With DeMarcus Cousins signing with the Warriors, we will probably see the best collection of talent on the floor for one team in the history of the NBA. A starting lineup of Curry, Thompson, Durant, Green, and Cousins is something you create on 2k when you and your friends are trying to make your own teams and play against one another. Andre Iguodala is the 6th best player on the team. I mean come on man. This has taken on a whole other level of unfair. But, here we are. Seeing as there is nothing I can do about it, I thought about how this stating five would do against a potential starting five of the Eastern Conference All-Stars this upcoming year. With LeBron James not in the East anymore, there are only a couple of players who really are elite players in the NBA. And even after those guys, the talent drops more. So here I go. Let’s see if my imaginary, salary cap less starting five can out match the Warriors ACTUAL starting five.

The main two guys that are really upper tier NBA players are Kyrie Irving and Giannis Antetokounmpo. There is a reason why at one point or another last year these guys’ names were being tossed around as MVP candidates. Obviously Irving got hurt and Giannis trailed off, but nonetheless they are still top players in the league. This gives the East a good start with adding a guard that can match up pound for pound with Curry and a guy opposite of Durant who is respectable. There is nobody in this world who can guard Durant, but at least Giannis gives you the tools offensively to keep up with Durant and not allow Durant to embarrass his counterpart. These two players gives the East a good start in trying to take down the Western Conference All Stars, uhhh, I mean the Golden State Warriors.

Next up I have Al Horford at Center. Yes, I understand that Joel Embiid is in the East. I thought it was a had pick between these two guys. With everything the Warriors have to off and how the defense will have to switch and Cousins will take the ball out to the perimeter, I think Horford is the better pick here because of his defense. Horford can guard positions 2-5 and even some point guards. This makes him very useful on the defensive end of the floor. Horford’s offense is not as skilled as Embiid’s, but Horford can make the outside shot and can be used in a variety of ways. At the end of the day the pick between these two is neck and neck. It’s hard to pick one over the other.

Now this is where the hard part comes. I now need two wing players who are able to guard Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, but at the same time be able to produce on defense against both of those guys. I wish I didn’t even have to think about choosing two players and I’d be able to pick ben Simmons as one without a thought, But the guy literally can’t shoot outside the paint. This is the guy who only took 11 threes the WHOLE regular season. And he was 0-11 on those threes too. You would think with as much as he had the ball in his hands, he would’ve automatically taken 15 full court shots at the end of a quarter or half or game. The fact that he only took 11 will forever baffle me. But back to my imaginary team, I don’t believe I can add him to my team because I need guys who can create their own shot from anywhere on the floor. Then there are guys like Blake Griffin and Kyle Lowry who have both dropped off significantly and would probably be non-factors against the Warriors. So now I am left with players such as Kevin Love, Gordon Hayward, John Wall, Demar Derozan, Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo, and Kristaps Porzingis. Off the bat, I will eliminate Love, Wall, and Beal. Love has never really shown an ability to to play a full game against the Warriors consistently. Then Wall and Beal. Kyrie is already the point guard and I just don’t think Beal has taken the next step in his game like some of these other guys have. I think I do have to give the go ahead to Victor Oladipo. Oladipo showed great playmaking ability last year and can score at all three levels and can play really good defense. Him and Thompson should be a good match up. Then the last spot is a really hard decision. Demar Derozan’s inability to shoot long range and guard bigger opponents doesn’t get him on the squad. The final spot comes down to Porzingis and Hayward. The two guys who got hurt and both had pretty serious injuries. Porzingis is the definition of a modern NBA unicorn while Hayward is that guy you like to have on the wing that can score in a variety of ways. I think for the sake of this matchup, I’d rather have Kristaps out there instead of Gordon. Kristaps can give the Warriors a lot of matchup problems and we could hide him on Draymond Green. And the size of Porzingis, Horford, and Giannis should be quite intimidating.

So there is my lineup. Kyrie Irving, Victor Oladipo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford or maybe Joel Embiid. I think that lineup could beat the Warriors. And that’s the crazy part. I said they COULD. It isn’t like it’s a done deal. The collection of talent the Warriors have is ridiculous. I don’t think there is any lineup of Eastern Conference players that can beat the Warriors without a doubt. Even if you prefer to have a Ben Simmons or Demar Derozan out there the Warriors still have arguably a pair of the best shooters in the history of the game, a bulldozer of a center, one of the most efficient scorers in the game, and one of the best defensive players in the game. This Warriors team is the definition of a juggernaut. I just hope they aren’t as dominant as what we all are expecting.