HispanicCausinPanic

If you had to pick one current NBA Player to build your franchis around, who would it be? I don't mean Shaq as a rookie. It would be Shaq at this point of his career. Dirk? D Wade? Kobe? Michael Doleac? My choice is LeBron James. He is a warrior! He might not be in his prime for 7 or 8 more years. Let us know who you'd pick and why. (Doleac would be my 2nd pick.......Northeast Portland baby!)

ryanjend22

Ruben Patterson.

Utherhimo

buck williams

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deanwoof

doleac i thought just went to hs here.. isnt really from from portland. he's as portland as mike dunleavy jr is

right now i would pick dwight howard for my franchise player.

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ABM

He said franchise, not fence.

SheedSoNasty

I thought he was more Portland than Dunleavy. His dad's dental office is just down the street from my house.

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mediocre man

Doleac is a Portlander, or Portlandian for those of you that buy into the system.

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PorterIn2004

I come down to Wade vs. James. I think, in crunch time, that Wade is more able to get calls, make critical shots, etc. On the other hand, James, while very good in his own right, has the additional advantage of being able to play virtually any position on the floor, at least for stretches. That sort of flexibility from your star player is tremendous when building a team. So on some level, it'd depend on who else I thought I could get. I'd take Wade for winning more close games and James for simply being in more games, so if we're going on from here to fill out our rosters with favorite All-Stars, I'll go with Wade and if we're talking about a young team that's being built over years, I'll take James.

SheedSoNasty

James also seems to be a better overall player on both ends of the floor. Like Porter mentioned, versatility counts. I'll go with James.

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RedHot&Rolling

I'd pick.......

Dwayne Wade. Super team-oriented player, good guard size, and the ability to take over games in the 4th qtr. Put 4 others around him and you'll always be pretty good.

(I hope Roy turns out to be similar to Wade)

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Ed O

LeBron pretty easily.

Compared to Wade? No question. James is almost three years younger, much bigger, a better ballhandler and a better shooter. If Shaq weren't in Miami, Dwyane wouldn't even be mentioned in this thread.

Kobe is the only other player I'd consider other than James, but Kobe's 28 (James is 21) and not as versatile as LeBron is.

Players like Duncan and Garnett are just as good as LeBron is, and they have the advantage of being big guys, but James still has a lot of potential to improve so he's the clear choice for me.

Ed O.

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Foulzilla

For me it comes down to Dwight Howard or Lebron James.

I normally prefer big over small, and Dwight has a chance to be a monster, but still is unproven (though I would say he's shown enough to say he'll be at worst very good). So I lean towards Lebron.

If I had to make a decision today, Lebron. If I could wait until seeing how they each play this year I think there's a good chance I might change my answer.

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HispanicCausinPanic

That was a good point about Wade isn't as dominating if he didn't have Shaq. Maybe that's why there have been no Kobe votes. And Doleac is from Portland. Dunleavy only lived here for what....4 years. Just while his dad coached. I wonder why you didn't think he was from here. Grew up in Irvington, played ball @ the local parks with us. Funny thing we were all a couple years older than him, and all I remember was him being about our size( 6'0") and never getting picked up to play. Then this BIG kid showed up the following summer and we all said we got him on our team, and he just laughed. We didn't realize who he was until he told us. the boy had grown a foot in a year. He's definitely from Northeast Portland!

Minstrel

LeBron James. His only weakness at this point is his defense, which has already gone from terrible to mediocre. Considering how he got his scoring efficiency up from so-so to spectacular in one off-season, I like his chances to improve his defense.

He's the best mix of youth, size, ability and versatility. He's reached the point where I no longer think "Wow, great game" when I see he scored 30+ points or recorded a near-triple-double. The last player who was at that level was Michael Jordan. 30-point games just seemed par for the course, not exceptional.

After James, these would be my picks:

1. Dwyane Wade
2. Tim Duncan
3. Kevin Garnett
4. Yao Ming
5. Amare Stoudemire
6. Kobe Bryant
7. Tracy McGrady
8. Dirk Nowitzki
9. Dwight Howard
10. Chris Paul

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