Diophantos

This has been done before, but I decided to give my own take on it.

Basically, I took each draft since 1980 and formed a team based on its best players. This has been a kind of ongoing project: whenever I'm bored I pull it up and do a team or two. Now that I've gone through 26 teams I figured I might as well post it here.

I've taken some liberties with positioning, but I've tried not to do anything too drastic (the lone exception is 1982). For the most part, small 2's play the 1 or 2, swingmen play the 2 or 3, big men play the 4 or 5. Most players are at the correct position.

I've tried to go at least 2 deep at every position. When I go more than 2 deep it's because I want to include a notable player who wouldn't otherwise fit, or because I feel there's not much separating two players.

My brief commentary follows each team. I make no guarantees of objectivity, just giving an idea of how I feel about the team. I also make no guarantees of accuracy: if you glance over one or two teams and think I've fouled up terribly, you might as well let me know, just for fun.

Which team(s) do you guys think are the best overall? (i.e. if this was a tournament, which teams would finish highest?) Which is the worst team? The deepest? The best defensive? offensive? etc.

Like I said, just a fun boredom project, but I'd be interested to see what you guys think (about however much of it you feel like reading). I stuck with 1980 and after because those are really the players I can speak somewhat knowledgably about.

And here's the list:

1980
PG Larry Drew / Rory Sparrow
SG Andrew Toney / Darrel Griffith
SF Kiki Vandeweghe / Mike Woodson
PF Kevin McHale / Rick Mahorn
C Joe Barry Carroll / Mike Gminski
Not much in the backcourt, with the exception of the Boston Strangler.
Lots of scoring at the starting forward spots.

1981
PG Isiah Thomas / Frank Johnson
SG Rolando Blackman / Eddie Johnson
SF Mark Aguirre / Kelly Tripucka / Orlando Woolridge
PF Buck Williams / Tom Chambers
C Larry Nance / Herb Williams
Not my favorite draft ever, but produced Isiah and some talent at the 2-3-4 positions.

1982
PG Fat Lever / Sleepy Floyd
SG Ricky Pierce / Quintin Dailey
SF James Worthy / Paul Pressey
PF Dominique Wilkins / LaSalle Thompson
C Terry Cummings / Mark Eaton
Lack of good bigs + 2 HOF SF's + athletic PF = small ball!
Eaton's a good guy to have off the bench for this squad.

1983
PG Derek Harper / John Paxson
SG Clyde Drexler / Byron SCott
SF Dale Ellis / Jeff Malone
PF Roy Hinson / Antoine Carr
C Ralph Sampson / Thurl Bailey
Clyde leads a high scoring perimeter, but not much depth up front outside Sampson.

1984
PG John Stockton / Jay Humphries
SG Michael Jordan / Alvin Robertson
SF Jerome Kersey / Vern Fleming
PF Charles Barkley / Sam Perkins / Otis Thorpe
C Hakeem Olajuwon / Kevin Willis / Michael Cage
The four HOFers and the fill-ins.
Has depth though: 2 all-stars off the bench in Roberston and Willis.

1985
PG Terry Porter / Michael Adams
SG Joe Dumars / Tyrone Corbin
SF Chris Mullin / Xavier McDaniel
PF Karl Malone / Detlef Schrempf / AC Green
C Patrick Ewing / Charles Oakley / Manute Bol
Intimidating frontcourt.
Decent perimeter (especially on D), if lacking backcourt depth.
Good team, would matchup well with weaker frontcourt, perimeter-oriented teams like '83 or '98.

1986
PG Mark Price / Scott Skiles / Johnny Dawkins
SG Jeff Hornacek / Dell Curry
SF Chuck Person / Ron Harper
PF Dennis Rodman / Roy Tarpley (pre-coke)
C Brad Daugherty / Arvydas Sabonis / Kevin Duckworth
No superstar, but excellent outside shooting and a solid big man rotation.

1987
PG Kevin Johnson / Mark Jackson
SG Reggie Miller / Sarunas Marciulonis
SF Scottie Pippen / Reggie Lewis
PF Horace Grant / Ken Norman
C David Robinson / Armon Gilliam
One of my favorite draft teams. Fantastic starting lineup that defends, scores,
runs, shoots the three, plays in the clutch, and does everything.
Bench is not great, but serviceable.

1988
PG Rod Strickland / Kevin Edwards
SG Mitch Richmond / Hersey Hawkins
SF Dan Majerle / Chris Morris / Rex Chapman
PF Anthony Mason / Danny Manning
C Rony Seikaly / Rik Smits
Not a great team, but has a few solid 2's and 5's.

1989
PG Timmy Hardaway / Mookie Blaylock
SG Nick Anderson / B.J. Armstrong
SF Glen Rice / Sean Elliott
PF Shawn Kemp / Clifford Robinson
C Vlade Divac / Dino Radja
A fun team to watch, I think. Lots of threes and alley-oops to Kemp.
Good starting lineup top to bottom, with solid depth.

