Mock NBA Teams - Part 1

During an argument about whether or not Russell Westbrook would be a better fit for the Los Angeles Lakers than Rajon Rondo, Staff Writer Matt Tuckness slandered Founder Joshua Biers with the following statement: “You would be the worst General Manager in the history of the NBA”. Shocked and hurt, Biers issued a challenge to the staff of SWB: Let’s see who can assemble the most cohesive and efficient NBA line-up using the league average of $67.7 million cap room. The winner will choose a topic of his liking and assign it to one of the losers. For example, when Josh wins, he will most likely ask Tuckness to write a 1000-word article making the argument that Kobe Bryant is the best player to ever play the game of basketball.

Rules

• All players chosen must be active in the NBA.
• Your team must be under the salary cap we set of $69 million by year three of all players current contracts.
• If a players contract does not last three years, then find a comparable player and justify paying them that money.
• If a player is a veteran just increase their contract by 10% to keep up with league minimum increases.

Ultimately, the staff of SWB created four teams under this set of rules, with each writer modeling their team after their own respective philosophy. After releasing the teams publicly, each writer wrote a criticism of the other’s line-up.

We then held an outside vote on the subsequent teams to get an unbiased opinion of who’s team was the best. Those who voted included players from Occidental’s basketball team as well as football team. For the next four days, we’ll release one team a day, based on where that team finished in the votes. Today is the release of my (Josh’s) team, (and in my mind) the winning one. As you gaze upon my roster, I want you to envision the perfect chemistry this group brings onto the court, the countless three’s that will rainbow into the hoop nightly, and the absolute defensive dominance my team brings.

PG: Kyrie Irving (9.7m); SG: Klay Thompson (6.1m); C: Roy Hibbert (15.5m); SF: Kawhi Leonard (4.3m); PF: Anthony Davis (7.1m)

Bench: Nate Robinson (2.3m), Jamal Crawford (5.7m), Tiago Splitter (8.5m), Jimmy Butler (3.2 m), Jordan Hill (4.1m), Jordan Farmar (1.3m), Wesley Johnson (1.1m)

Explanation

I have crafted an elite defensive team with absurd explosive abilities on offense. I have the best defensive center in Roy (Sheriff of the Paint) Hibbert and the best defensive power forward in Anthony Davis. Together, they average 8.0 blocks per game. Hibbert also brings general rim protection to the game, something a lot of centers in the league these days lack. His mere presence, coupled with Davis’ will alter the way opposing teams play defense. The best part about it? They complement each other on the offensive floor as well. Hibbert loves to operate down low. He’s cumbersome and slow, but he has a great step-through hook and can finish with either hand on either block.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Davis is a fast, high-flying big man who has a very dependable mid-range shot. It’s a shot that he has been working on the entire off-season, and he’s been hitting it regularly (shooting 49% from the floor on 15 shots per game). His ability to make his defender respect his shot draws defenders from the paint, which allows Hibbert to operate. I expect Davis to be the higher scorer of the two, Hibbert has been content with only taking a few, select shots per game and averages 11 points this season. His real value is on the defensive end. The price tag for the best frontcourt duo? $22.6 million.

I believe that defense wins championships. This is why I chose Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors and Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs as my wing players. Both are elite perimeter defenders as well as knock-down three-point shooters. Leonard has shown his ability to perform on the big stage in last years NBA finals against the Miami Heat. He was tasked with guarding LeBron James while having to perform on the offensive end as well (he scored double digits in six out of the seven games). Thompson is an emerging star this year. He does the heavy duty lifting on defense for the Warriors as well. He guards the most talented perimeter player on the opposing team every night. But get this. he’s scoring over 21 points a game on over 47% from beyond the arc. Thompson takes close to seven threes every game!! For dead-eye perimeter shooting and elite defending? $10.4 million.

