I Build My Perfect Modern Team Around Michael Jordan Using Today’s NBA Players
All right welcome to a new segment called build around often times we talk about how would a past NBA great look in today’s modern NBA and I think it’s no secret Michael Jordan with all of this space that has been created by the three-point Revolution analytics all of
That stuff he would absolutely destroy in today’s NBA but how would you build around Michael Jordan for the purposes of this exercise I’m going to use a salary cap I’m going to use current players salaries and for Michael Jordan he is going to make $51 million for the
Purposes of this exercise because that’s what Steph Curry makes Steph Curry is the highest paid player in today’s NBA at 51 million that’s what MJ is getting for the purposes of this exercise now for how much my team has to spend I basically took the teams with the five
Highest payrolls the Golden State Warriors the LA Clippers the Phoenix Suns the Milwaukee Bucks and the Boston Celtics averaged out those five payrolls it came to $195 million I’m going come up with a rotation of eight players the rest will be filled out with minimum contracts for some people Michael Jordan
Is the goat for other people maybe it’s LeBron James maybe it’s Kobe maybe it’s Steph maybe it’s Kareem maybe it’s Bill Russell I get it here’s the thing Michael Jordan today’s NBA would be a player that had room to drive he would attack the basket he would average a ton
Of free throws and if he played in today’s NBA he’d probably take 8 to 10 three-point shots a game when I think about Michael Jordan out outside of the triangle system and Phil Jackson you think about him in the late 80s there was a stretch of games where he played
Point guard had a number of triple doubles Michael Jordan would be the primary Creator ball handler all of that stuff so for me it starts with who would you want in a backcourt with Michael Jordan that’s the first decision to be made what I would want in a backourt
Mate for Michael Jordan is a great point of attack Defender I don’t want Michael Jordan chasing around Steph Curry I don’t want Michael Jord Gordon having to play pick and roll defense on Trey young I want a great point of attack Defender someone who can function as a ball
Handler but also play off the ball someone who can make 40% or more from three who is that person I’m describing well of course it’s Derek white who else would it be I mean come on it’s obvious it’s obvious Derek white makes $18.3 million all right so Michael Jordan at 51 Derek
White at 18 now couple of years ago I made a draft day trade with the New York Knicks and I moved up to the 11th pick of the 2022 NBA draft and who did I select I select Jaylen Williams Jaylen Williams by the way has been the second
Best jump shooter in the NBA this season at 49% of all jump shots twos and threes he’s made 49% of his jumpers he’s going to be one of my wings because I think about it with Jordan he would be a switchable defender in today’s NBA I want two more of those switchable
Defenders Jaylen Williams is won he’s only making 4.5 he’s got a couple years left before his Max rookie contract extension kicks in I know he hasn’t signed it yet but he will therefore Perfect Fit Jaylen Williams third starter now I talked about switchable Wing guys and I could go big here I
Could go for like a Jason Tatum I just don’t think functionally there’s a way for me to acquire Jason Tatum I didn’t have the draft pick unfortunately in 2017 to draft him so I’m going to go with a guy who was traded not too long ago Mel Bridges coming in right around
22 million a year Mel can shoot threes you can run offense for him directly in the second unit he’s at 22 million all right so I’ve got Derek White Michael Jordan jayen Williams Mel Bridges Center uh several years ago I had a early second round pick and I decided to draft
A Serbian player named nicoa yic that player turned out to be one of the great players of all time he’s won a couple MVPs even even won me a Finals MVP uh Nico yic makes $47 million a year so Nico yic is my center now you think
About it Nicole yic likes to play up and pick and roll on the backside of my defense and on the ball I’ve got Derek White Michael Jordan Mel Bridges and Jaylen Williams flying around creating Havoc joic up in pick and roll I like it also the reason I like yic with Jordan
You think about Michael Jordan in that triangle system he was great off the ball as a cutter he was great off the ball getting pin downs I’m imagining a two-man game with Michael Jordan and Nicole yic sign me up the other thing about pairing a big with Michael Jordan
Is again it goes back to the spacing issue I want a big who can also shoot now Nicole yic in the regular season 35% it’s good enough for me in the playoffs Nico yic for his career at 41.2% Michael Jordan on this team would have all the space in the world I love