1990
PG Gary Payton / Dee Brown
SG Dennis Scott / Kendall Gill
SF Cedric Ceballos / Toni Kukoc
PF Jayson Williams / Tyrone Hill
C Derrick Coleman / Elden Campbell
Eh. Outside the Glove, there's not much here compared to other teams.

1991
PG Terrell Brandon / Kenny Anderson
SG Steve Smith / Bobby Phills
SF Larry Johnson / Billy Owens
PF Chris Gatling / Bison Dele / Ike Austin
C Dikembe Mutombo / Dale Davis
Another "eh". No superstar, though a couple of good all-stars
in Mutombo, Smith, Brandon, and LJ.

1992
PG Brent Price / Sasha Danilovic
SG Latrell Sprewell / Doug Christie
SF Jimmy Jackson / Robert Horry
PF Alonzo Mourning / Tom Gugliotta / Christian Laettner
C Shaquille O'Neal / PJ Brown
An obviously formidable frontcourt, but not too much help for Zo and Shaq,
outside of some decent scoring from Spree and JJ.
Also, this draft has basically no point guards.

1993
PG Sam Cassell / Nick Van Exel
SG Penny Hardaway / Allan Houston
SF Jamal Mashburn / Isiah Rider
PF Chris Webber / Vin Baker
C Shawn Bradley / Gheorghe Muresan
I kind of like this team, for no real reason.
A fun mix of "chokers" and disappointments.
(Penny, CWebb, Bradley, Rider, Baker).
It does, however, also field 7 all-stars, including 3 off the bench.
Plus, who can resist the Bradley/Muresan pairing down low?

1994
PG Jason Kidd / Charlie Ward
SG Eddie Jones / Jalen Rose
SF Grant Hill / Glenn Robinson
PF Juwan Howard / Donyell Marshall
C Brian Grant / Zeljko Rebraca
This is the happiest day of Zeljko Rebraca's life.
So besides the obvious lack of center depth, this team is kind of fun on the perimeter
Multiple playmakers in Kidd, Hill, Rose, outside shooting, and scoring from the 4 spot.

1995
PG Damon Stoudamire / Bob Sura
SG Jerry Stackhouse / Brent Barry
SF Michael Finley / Corliss Williamson
PF Kevin Garnett / Antonio McDyess
C Rasheed Wallace / Bryant Reeves / Theo Ratliff
No major weaknesses. Has defense, slashing, rebounding and lots of outside shooting.
Depth--5 allstars including McDyess off the bench.

1996
PG Steve Nash / Stephon Marbury
SG Allen Iverson / Ray Allen
SF Kobe Bryant / Peja Stojakovic
PF Jermaine O'Neal / Antoine Walker / Shareef Abdur-Rahim
C Zydrunas Ilguaskas / Marcus Camby
Great team and ridiculously deep: two or three all-stars at every position
(giving Camby the benefit of this year's excellent but injury plagued season).

1997
PG Chauncey Billups / Bobby Jackson
SG Tracy McGrady / Derek Anderson
SF Keith Van Horn / Stephen Jackson
PF Tim Duncan / Maurice Taylor
C Kelvin Cato / Danny Fortson
A great trio in Duncan, McGrady, and Billups, all of whom complement eachother well.
The help, though not terrible, is not as good as it could be.

1998
PG Mike Bibby / Jason Williams
SG Vince Carter / Larry Hughes / Ricky Davis
SF Paul Pierce / Rashard Lewis
PF Dirk Nowitzki / Antawn Jamison / Al Harrington
C Raef Lafrentz / Nazr Mohammed
Fun, talented, perimeter oriented team--will slash and launch threes all day long.
Deep, with many multi-talented wing players.
Lack of true big man and rebounders will hurt though.

1999
PG Baron Davis / Steve Francis / Jason Terry / Andre Miller
SG Rip Hamilton / Corey Maggette / Manu Ginobili
SF Shawn Marion / Ron Artest / Wally Szczerbiak
PF Elton Brand / Lamar Odom / Andrei Kirilenko
C Jeff Foster / Kenny Thomas
Underrated team--talented all around with 9 all-stars.
Very deep 1-4, can throw a lot of different versatile looks; many different playmakers.
Somewhat weak at the 5, though Foster provides rebounding and defense.

2000
PG Marko Jaric / Keyon Dooling
SG Michael Redd / Jamal Crawford / Morris Peterson
SF Mike Miller / Darius Miles / Quentin Richardson
PF Kenyon Martin / Stromile Swift
C Jamaal Magloire / Joel Przybilla
What a drop-off from '99: just 2 all-stars here while
chuckers and underachievers fill the bench.

2001
PG Gilbert Arenas / Tony Parker
SG Jason Richardson / Joe Johnson
SF Richard Jefferson / Gerald Wallace / Shane Battier
PF Pau Gasol / Zach Randolph / Troy Murphy
C Mehmet Okur / Eddy Curry / Tyson Chandler / Samuel Dalembert / Kwame Brown
Very talented perimeter with lots of outside shooting, slashing, and defense at the 3.
Lack of rebounding will hurt, as the backup 5 position is a fun game of "Choose your Underachiever!"

