One could argue that the NBA has never been more balanced and stacked with talent than it is nowadays.
The league could easily handle an expansion, talent-wise, especially with the teams adding more and more young stars by the year.
With that in mind, it definitely isn’t an easy task to list the best duos in the Association, but New Orleans Pelicans star CJ McCollum embraced the challenge.
.@CJMcCollum's top five NBA duos 👀⬇️
1. Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray
2. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker
3. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo
4. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo and/or Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton pic.twitter.com/lTYI5Z8JdV— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 8, 2023
At No. 5, he chose a trio instead of a duo, pointing out that both Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton paired with Giannis Antetokounmpo would make up for a top-5 tandem in today’s game.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown get the nod at No. 4, although he admitted he would’ve ranked them higher if they hadn’t fallen short in the playoffs again.
At No. 3, McCollum chose Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler, praising the Miami Heat duo for how they care of business on both ends of the floor, especially defensively, as they’ve shown throughout the playoffs to lead their team to the NBA Finals.
The second spot goes to Kevin Durant and Devin Booker for their unmatched shot-making ability and how efficient they’re as scorers, although he did admit that they haven’t played that much together.
And obviously, No. 1 should go to the Denver Nuggets duo of stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, and McCollum went as far as to compare them with the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant duo for how they’re both able to dominate and fill up the stat sheet on any given night.
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