This team I love this team my starter salaries equate to roughly 142 or 143 million so I’ve got some room to work with in building out my eight-man rotation uh I’m going to go with a guy who can serve as the backup point guard who can guard a number of positions and
Who can shoot threes off the ball at a high clip and he’s making a ridiculously low salary this year I’m going to go with Alex Caruso at roughly $9 million a year I know I have a lot of these three and D guys but I want one more all right
I want one more he’s on an expiring contract it gives me flexibility for the future I want Royce O’Neal give me Royce O’Neal at $9 million so now I’ve got Alex Caruso Royce O’Neal coming off the bench for me third I need another big I
Need somebody to back up yic now if you look at the Denver Nuggets in the regular season historically they have gotten torched in the non yic minutes I need somebody who’s going to really really help my bench unit function both on the offensive end and the defensive
End don’t have a ton of money left I’m going to go with Isaiah hartenstein from the New York Knicks that’s my eight-man rotation that’s how I would build around Michael Jordan all of my salaries together total about1 170 million which means I saved my owner $25 million plus
The luxury tax I think he’d be more than happy with me as a GM this is a hilarious exercise and I can’t wait to do this all the time wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait since I’ve got 2 million left there’s one other guy
That I really want on this team that I think would be a perfect fit and I know you don’t need three bigs in today’s NBA in a rotation however the number one team in the west has three bigs in their rotation give me Nas Reed coming off the
Bench shooter Defender can playmake a little bit he’s only making $12.9 million give me him still my owner’s happy he’s got 13 million left for my original budget question for you guys how would you build around Michael Jordan
In this clip, JJ Redick builds his perfect NBA team around Michael Jordan in today’s NBA. Some players include Derrick White (Boston Celtics) and Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) but who else is on the squad? Tune in to find out!
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50 Comments
A lot of people here have mentioned Derrick white potentially being on every team. I think the same could be applied to Jokic. In eras passed, he would have seen a lot of time at power forward, a position that is less of a concrete idea and more of an abstract suggestion today.
It might not be as attractive an option as some other former players, but since he’s in the news recently for being a HOF finalist, I’d love to see a segment, however brief, featuring Vince Carter. As a life king Raptors fan I’ve been up and down regarding my opinion on Carter. Like many, I felt to a degree that his lack of success came down to him. It wasn’t until the 2019 Raptors championship that I realized what a true successful team looked like. Both roster composition and front office structure were given plenty of coverage in Toronto that year. In reality, championship caliber teams look nothing like what Vince ever had in Toronto or even New Jersey. Now, if anyone says that no fantasy setup could have helped Vince win a championship I would understand. He was neither the defender or playmaker that someone like Jordan was. Still, the childhood fan in me still believes Vinsanity was as good as anyone in his time and could have won at least one chip in the right circumstance.
Before Jokic, that team wasn’t working. Only Lebron could’ve taken the pre Jokic team to the finals 👀
JJ is going to be in the broadcast HOF. I remember his days at Duke…. His career is somehow JUST starting… Proud to be a long time fan and no ashamed to say I "hated" him as a Dukie lol.
Nas was a good addition because before him you had no pf. I know we’re in the era of “positionless” basketball, but Mikal at the 4 is toast some nights…
You basically should picker joker for every single excercise at that value.
Not enough rebounding in the starting 5.
Great concept. Looking forward to seeing who's next.
Should’ve got Mitchell Robinson as your back up big
Genius
I feel like in this exercise you cant take another teams best option. Jordan's your 1 option so you shouldn't be able to take someone elses.
He is 10 times better than ESPN. TNT does alright with its crew. Mostly because Barkley is a blast.
This lineup is GAS
JJ auditioning for that front office job
Not gonna lie, I would want Westbrook on the team. We already know Jordan likes playing with dogs. Westbrook just needs to exist to get him the rebounds.
Do Magic next. He was so unique that it's challenging to find the right pieces around him. I highly doubt he would have been considered a PG in today's game. At 6'9'', I envision him either at PF or even at Point Center. Defense-wise, he was a PF in the 80s.
more of these!