2002
PG Juan Dixon / Dan Dickau
sG Caron Butler / Fred Jones
SF Tayshaun Prince / Mike Dunleavy
PF Amare Stoudemire / Carlos Boozer / Drew Gooden
C Yao Ming / Nenad Krstic / Nene
Obviously there's still a lot to see from this side.
Still, seems like there's almost nothing in the backcourt, considering I have
Butler out of position at the 2.
Frontcourt looks to have some good depth.

2003
PG Kirk Hinrich / TJ Ford / Luke Ridnour
SG Dwyane Wade / Josh Howard / Leandro Barbosa
SF Lebron James / Carmelo Anthony
PF Chris Bosh / Boris Diaw / David West
C Chris Kaman / Nick Collison
Star-studded, with fantastic talent on the wings especially.
Excellent starting lineup top-to-bottom with Kaman's emergence as a legit center.
Weaknesses may be interior defense and rebounding.

2004
PG Devin Harris / Sebastian Telfair / Chris Duhon / Jameer Nelson
SG Ben Gordon / Shaun Livingston / Delonte West
SF Andre Iguodala / Luol Deng / Josh Smith
PF Emeka Okafor / Al Jefferson
C Dwight Howard / Anderson Varejao
Of course, still a lot to see here as well.
Pending explosion from Jefferson, seems to lack interior scoring.
Deep perimeter: seems like they'll all be solid-to-good NBA players.


2005
PG Chris Paul / Raymond Felton
SG Deron Williams / Luther Head
SF Charlie Villanueva / Danny Granger / Marvin Williams
PF Channing Frye / Ryan Gomes
C Andrew Bogut / Ike Diogu
Again somewhat premature.
Seems to have a good backcourt: lots of quickness, shooting, and playmaking.
Frontcourt may lack rebounding.

__________________
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"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."

- Stephen Crane

jericho

Thanks for a fun post that must've taken you hours.

I always had the memory of '86 being a dreadful draft year because of how many high picks flamed out, but clearly the later picks salvaged its overall value.

Most of the weakest years to my mind are among the most recent ('00, '02, '05), but of course that perception may change as more of those players develop into stronger contributors. Still, there aren't many obvious stars-to-be in there... '90 also looks pretty tepid, with the exception of Payton.

The strongest years appear to be '84 (no surprise), '85, '87 (let's hear it for the golden '80s!), and '96, with '98 and '03 as the honorable mentions. '03 could certainly join the top tier if most or all of the marquee names--James, Wade, Anthony and Bosh--play at their current levels or higher for another few years.

Ballyhoo

Go back one more year and you get another pretty nice team:

1979
PG Magic Johnson
SG Sidney Moncrief
SF Jim Paxson
PF Bill Laimbeer
C Bill Cartwright/Mark Eaton

jericho

Not bad! Although I'd switch the two Bills, and also switch Sidney and Jim.

1978 gets you a colorful crew...

PG Maurice Cheeks/Michael Ray Richardson/Reggie Theus
SG Michael Cooper/Freeman Williams
SF Purvis Short/Mike Mitchell
PF Larry Bird/Terry Tyler
C Wayne Cooper/Mychal Thompson/Dave Corzine

I put Bird at PF, which is where he started his career. Not a stunning crew, although the point guard rotation is very solid, the Coopers give you great defense, the small forwards will score in wagonloads.

RollWithEm

One of my favorite things to debate when it comes to draft teams is that 1995 draft. Some people don't think it belongs in a conversation of the top 5 draft teams. I love to make my case for them.

That team has a great mix of talents. The frontcourt depth is excellent and obvious, but take a look at that backcourt. Damon Stoudamire and Travis Best are dangerous little men with the ball in their hands. They can lead a break and stroke the jumper in the half court set consistently. Sura and Barry are versatile players who can facilitate some things. Eric Snow is always available if you need a few defensive stops. Then they have Stackhouse and Finley at the wing spots. In their respective primes, they were good shooters who could dominate above the rim.

The juice in the 1995 draft fruit, however, is that frontline. Garnett and Rasheed is such a dream 4-5 combo. Look at how successfully Big Ben and Sheed play off of each other. Garnett gives you similar rebounding and defense with a polished and complementary offensive repertoire. Then, you have competent post scorers on the bench in McDyess and Williamson. Also, you have great post defense on the bench in Kurt Thomas and Theo Ratliff. What is the weakness of this team? They are stacked. Even though a few other squads have more overall talent, that 1995 team would fit perfectly together IMO.

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But that's just me.

neoxsupreme

Great job Diophantos. 96 is stacked.

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pmac34

no way Larry Bird makes that team, Jim Paxon OWNS Larry Bird, he just owned him like this;
http://LarryBird.JustGotOwned.com

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some1x

Larry does not make that team because he was drafted in 1978.

Hakeem

Otis Thorpe was an All-Star, too.

jericho