’s original run. In the Hornets final season in Charlotte until the resurrection, Davis averaged 18 points, 8 assists, 5 boards and 2 steals a game.

Sacramento

G – Oscar Robertson
G – Nate ‘Tiny’ Archibald
F – Peja Stojakovic
F – Jerry Lucas
C – DeMarcus Cousins
6th Man – Gerald Wallace

The Kings have a sneaky good team here; The Big O is a Hall-of-Famer and considered by a lot of people to be a top-15 all time player. He was the triple double man until Russ came along; Tiny Archibald is the last person to lead the league in both scoring and assists, averaging 34 and 11 in the infamous season; Peja is one of the greatest shooters of all-time but people forget that when C-Webb missed most of the 03-04 season, Peja was a legit MVP candidate, averaging 24 points and 6 boards while shooting a ton of 3’s at a 43% clip; Jerry Lucas was around in the 60’s when the team was in Cincinnati and averaged a whopping 20 and 20 throughout the decade. That is not a typo, 20 points and 20 boards a game; DeMarcus Cousins is the last player to represent Sacramento at the all-star game and was at one point, the best Center in the league. He has had some injury troubles of late, but in his prime, he was an absolute beast; Finally, Gerald Wallace didn’t make his mark on the league until he left Sacramento but he has the distinction of being the only all-star in Charlotte Bobcats history and was a fantastic two-way player at his peak.

14. Phoenix Suns vs 19. Orlando Magic

Phoenix

G – Steve Nash
G – Devin Booker
F – George Gervin
F – Shawn Marion
C – Amar’e Stoudemire
6th Man – Rajon Rondo

The Suns start with two-time MVP and current Nets coach Steve Nash. He didn’t make his mark in Phoenix until his second stint with the team, but led them on some deep playoff runs while also capturing the aforementioned MVP awards, along with a couple assists titles as well; The Sexy Librarian, Devin Booker is probably the player most people think is ready to break out and be the next star. It’s crazy to say that considering he already has a 70-point game under his belt, but it looks like he is about to take that next step; The Iceman, George Gervin is known for his time in a Spurs uniform where he was a deadly scorer. He is also credited with inventing the finger roll layup; The Matrix is perhaps one of the most underrated players in NBA history. Maybe that’s a little hyperbolic but the dude was a consistent 20/10 guy in Phoenix while also averaging 2 steals and 1.5 blocks a game, and has one of the funniest shot releases ever; Amar’e was a fantastic player before the injury bug hit him pretty hard. At his peak, he was a double-double guy who averaged over 20 points a game, while also getting more than 1 block and steal. I will always think of Marbury giving the “holy shit” face when Amar’e murdered Olowokandi with a vicious poster; Finally, the journeyman Rajon Rondo ironically never played for the team that drafted him. But Rondo is widely considered one of the highest IQ players to ever play the game and in his prime, was a multiple time all-defensive player and assists champion.

Orlando

G – Victor Oladipo
G – Nick Anderson
F – Dennis Scott
F – Chris Webber
C – Shaquille O’Neal
6th Man – Dwight Howard

Dipo is yet another player (so many players) who has suffered from the injury bug, but pre-injury, Dipo was an all-star and one of the best two-way wings in the NBA; Nick Anderson was never the same after missing two big free throws for the Magic in the NBA finals. But he was a valid second option for ORL (third when Penny came along) and an underrated 3-point shooter, perhaps overshadowed by the next man; Dennis Scott was ahead of his time. While now, everybody is jacking up 3’s, back in the early 90’s 3D was one of the pioneers, always at the top of the league in both made 3’s and 3P%; C-Webb was, of course, drafted by Orlando and traded for Penny Hardaway. He was a fantastic scorer, averaging 20+ points for the majority of his career. But he was also an underrated passer and rebounder. He actually led the league in rebounding in the 98-99 season; Shaq, what more do I need to say? Dude is one of the five best centers in NBA history and perhaps THE most dominant player ever; His career kind of tailed off a little which made people forget how good he was in his prime, but Dwight is a bonafide hall of fame player. 3x DPOY, 8x all-star, 5x rebounding champ and 3x blocks champ. And this is all with the fact that half of his career has been lackluster.

15. Atlanta Hawks vs 18. Houston Rockets

Atlanta

G – Luka Doncic
G – Pete Maravich
F – David Thompson
F – Pau Gasol
C – Arvydas Sabonis
6th Man – Al Horford

Not many people can legitimately claim to have a chance to take LeBron’s throne as the best player in the NBA once he retires, but Luka Doncic not only has a claim, he is the odds on favourite. One of the best young stars the league has right now, and of course ATL traded him on draft day; Pistol Pete is one of the greatest scorers of all-time. He was a 20 point per game scorer for his career minus the final half of his final season, where he played a smaller role on the Celtics; David “Skywalker” Thompson was the first overall pick in the 1975 draft, but never played a game for ATL, ending up in Denver with the ABA/NBA merger. Not only was he an all-star his first four years in the league, but was a 20+ point per game scorer, while averaging 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block a game; Pau Gasol was drafted by ATL and traded to the Grizzlies for Shareef Abdur-Rahim. He ended up being the first all-star in Grizzlies history and was also a huge part of the post-Shaq championship Lakers teams; Now Sabonis is a tricky one. He was technically drafted by ATL in the 1985 draft. The pick was voided due to him being under 21 and he was re-entered in the next seasons draft, but he was still technically drafted by the Hawks so it counts. He is one of the best big man passers in the game and if he had of come to the NBA sooner, a lot of people think he could’ve been one of the best big men of all-time; Al Horford has taken a beating of late due to the incompetence of Elton Brand as a GM, but he has consistently been one of the most underrated players in the NBA during his career. His numbers never jump off the page but he is a solid, high-IQ player.