We need one of these daily 🤣🤣🤣 I was very intrigued by this.
Need a Magic one
A sleeper for any position around MJ but the center: Deni Avdija (Defense on and off ball, playmaking on and off, rebs, threes, intangible smarts and effort, team player)
Continue doing this series forever please this is so excellent.
Not as much fun but honestly just trade Zach Lavine for almost any decent pf and you could put him back on Chicago.
In the spirit of the exercise though, let's say Chicago's gm gets Sacramento's gm very drunk and pulls off some kind of zach Lavine+Vucevic for Domantas Sabonis and Barnes Heurter contracts or something
ROTY still 50/50?
JJ haters of MJ
Derrick White really? and no size.. meh. I'd pick Tyrese Haliburton 5.8, Jordan 51, Anthony Edwards 13.5, Giannis 45.6, The Joker 46.9, Bench: Tyrese Maxey 4.3, Jalen WIlliams 4.6, Lauri Markkanen 17.2, Total 189 million
Not much of a JJ fan but this is a great segment. Go a little more In depth!
Using JJ’s $195 Million Cap Threshold, My Eight Man Lineup Would Be;
PG – Alex Caruso (9.46 Million)
SG – Michael Jordan (51.9 Million)
SF – Kevin Durant (42.97 Million)
PF – Chet Holmgren (11.2 Million)
C – Brook Lopez (25.0 Million)
PG – Jrue Holiday (34.9 Million)
SF – Caleb Martin (6.8 Million)
C – Walker Kessler (3.34 Million)
This build around a past player content is 🔥 this is great JJ
JJ great topic to throw out in the Basketball World Building around Air Jordan in rt now 2024 Basketball? Great topic u Blue Devil, lmao 🏀🏀🏀🏀😂😂😂😂😂
@LBSports
0 seconds ago
I like it a lot, but I need aaron Gordon starting over j dub, and either Naz Reid or Royce Oneale gone to make room for j dub on the bench. Not enough post defense for the starters, and Aaron Gordon’s rebounding would be huge, plus he would be great in the dunkers spot with mj driving
Gotta simulate this in 2k24.
Love the segment. The ise of salary really puts it in perspective
That team would be unstoppable. J will still on a rookie contract so not too fair.
Mj is all defense, dpoy why wouldn’t you want him defending players
JJ just blasting his coaching candidacy chops into the ether… 📶
Do Chris Webber!!!
Please simulate this line-up in 2K24
You need another bucket getter off the bench, defense is solid enough already… like a Malik Monk
If all of them are all in in going in the roughs with MJ, multiple rings.
Glaze
PLEASE continue this segment!!! I want to see Kareem, Magic, Moses. Maybe even a guy Alex English or Larry Johnson
hopefully a 2k simulator channel simulates this asap
Honestly, if you had MJ and Jokic on your starting 5, it doesn't really matter who the bench is made up of. You'd be blowing teams out left, right, and centre, haha. No team would be able to catch up when those two are resting. MJ would go off for 40 PPG in today's game and Jokic would have an unreal number of assists.
this segment would be even better if they put a graphic on the salaries, maybe put a pie chart or something
I like this team.. Nikola y Jordan ❤
Michael Jordan, now we're talking. The greatest to ever do it.
Funny thing is, how would you build around MJ? Look at those 96 bulls. That roster with MJ, pip, Kukoc, Rodman, Harper, Longley, Kerr is exactly the blueprint. Maybe add a couple more shooters and we’re there.
Also, building a team isn’t cherry picking the best players on the best contacts. Love the idea however if we do this regularly you’ll have a lot of the same players picked to fill these rosters. Idk 🤷♀️
This team would be instantly dysfunctional. Jordan, famous for driving his teammates as hard as he drives himself, is instantly furious at Jokic who refuses to do anything above the minimum
expected.
2/10.
I think the illegal defence rules in the 90’s aren’t talked about enough they couldn’t play zone or help off their man
That’s a 3peat
I like this team a lot, for me there are small changes to make
PG: D White
SG: Jordan
SF: Bridges
PF: J Williams
C: Jokic
Bench – Rob Williams, OG Anunoby, Caruso