All-NBA Teams: The Good the Bad and the Ugly
I thought it would be fun to give some perspective on the range of NBA players. A fun way to do this is using the All-NBA team format. I picked the best player at each position, the player closest to average at each position and the worst player at each position. Here’s a fun rundown.
The All-NBA Team
| Player | Pos | Team | G | MP | WP48 | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Paul | PG | L.A. Clippers | 60 | 2180 | 0.313 | 14.2 |
| James Harden | SG | Oklahoma City Thunder | 62 | 1946 | 0.263 | 10.6 |
| LeBron James | SF | Miami Heat | 62 | 2326 | 0.358 | 17.3 |
| Kevin Love | PF | Minnesota Thunder | 55 | 2145 | 0.226 | 10.1 |
| Tyson Chandler | C | New York Knicks | 62 | 2061 | 0.311 | 13.3 |
These players combined to win 65.5 games last season (so pretty much perfect.) We make sure to give Tyson Chandler his due, unlike other lists. The others aren’t really a surprise. I’m curious if James Harden will keep up the top shooting guard role over Dwyane Wade.
The All-Average Team
| Player | Pos | Team | G | MP | WP48 | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Williams | PG | Philadelphia 76ers | 64 | 1682 | 0.102 | 3.6 |
| Jason Terry | SG | Dallas Mavericks | 63 | 2000 | 0.099 | 4.1 |
| Carmelo Anthony | SF | New York Knicks | 55 | 1876 | 0.104 | 4.0 |
| Chris Bosh | PF | Miami Heat | 57 | 2007 | 0.106 | 4.4 |
| Al Jefferson | C | Utah Jazz | 61 | 2075 | 0.103 | 4.4 |
I’m sure I’ll get a little flack as several of these players are considered stars. I will say that Bosh and Terry have been stars in the past. This past seasons their contributions were simply average. In Melo and Jefferson’s case, I will say they are above average at taking shots but were not above average in getting the ball through the hoop.
The All-Terrible Team
| Player | Pos | Team | G | MP | WP48 | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norris Cole | PG | Miami Heat | 65 | 1260 | -0.108 | -2.8 |
| Jordan Crawford | SG | Washington Wizards | 64 | 1753 | -0.027 | -1.0 |
| DeMar DeRozan | SF | Toronto Raptors | 63 | 2206 | -0.030 | -1.4 |
| Antawn Jamison | PF | Cleveland Cavaliers | 65 | 2151 | -0.037 | -1.7 |
| Byron Mullens | C | Charlotte Bobcats | 65 | 1465 | -0.084 | -2.5 |
This team is so bad, they’d be expected to get negative wins. As you know though, that’s impossible. So what would this mean in reality? Basically, we could expect a Nigeria blowout on a nightly basis. Antawn Jamison in the only player in the bunch that ever had an above average season and that was years ago. The only player I give any hope to is Norris Cole as he was a rookie. That said, he was a blemish on an otherwise amazing championship team that luckily benched him when the playoffs came around.
Summing up
A pretty clear indication from these teams is the difference from terrible to average versus average to great is pretty big. Some of this makes sense, as teams tend to figure out to bench bad players. Of course, there are exceptions. Hopefully this gives you a good view of the range of the NBA and possibly makes you sigh if you’re a Lakers fan.
-Dre