Best team without their best player?

[Geaux_Hawks]

It seems a lot of people think that if LeBron was out Wade would revert back to being a 30/7/6 player.

I wouldn't say that, but Bosh and Wade, plus their current crop of shooters could easily keep them in the hunt in the east. Even if Wade isn't what he used to be, Bosh is still amongst the best big men right now.

[Trader_Joe]

Memphis?

Not sure if Randolph or Gasol is their best player.

[jefe]

Memphis?

Not sure if Randolph or Gasol is their best player.

Yep, the Grizz tied for 3rd in the West last year without Randolph for most of the year

[BlackIce]

The Clippers have Bledsoe, Chauncey and Crawford to fill Pauls shoes if he goes down. It would suck, but every team would feel some pain if their best player went down. I just think the Clips could weather the storm more easily than any other team in the NBA right now.

Yup, Bledsoe given Paul minutes may not be able to really control the tempo like Paul can but he'd be able play elite defense, attack the rim and use his unreal athleticism to make plays. Given that they'd still have Jordan/Griffin upfront, it would work well.

Also Bledsoe could push the pace hard and take advantage of the full court capabilities that the Clippers have. Paul likes to slow it down, pick his spots and I see Griffin as a fast break beast that meshes well with Bledsoe in the open floor.

I'm not saying Bledsoe is comparable to Paul, I just think the Clippers would survive given what they have on the bench.

[Tolverines]

Toronto Raptors.

[Chosen01]

Probably the Heat, you take one of the big 3 off and they still make the ECF imo. We basically saw how Wade and LeBron beat a top 3 team in the Pacers and this was with Wade ailing for the first set of games.

Lebron will give you 29-30ppg 7 and 8 on 51% shooting with Wade out

Wade 26-28ppg 5 and 7 on 50% without LeBron

Bosh 22-24pg 10-ish rpg 3apg on 53% playing with one of those two

I can see Allen easily stepping up with an increased role if one were missing as well. That's the beauty of the big 3..

You surround Lebron/Wade with 3pt shooters and knock down mid range shooters and they still flourish.

Chalmers/Cole
Allen/Miller
Wade or LeBron
Battier/Haslem
Bosh(and or Joel in his place)

Is still a top team.

[RutgersBJJ]

The spurs without Parker would do nothing in the playoffs, Miami could still possibly win the east with wade+bosh, probably wouldn't but would have a shot. You guys forget how loaded Miami is, it's not just Lebron but he clearly is their best player. Wade+ Bosh deserve more respect.

Miami wouldn't even get out of the first round without Lebron. No team with Bosh as its best player is getting out of the first round.

Still probably the best team out of all of these, but none of these teams get out of the first round without their best player.

Miami struggled in the Semis and ECF without their 2nd best player, imagine what they would have done without their clear best player and the best player in the league.

[peja drobnjak]

The spurs without Parker would do nothing in the playoffs, Miami could still possibly win the east with wade+bosh, probably wouldn't but would have a shot. You guys forget how loaded Miami is, it's not just Lebron but he clearly is their best player. Wade+ Bosh deserve more respect.

Miami wouldn't even get out of the first round without Lebron. No team with Bosh as it's best player is getting out of the first round.

really?

wade/allen/miller/battier/bosh doesn't get past the bucks or philadelphia?

[Chosen01]

The spurs without Parker would do nothing in the playoffs, Miami could still possibly win the east with wade+bosh, probably wouldn't but would have a shot. You guys forget how loaded Miami is, it's not just Lebron but he clearly is their best player. Wade+ Bosh deserve more respect.

Miami wouldn't even get out of the first round without Lebron. No team with Bosh as its best player is getting out of the first round.

Still probably the best team out of all of these, but none of these teams get out of the first round without their best player.

Miami struggled in the Semis and ECF without their 2nd best player, imagine what they would have done without their clear best player and the best player in the league.

Bosh isn't Miami's second best player, stop trolling. Wade was injured throughout the playoffs, thought this already established after he drained his knee?

They definitely beat a 6-8 seed team in the playoffs.

[RutgersBJJ]

The spurs without Parker would do nothing in the playoffs, Miami could still possibly win the east with wade+bosh, probably wouldn't but would have a shot. You guys forget how loaded Miami is, it's not just Lebron but he clearly is their best player. Wade+ Bosh deserve more respect.

Miami wouldn't even get out of the first round without Lebron. No team with Bosh as it's best player is getting out of the first round.

really?

wade/allen/miller/battier/bosh doesn't get past the bucks or philadelphia?

In order to match up with those teams they would have to get a top 4 seed. That's not happening without Lebron, they don't win the Southeast without him. They would end up the 6th-8th seed and have to face Knicks/Hawks/Brooklyn. I don't see them winning any of those match-ups. Even if they got the 5th seed to play the worst of the top seed, you figure Rose is back for the playoffs and they don't beat the Bulls.

[StephNYKurry]

Spurs...can't stop the system

[The Skyhook]

Lakers without Kobe seeing how they are 2- 11 or something like that when Kobe scores 30 or more. Or would that make Kobe the Lakers worst player?

[Little Digger]

Answer has to be the Golden State Warriors..

Best player = Andrew Bogut

[Shv3d]

Answer has to be the Golden State Warriors..

Best player = Andrew Bogut

That's like a few years back saying Greg Oden was Portland's best player.

[Blount]

Anyone who votes Bulls are just trolling.

Answer to this is the Spurs.

[ColbyBryant]

Lakers without Kobe = 3rd from last seed in the league.

[Prospect Dong]

Memphis?

Not sure if Randolph or Gasol is their best player.

Yep, the Grizz tied for 3rd in the West last year without Randolph for most of the year

Yeah, this. I voted for the spurs, and it's pretty hard to go past them for the combination of great team and no standout star to loose, but the Griz have already done it, for more or less a whole season, and they did it without Zach's backup to boot...

[[RCG]]

How about win-loss? Wolves are are 2 games over .500 without Love.

[[RCG]]

Answer has to be the Golden State Warriors..

Best player = Andrew Bogut

I don't know if Bogut is their best player.