That brings me to my choice of starting point guard. It was a difficult choice. I thought about Damian Lillard, I thought about Ty Lawson, I even thought of Rajon Rondo. I settled on Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers, fondly known as Uncle Drew (and if you want to know why, look here). Irving has had the unfortunate luck of being on one of the worst offensive teams in NBA history. Saddled with the likes of Alonzo Gee and C.J. Miles, Irving has taken a score-first mentality. He draws the best defender and often gets double-teamed, but he still manages to score 21 points a game. Granted, he isn’t shooting very well (only 43%), but he enhances that statistic by averaging over six assists a game. Irving has proven six times last year that he’s clutch at the end of games, hitting six game-winners. He and Steph Curry have the nastiest handles in the league, which increased the watchability of the Cavs. Irving is an all-star point guard and he’s on my team for $9.7 million a year.

Kyrie Irving was my choice at starting Point Guard.

Heading to my bench, I’ve used $42.7 million of my allotted $67.7 million cap space. That left me $25 million to create a passable elite unit. First, I looked for scoring. Every championship team has had an elite scorer off the bench. For the Heat, it was Ray Allen, for the Mavericks, it was Jason Terry, for the Lakers, it was Lamar Odom. For my team, it’s going to be Jamal Crawford. The four-point play leader of the NBA has won two sixth man of the year awards and is currently averaging 15 points a game for the Los Angeles Clippers. But everyone who watches basketball knows that Crawford could explode for 30 any game. He’s one of the worst defensive liabilities ever, but his scoring will anchor this secondary. I had to surround Jamal with capable defenders to make up for his inability to play on the defensive end.

To back-up Davis and Hibbert, I picked Tiago Splitter and Jimmy Butler. Splitter is starting the majority of games for the Spurs this year, but his minutes are more akin to that of a bench player (which he was for five of his six years in the league). So far this year, Splitter has logged less than 15 minutes four times while only playing over 30 once. He is averaging 20 minutes a game, similar to other big men who come off the bench. Splitter brings consistent play backing up Hibbert and Davis. He isn’t a spectacular big man, but he can run the pick-and-roll beautifully and he offers above-average rim protection. For 20-25 minutes a night, Splitter can effectively play while either of the big men rest up. Butler made a name for himself covering for the injured Luol Deng last year. He developed a mid-range shot, he could take it to the rim with authority, and he guarded opposing players with tenacity. Butler should play around 25 minutes a game backing up either Thompson or Leonard.

My minute determination rests on this. With four wing players vying for a combined 96 minutes a game (two spots*48), Thompson will automatically get 30 minutes of that. Leonard and Jimmy will get 25 minutes each and the other 16 goes to Jamal UNLESS he’s offensively efficient. If he is, he gets an extra 10-15 minutes and that gets taken out of everyone else’s time. The minute allocation should please everyone. Crawford/Thompson also have the ability to bring the ball up as well so they should get additional minutes when Kyrie sits.

At the end of my bench, I have Nate Robinson, Jordan Farmar, Jordan Hill, and Wesley Johnson. For their salaries, each and every one of them is a steal. Robinson has a bad reputation for having a bad attitude, but he has an excellent locker room presence, and has proven his ability to play in the postseason with the Bulls and Celtics. He can score in a hurry and will prove to be a reliable 15-20 minute back-up for Irving. Farmar has brought steady hands and basketball smarts to a surging Laker team which is why he remains an excellent third option at guard should any of the starters and rotation players get injured.

Jordan Hill has made a career on effectively using his minutes. He played sparingly to start the season off yet was in the top 5 in rebounds per minute in the league. He brings hustle and defense to the team and will always produce in the plus no matter how many minutes he gets. Last, at the veteran’s minimum, we have Wesley Johnson, a lottery bust who is proving the critics wrong with a semi-breakout season with the Lakers. If you had told me that I would select Johnson onto a fantasy team, I would have laughed until my sides hurt. His long arms are great for defense, and his quickness and long-range capabilities can spread the floor.

The cost of this bench? $26.2 million. That brings my grand payroll to $68.9 million.