Houston

G – Sam Cassell
G – Calvin Murphy
F – Rudy Tomjanovich
F – Elvin Hayes
C – Hakeem Olajuwon
6th Man – Yao Ming

Sam Cassell is more than the man who invented the Big Balls dance. He was a great but underrated scorer throughout his career. In fact, he averaged double digit scoring in every season after his first two, including his final season, where he was 38 years old; Speaking of great scorers, Murphy averaged 18 over his entire career, and was also a great passer during his peak, averaging 7+ assists to go with the 20+ points; the late, great Rudy T is probably more known for his coaching career or for nearly being legitimately killed by a cheap shot from Kermit Washington. However, Rudy’s on court career was also very good. He only played ten seasons, being an all-star in five of them, and at his peak, averaged 25 points, 9 boards, 1 block and 1 steal a game; Elvin Hayes was a beast. He led the league in scoring his rookie season, and ended up with two rebounding titles, 2 all-defensive teams, 6 all-nba teams and 12 all-star games; Hakeem is the best center of all-time. Dont @ me. 93-94 MVP, 2x Finals MVP, 12 all-star selections, 12 all-nba selections, 2x DPOY and also the only player with more than one quadruple double; Yao Ming was yet another injury-ridden player and him and T-Mac never hit the heights they should have. However, he was a 20/10 player for seven of his eight seasons, and in the other one, he only played in five games. He also was an all-star in every season of his career, including the one where he played five games.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves vs 17. Dallas Mavericks

Minnesota

G – Brandon Roy
G – Ray Allen
F – Kevin Garnett
F – Christian Laettner
C – Karl-Anthony Towns
6th Man – Zach LaVine

Minnesota drafted Brandon Roy back in 2006 then traded him to POR on draft day for Randy Foye…oops. Roy was a gifted scorer whose career was cut short due to injuries. At his peak though he averaged 20/5/5; Ray Allen was involved in a draft day swap, ending up in Milwaukee for Stephon Marbury. He is widely considered a top two shooter of all-time, with Steph Curry, and hit 3’s at a 40% clip over his 19-year career; KG is Minnesota. When you think of the Wolves, you think of KG. He is the career leader in every major category except 3P, and it is a travesty that his jersey doesn’t hang in the rafters; Laettner is mostly known as the “who the hell is that white guy?” on the 1992 Dream Team. However, he started off his career really well, averaging 17 points, 8 boards, 1 block and 1 steal during his Minnesota tenure; KAT is arguably the most gifted offensive big man currently in the NBA and has done big things while still not realising his full potential. He just came off a 26.5/12/4/1/1 season while not having much in the way of support. Look for those numbers to increase; LaVine is another guy who hasn’t quite come into his own yet, but he is getting there. He could’ve been an all-star this season just gone, averaging 25/5/5 while shooting 3’s at a high clip, but he was considered one of the bigger snubs. He is proving to be more than just a dunker though.

Dallas

G – Jason Kidd
G – Mark Price
F – KiKi Vandeweghe
F – Mark Aguirre
C – Sam Perkins
6th Man – Trae Young

All personal transgressions aside, Jason Kidd is one of the best all-round point guards to ever play the game. He led the Nets to multiple finals berths while not being the leading scorer on his team, meaning he truly elevated those around him; Price is almost a forgotten figure in NBA history, but white dude could ball. At his peak he was a 18+ point per game scorer while also chipping in 8+ assists and a couple of steals. He was also pretty much guaranteed from the FT line, and is currently third in career % at 90.4%; Kiki was a very good scorer in his prime, averaging high 20’s in points along with 5 boards a game; Speaking of great scorers, over his Dallas tenure of 8 seasons, Aguirre averaged 25 points, 6 boards and 4 assists per game while making three all-star games; Big Smooth Sam Perkins was probably more known as the afro-wearing cool ass dude who used to splash 3’s for the Sonics, but he was a banger back in his Mavs days. Over his tenure there, he averaged 14 points, 8 boards, 1 steal and 1 block a game; Finally, Trigger Trae will always be connected to Luka, and that’s a shame because Trae is a great player in his own right. Offensively at least. In his second season he averaged 29 points, 9 assists, 4 boards and a steal a game, while hitting 36% of his 3’s on 9.5 attempts a game. He also started the all-star game this season too.

Well, there are the final matchups for the first round. There will also be a tiebreaker round for the Chicago-Miami matchup and that’ll be coming up soon. Keep an eye out for the polls tonight, and be sure to vote and share around. Until next time

Peace!