NBA 2K19: Best Young Stars to Build a Franchise Around in MyGM and MyLEAGUE

NBA 2K19 has enough game modes that you could theoretically play it for 24 hours a day and not properly make your way through them all.

Building your player in The Neighborhood is a day job unto itself. Literally. People make money in the 2K League now doing just that. The journey from a lowly 60 overall to 99 is near-impossible and will at the least cost you a ton of money in VC.

MyTeam allows you to build a fantasy roster from scratch, slowly working your way up as you develop the roster with playing time. Wanna put LeBron James and Giannis Antetokoumpo on the same team? This is probably the easiest way to do it outside of the fantasies floating around in Laker fan brains.

But most of everyone's time remains spent in MyGM/MyLEAGUE modes. It's understandable. We all think we're smarter than NBA general managers and could do a better job of building a team. I'm not immune to it, you're not immune to it—and GMs make it a little easier on us when they do things like give Luol Deng $72 million.

Here's a look at some young guys to build your team around in 2K19.

The Obvious Bigs

Everyone knows these dudes are good. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, and it will probably be impossible to trade for them in any format. But...having them on your team is probably pretty fun!

Anthony Davis—95 OVR

Karl-Anthony Towns—91 OVR

Joel Embiid—90 OVR

Nikola Jokic—89 OVR

Big men are supposedly relics. The game is moving small. Soon enough, centers will be 6'6" or something like that.

Yet the four highest-rated players age 25 or younger in NBA 2K19 are all bigs. Anthony Davis is an MVP favorite this season. Karl-Anthony Towns puts up video game numbers on the offensive end. Joel Embiid might be the best center in basketball if he stays healthy. Nikola Jokic is the league's most efficient on a per-minute basis.

I don't know. They're awesome. Acquire them if you can. 

The Obvious Rising Stars

You probably spent about half your time on Twitter during the last NBA season debating which player you'd most like to build a franchise around. Now's your chance.

Ben Simmons—87 OVR

Donovan Mitchell—87 OVR

Jayson Tatum—87 OVR

Devin Booker—87 OVR

Personally, I'd take Ben Simmons and spend every ounce of my offseason energy working him into a functional shooter. The yips and shooting with the wrong hand don't exist in the video game world.

Simmons has by far the highest ceiling of the players here in real life as well, but you can essentially create a new LeBron with a little developmental work in 2K.

Jayson Tatum is the other guy here who you could take as a foundational franchise piece. His counting stats weren't the same as Simmons and Donovan Mitchell, but that was more a product of opportunity than skill. The superstardom he displayed in the postseason will be on full display in 2K, and he's the best shooter of the bunch aside from Booker.

Mitchell and Devin Booker would be two players I'd look to build around as second stars—guys who can fill the early-2000s Kobe role while your version of Shaq racks up MVPs. I'd take Booker over Mitchell in the game because I'd prefer my 2s to stretch the floor at an elite level.

Rising But Perhaps Not Foundational Stars

These are young guys who are going to be really good players over the long term but probably not ones I'd build a franchise around. They are good to have as a second banana. 

Jaylen Brown—84 OVR

D'Angelo Russell—83 OVR

Brandon Ingram—83 OVR

Lauri Markkanen—82 OVR

Brandon Ingram and Lauri Markkanen are my two favorite players from this list from a video game standpoint. Markkanen is a 7-footer who knocks down a ton of 3s and is a pick-and-pop star waiting to happen if you build around an explosive point guard.

He's also long enough to block shots near the rim and grab rebounds; his relative slightness and defensive shortcomings don't really factor in as much in 2K.

Ingram flashed an ability to handle and distribute the ball last season and is probably the best 3-point shooter of the bunch. Like Markkanen, his relative lack of strength doesn't hurt him as much in video games as real life.

D'Angelo Russell is a beloved 2K figure who has developed into a star with every iteration of the game since his rookie season. I don't see anything changing. 

Jaylen Brown is fine but my least favorite of the bunch, which is kind of ironic given he's probably the best basketball player among the four picks at the moment.

The Best Rookies

Everyone targets rookies. Why? Because they have the highest potential and longest shelf life for growth. These are the ones you want in 2K. You've probably heard of them.

Deandre Ayton—79 OVR

Luka Doncic—79 OVR

Jaren Jackson Jr.—78 OVR

Trae Young—77 OVR

Mohamed Bamba—77 OVR

You'll notice a couple of names missing here. I don't want Marvin Bagley in 2K. His skill set translates much better to actual basketball than video games, and he doesn't have the top-end athleticism to become an elite roll man.

Deandre Ayton, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Mohamed Bamba, on the other hand, have all the potential in the world to fill those roles. Ayton was a bad defender in college and is probably going to be the same in the NBA for a while. But he's also a good athlete at 7'1", and most of the time that's enough in 2K to make a player a strong rim protector.

Plus, potential!

Jackson and Bamba are already the best shot blockers in this class, and the former especially already has a developing three-point shot. If you use untapped potential on him and adjust his training, there's no reason Jackson won't turn into the rim-running, three-jacking phenomenon that some believe he'll be at the next level.

Luka Doncic and Trae Young are point guards who shoot well off the dribble. 

I don't know what else I need to say. Have you watched Steph Curry? Yeah, OK. Go make another one in 2K.