Nate Robinson

Matt’s Criticism of Josh’s Team

I like Josh’s starting line-up. He has put together a solid complementary group of players. Kyrie Irving has shown flashes of becoming a star in the NBA. He and Klay Thompson will provide a solid scoring backcourt. He paired them with a very solid defensive front court. Teams will have a very hard time getting points in the paint against Hibbert and Davis, who could earn themselves the tag team name of Block Party. Klay and Kyrie could be the new splash bros on the outside while the Block Party is going on at the other end. All I know is there would be balls flying all over the court. Kawhi has shown that he is an elite defender in this league and can provide some very solid scoring. He allows for Klay to guard the second best defender and focus more on scoring while he focuses on D and hitting the open threes.

The key to me is Kyrie. Can he become the superstar that Josh’s team truly needs him to be? Arguably only two teams in the NBA in the last 25 years have won a championship without a superstar. The 2008 Celtics and the 2004 Pistons. I would argue that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were still superstars in 2008, but for Josh’s sake we will count them. Those odd’s don’t bode very well for his team. I really like Kyrie and I think he has a ton of potential, but I just don’t know if I want to bank on him becoming a superstar when we really don’t know. I also have another concern with Kyrie. His supporting cast struggle to get their own shots. Kyrie needs to change his style to become more of a distributer and take less of the scoring load. It is possible that Kyrie just scores now because the Cavs don’t have anyone who can score on their team. I would have liked a Tony Parker or Chris Paul type player at this spot. Someone who’s primary focus is to create.

Josh’s bench is by far the strongest out of all four teams. Splitter starts for the Spurs, but already plays like a bench player getting about 20 minutes a game. Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford both provide scoring sparks on the bench, while Jimmy Butler may be the best perimeter defender on his team. The funny thing about it is his least talented player is actually my favorite one coming off the bench and I wish I had thought of him myself. Jordan Hill is what every head coach wants in a backup big man. He gives you 110% on both ends. He doesn’t overextend himself and turns every hustle stat in his teams favor. He can let Splitter do all the work on the offensive end while he does all the work on the defensive end. I love these two together and they can both play with Davis and Hibbert when the groups will obviously overlap.

I think Josh did a perfect job in terms of chemistry except for these three players: Nate Robinson, Jamal Crawford and Jimmy Butler. I think he went a little overboard with the bench scorer who can’t play any D. You really only need one of these players and if you are going to have Jimmy Butler on the bench, up his minutes and get rid of Crawford. Let Nate the Great be your spark off the bench and allow for Jimmy to make up for Nate’s defense. You can’t really play Nate and Jamal together because they will just start competing for who can jack up the crazier shot with more people on them. These guys are selfish scorers, which is why they are good, but selfish scorers don’t play well with other selfish scorers.

I have an overall concern with Butler coming off the bench. It is true that he was a bench player all last season, but come playoff time that all changed. He played every minute of every game that he was eligible to play and you know what, he did a fantastic job. He guarded Lebron James for every minute Lebron was on the floor during their playoff series and did a decent job of it. Not only that, but he scored while having to guard Lebron. I don’t think I have seen any other player in the NBA put up that type of defensive effort on Lebron and be successful on the offensive end as well. Butler earned himself a starting spot and the right to play 35 to 40 minutes a game. In my mind you either have to choose Klay or Butler as your two guard. You can’t have both.

Ryan’s Critique

Where to start with my good friend Josh? He always gets a good ribbing from us for some of his outlandish ideas, but this team is well thought out, and as Matt as already mentioned, his Laker fandom allowed him to smartly place Jordan Hill on his team.

I’ll begin with Kyrie though, a player who hasn’t come close to playing for a winning team yet. Irving has immense talent, he can already stroke the ball with the best of them, has big marbles, and is very adept at running the pick and roll, a player that I really enjoy watching. However, there is something I’m missing with him because he has failed to elevate his teams play in anyway. He has taken a step back in on-court production this year (mostly in shooting stats and it’s a small sample size so we can’t take put too much stock into it).

Don’t get me wrong, I think this kid is a star (I can call him that because he’s younger than me), but as Matt mentioned as well, I don’t know if he’s a superstar. Some of me thinks he’s a gunner in the mold of a Carmelo and we all know that isn’t good. He’s also a noticeable minus on defense and Russ told me that he can’t wait to attack him off the dribble possession after possession. Since no praises need to be sung about Klay, The Brow, and Hibbert, I’m gonna skip right to Kawhi.

