Who’d You Rather?

Kobe or LeBron? LeBron or Kobe? The debate over who you'd rather have on your team right now is a less sexual version of the "who'd you rather?" game. Unless you're an NBA GM or Matthew McConaughey, those debates are for entertainment purposes only. You can come up with a lot of valid reasons to chose either side and be happy with your decision. The fact is, though, that at the end of the day if you have either you can't go wrong.

The Kobe/LeBron debate is easy because there is no wrong answer (unless you pick LeBron). Unlike its more adult counterpart, however, sometimes there are wrong answers to the NBA version of the "who'd you rather?" game. And since hindsight is 20/20, here is a look back at some of the GMs who played the "who'd you rather?" game and the success they've had (or haven't had).

Tyson Chandler or Ben Wallace?

Perhaps someone can explain the logic behind this one. Chandler is a better rebounder, better offensive player, better free throw shooter, and better teammate. Chandler is eight years younger and makes half of what Wallace makes. The year before the Bulls traded Chandler, he averaged 5.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes. He shot 56% from the field and 50% from the line. This year, Wallace is averaging 3.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in 26.7 minutes. He is shooting 32% from the field and 27% from the line. In the Bulls only win this season, Ben never got off the bench in the fourth quarter as his new team defeated his old team, the Pistons, without him.

Basically, the Bulls had better production from the player they had and decided, "Let's trade him and then pay someone double to do the exact same thing. Then, to be safe, we'll draft two players who play the exact same position the exact same way with our next two first round draft picks."

As Jason Bateman's character from "Dodgeball" would say, "It's an interesting strategy, Cotton. Let's see how it works out for them."

Deron Williams or Chris Paul?

Utah got this one right. I love Chris Paul's game, but Williams is the better fit for Utah. Williams is suited perfectly to play the pick and roll game and hit open jumpers like he does in Utah. Paul's game is to constantly put pressure on the defense and distribute accordingly, and he does it better than anyone besides Steve Nash right now, but it isn't Jerry Sloan basketball. Utah had the foresight to take the player that would work best in their system and it has already paid off in a big way.

Maybe Paul would have been able to run the team just as well and take them just as far, but the Jazz have the luxury of never having to find out.

Greg Oden or Kevin Durant?

I have to admit, Durant's numbers are way better than Oden's to this point. Seriously, though, I hope this debate doesn't come up for at least three years. It's clear that neither of these teams were one player away and that this season isn't going to determine who got the better of the deal. Neither will next year as the teams try to build pieces around them. Unless one player takes his team deep into the playoffs in the next two years, which doesn't seem likely, it'll be at least the '09-'10 season before you can start to pass judgment.

Until then, I'm just going to enjoy watching a young Durant not even think about the phase "good shot selection" and wait patiently for him to catch fire and set the single game rookie scoring record while simultaneously convincing myself that Oden will return from microfracture surgery good as new.

Jason Kidd/Jermaine O'Neal/Kevin Garnett and Kobe or No Kobe?

Essentially, that's what the Lakers had to decide last season. They opted to stay with Andrew Bynum and what's left of Lamar Odom when he's healthy and alienate Kobe as opposed to putting another good player around the best player in the world during his prime. Now Mitch Kupchak gets the distinct honor of trading two of the top five players to ever play, in their prime, and not win another title during his tenure.

Even if landing one of those three players didn't make the Lakers a contender last season, they could have spent the next two offseasons adding role players to the mix and building a winner. Instead, they now find themselves shopping around a player they can't possibly get equal value for and have to start from scratch.

An NBA title or any semblance of a future?

The Miami heat found themselves in this very predicament and opted not to go with the latter. They traded for Shaq, knowing he couldn't have had more than two or possibly three seasons left at a high level. Still, they rolled the dice, caught the perfect storm, and won a title.

Now they have a team of outcasts and misfits playing beside wheelchair basketball champion Dwyane Wade and 35-year-old Shaq, who at this point looks like a poor man's Adonal Foyle. Shaq is on the books for another three years at $20 million per. The lottery had better be kind to the Heat the next few years, or it could be a long road to recovery in South Beach.