NBA SIMS LEAGUE
Lakers vs Jazz
The veteran on a new team and the young upstart
pinning all his on the newest superstar of the competition. No one has quite
had a season the Jazz, injuries have ravaged the roster from the outset until
they were beaten down and their GM was unable to make eye contact with the fans
at the game. Then the GM moved on and the team looked to be a rudderless,
captain-less ship. Then in steps Craig, a grizzled veteran of the NSL and
architect of some great teams in league history. He drags the team from the depths
of the standings into the play ins and now in the playoffs. Injuries have still
followed them but they look like a different team then the whipping boys they
started as. Lakers on the other hand have a roster set to stay at the top of
the west for years to come with Wemby as one of the biggest forces in the
league. Even with their own injuries they cruised to the 2nd seed and have
their eyes set for greater heights on the playoffs. Lets get to the break down.
Center: Victor Wembanyama vs. Bismack Biyombo
On
paper this is the most lopsided positional matchup of the entire series, and
possibly of the entire playoff bracket. Victor Wembanyama is one of the most
talented players on the planet, a generational talent with the skills of a
guard, the length of a highrise building and a defensive IQ that already rivals
veterans twice his age. Bismack Biyombo, meanwhile, is a journeyman big who has
carved out a long career on the strength of length, physicality and
shot-blocking instinct. He is not a scorer, not a real offensive threat, and at
this stage of his career, he is a liability against any elite center. The
mismatch here is almost unfair. Wembanyama will score at will in the paint,
knock down mid-range pull-ups over Biyombo's outstretched arms and erase anything
Biyombo tries to generate offensively. Biyombo can bring physicality and set
hard screens, but that will only slow the bleeding, not stop it.
Edge: Lakers, overwhelmingly.
Power Forward: Draymond Green vs.
Aaron Gordon
This
matchup is less about highlights and more about winning basketball, which
actually makes it one of the most important battles of the entire series.
Draymond Green at this stage of his career is not asked to score, he is asked
to defend, defend, rebound and pass a little. He is the defensive swiss army
knife of the Lakers' operation, the player responsible for guarding the
opponents best wing player, moving the ball, and keeping Wembanyama out of foul
trouble by steering ball-handlers away from the paint. His offensive value lies
entirely in passing and spacing the floor just enough to keep defenses honest.
Aaron Gordon is a completely different profile: an elite athlete, a willing and
capable defender, and a player who cuts hard to the basket and thrives on
putbacks. Gordon will guard Ingram or Wembanyama depending on the matchup, and
he will compete hard in every possession. But the gap between what Green
provides as a system player versus what Gordon provides is significant. Gordons
youth, potential elite offensive efficiency and flexibility gives him the
ability to effect the game in multiple ways.
Edge: Jazz, decisively.
Small Forward: Brandon Ingram vs.
Herb Jones
This
is the most compelling of the matchups and it is genuinely one of the more
interesting wing battles you will find anywhere in the playoffs. Brandon Ingram
is a nightmare to guard long, fluid, endlessly patient in his shot creation and
capable of scoring from every level of the floor. His mid-range game is as
polished as any wing in the league, and he is capable of erupting for 35-point
performances seemingly out of nowhere. Herb Jones, however, is not just any
defender. He is one of the finest perimeter stoppers in the NSL, a player who combines elite lateral quickness
with exceptional length, physicality and defensive IQ. He will make Ingram work
harder than almost any other defender in the league can. Ingram will still
score but Jones will cap his ceiling and
make it impossible to score efficiently. The question is whether Ingram's
offensive superiority outweighs Jones's defensive impact enough to tip the
balance. On balance it doesn't, but only just.
Edge: Jazz, narrowly.
Shooting Guard: Amen Thompson vs.
Josh Hart
This
matchup is a collision of two of the most relentlessly competitive and hustle
players in the league and it will be an absolute war from tip-off. Amen
Thompson is a freak athlete who brings violence to the paint, incredible
defensive instincts, and a transition game reminiscent of The Flash. He is
still growing as a half-court creator and his jump shot remains a work in
progress, but his energy and motor are elite and his physical tools are
undeniable. Josh Hart is cut from a very similar cloth. Hart is arguably the
best rebounding guard in the NSL, a player who plays every possession with
maximum effort, defends with intensity, and makes winning plays in a dozen
different small ways. Offensively he is limited but functional, can do a bit of
everything well but nothing elite. Both players will guard the other's best
wing threat at various points and both will compete hard on the glass. Neither
one will dominate statistically, but both will dominate effort. This one is a
true coin flip decided more by who wants it more on a given night, I lean Amen
comes out just above.
Edge: Lakers by a hair.
Point Guard: Coby White vs. James
Harden
If there is one matchup that could
single-handedly swing this series toward Utah, it is this one. James Harden
remains one of the most gifted offensive engines in NSL history, a player who has reinvented himself over the
years from an iso-heavy scorer into a high-volume facilitator who still has all
the pull-up and step-back weaponry at his disposal. In a playoff setting, where
defensive schemes come into play, Harden's ability to get into the paint, draw
fouls, and find open shooters around him is extraordinarily valuable. He will
probe the Lakers' defense relentlessly, looking for Wembanyama to step up so he
can kick it to a corner shooter, or waiting for a guard to cheat so he can
isolate one-on-one. Coby White is a gifted scorer and a competitive defender,
but he is not equipped to slow Harden down on his own. The Lakers will need to
throw multiple bodies at Harden, Green, Thompson, perhaps even Dort off the
bench, to prevent him from dominating entire quarters. White's value on the
other end is real: he can attack Utah's drop coverage and create off the
bounce. But the gap in experience, craft, and playoff pedigree between these
two is substantial.
Edge: Jazz, significantly.
Prediction
Craig has done magic things with the roster already and should be very
proud of the results he has achieved. Lakers have their eyes on the prize this
season and have the alien to guide them.
Lakers are too talented and have the best player in the series but Craig's
experience wont make this an easy series for them.Goodluck to both
Lakers in 6