I think everyone is overblowing his Finals performance from last season a little too much. I guess on this team he’s gonna play the role he has on the Spurs so this thought probably doesn’t hold much weight in this forum but I want to say it anyway. People who think he is going to become a 18-point a game scorer are going to be sorely disappointed, he doesn’t really possess an offensive game that can lead to that. I’m not sure he can be Paul George of last year which is what everyone thinks will be the case. He also isn’t an elite 3 point shooter (37% last year on only 3 attempts per game).

The bench is very intriguing for many different reasons. I love me some Nate Rob, that guy has the ability to go on scoring streaks unlike few bench players in this league, but so does Jamal Crawford (who I’m not a fan of) and I don’t see the need for both of these guys. I would hope Josh plans on playing Nate more because I think he offers more as a ball player, and, with the roster’s current make up, I’d like to see Jordan Farmar more than Crawford to give the team a traditional point guard to run the offense off the bench instead of singularly minded gunners.

Where Tuckness has a problem with Jimmy Butler’s desire to come off the bench, I think this will work perfectly because there is no other ? combo player on the roster. Butler will get more than enough minutes serving as Klay and Kawhi’s backup and he’ll have some built up chemistry with Nate from their days on the Bulls. This now brings us to the best back bigs situation of the 4 teams in Jordan Hill and Tiago Splitter. With the rest of Josh’s team, these guys won’t get many touches to score the ball but that won’t matter because these two pride their game on hustle, boards, and not getting plays called for them. Plus, they both have proven their worth when called upon to start and complement each other well if they are both in at the same time.

Parker’s Critique

First thoughts: OOOOHH Uncle drew, I like it. I like the starting 5, very based around Irving who is the best player. Kawhi is a steal at 4.3. Nate Rob is a solid bench guy for Kyrie… A WILD TIAGO SPLITTER APPEARS? Love jimmy butler, Jordan Hill? Farmar? what?

OK, I really like Josh’s first 7. I have Jimmy Butler as his 7th man in the game. But then, Tiago Splitter? *Stephen A Smith voice*… Are you serious? At $8.5 million, you can find much better. I too looked for Splitter for like a split second (no pun intended) until I saw that number. I assumed he’d be cheap, because the truth is he isn’t worth anywhere near $8 million, let alone over it. Jamal Crawford is nice but that’s a lot of change for him too. I’d say his over investment in those two spots, his backup 5 and backup 2, are why the rest of his bench suffers. Hill, Farmar, and Johnson just don’t do much for me. I’m sorry, cut the bull-splitter and maybe you’ll have the cash to put together a solid second unit.

That being said, if his starting 5 could put together serious minutes per game (because of his bench, he could play at 7 or 8 deep, and be a really good team. I just think that, for this experiment, he has spent way too much on a back up center, especially Tiago. He must lean on his starters all playing 30+ minutes, Splitter getting 12, Crawford 12-16, and Nate Robinson getting 16 or so. He’d have to have a lineup where Robinson and Kyrie played together for this to make sense, so I assume they will. I don’t know Josh, at the end of the day, when comparing your lineup to tuckness’, all I can think of is this:

Ryan Interjection: Hahahahahaha. Jokes aside, I did just read something that had Splitter in the top- 5 for defensive player of the year so far, so maybe the joke is on all of us (the list was top 10). We all had some multiple people on the list to be honest, except Tuckness (Noah, Hibbert, PG, Kawhi). The guy put the Brow at honorable mention because the Pellies have such a horrible defense that he felt if someone was that good on defense, he would affect a team more than Davis is at this point of the season. And Tuckness will probably call the whole list bullshit because a list with no LeBron in his eyes is invalid, and to that I say, this guy watches way more basketball than us and knows what is happening way more. If he thinks LeBron’s defensive responsibility is not on the level to be included, I’ll take his word for it.