Top 5 Deepest and Shallowest Teams in the League

[blueNorange]

Where am I wrong?

Everything related to Mitchell Robinson on this list.

Noel > Robinson
Hardaway better than Fournier/Barrett/Robinson

1. robinson is better than noel

2. thj is not better than those 3.

[Scalabrine]

Deepest Teams:

1. Brooklyn Nets - Team has a ton of versatility and flexibility built around 2 Top 10 players and 1 Top 30. As of now, it's looking like Irving isn't gonna play, yet they still look like the best team in the East. They have a ton of proven vets that they can rely on at different roles and they should be able to rest guys or deal with injuries and still be fine.

I have a lot of trouble accepting the Nets as a deep team, let alone the #1 deepest team.

If Durant and Harden get injured for the season, they're not making the playoffs, let alone going on a run. That isn't depth.

They've got a GREAT top end, and the top end is probably good enough that they can cover for each other from time to time. But depth is about the drop off from the starters to the reserves. The Nets absolutely don't have a 'next man up' that's anywhere near the same level.

A team of Patty Mills, Joe Harris, Bruce Brown, Blake Griffin, Paul Milsap, LaMarcus Aldridge, and their youngins Nic Claxton and Cam Thomas, definitely make the playoffs. You add 3 of some of the best scorers in the league, and that makes up a stacked team.

That's pushing it a way too far. Griffin, Millsap, Aldrdige are not what they once were. That team is a lottery team for sure.

[Scalabrine]

This guy just said the Knicks have 12 starters and called Tim Hardaway Jr a 6th man

Aren't you a Mavs fan???

You should know that Hardaway was the 6th man for the Mavs. He came off the bench for more games than he started last year.

[Scalabrine]

Deepest Teams:


3. New York Knicks -
Robinson/Noel/Gibson
Randle/Toppin/Knox
Barrett/Burks/Grimes
Fournier/Rose/Bacon
Walker/Quickley/McBride

Thats 12 deep with players that could start on teams. A mix of veterans and young guys that play two way basketball and should be able to take an injury or two and still keep rolling, especially with Thibs sometimes preferring to play a short rotation if he can.

.

12 is optimistic. That last column isn't starting for any team in the league.

Dwayne Bacon started 50 games last year for the Magic. Gibson started 4 games in the playoffs over Nerlens Noel for the Knicks (and he was better).

[Scalabrine]

Where am I wrong?

Everything related to Mitchell Robinson on this list.

Noel > Robinson
Hardaway better than Fournier/Barrett/Robinson

Fournier averaged more points, assists, fg%, 3fg%, ts%, steals, blocks, has a better offensive rating, defensive rating, WS/48, BPM. RJ Barrett is better than both and he's 8 years younger.

Pretty sure you've never seen Mitchell Robinson play...

[Texas Chuck]

This guy just said the Knicks have 12 starters and called Tim Hardaway Jr a 6th man

Aren't you a Mavs fan???

You should know that Hardaway was the 6th man for the Mavs. He came off the bench for more games than he started last year.

I don't want to speak for matt, so matt please correct me if I have this wrong, but I believe the disconnect is you originally said something along the lines of THJ is best suited to be a 6th man, implying you didn't think he was starter material. And I think the past two seasons have proven THJ is very much a starting caliber NBA wing.

Shouldn't matter right if he comes off the bench or not. We had JET here for years who was clearly a starter who came off the bench and last year Rose was clearly the Knicks best PG but they didn't start him so he could help lift 2nd units.

You may not have meant disrespect to THJ just feeling like that's how you'd choose to deploy him, but matt is right to believe, as I do, that he's very much a starting caliber player. Not a great starter, but a solid one for sure.

[vinnymate]

Bucks are one of the deepest.

Holiday / Hill
DiVincenzo / Allen
Middleton / Connaughton / Semi
Giannis / Nwora / Hood
Lopez / Portis

Definitely a better overall team than last year.

I don't agree Bucks are one of the deepest. Bucks are definitely top heavy with their big 3.

I remember last season, bucks had a huge problem with guards and Brook Lopez was basically unplayable for big stretches in the playoffs.

DiVincenzo was out and that was a huge problem. Which left guys like Connaughton (who was serviceable), Forbes and corpse of Jeff Teague getting important playoff minutes.

Over the off season, they added Hill and Allen at the guard position.

While subtracting Forbes and Jeff Teague.

It's definitely an upgrade. But I think George Hill could be close to being over the hill. Have to bank on all the guards being healthy or you're in the same position as last year again.

[jayu70]

I'll preface this by saying deepest imho means which team can sub their whole 2nd unit and their 2nd unit is beating other team's 2nd unit. Some teams have really good 2nd units that aren't far off their starters but that's an indictment on their starters really.

Deepest (in no order)

Jazz (Butler, Clarkson, Gay, Ingles, Whiteside)
Raptors (Dragic, Bonga, Barnes, Precious, Boucher)
Hawks (Williams, Huerter, Reddish, Johnson, Okongwu)
Knicks (Rose, Quickley, Knox, Gibson, Sims)
Celtics (Pritchard, Nesmith, Richardson, Parker, Timelord)
Kings (Mitchell, Hield, Harkless, Metu, Thompson)
Cavaliers (Rubio, Valentine, Osman, Love, Markkanen)

You are missing Delon Wright (PG), Gallo (PF) and Dieng (C) from the 2nd unit.
Okongwu is out injured until January, Johnson has to outplay Gallo, Lou will see minutes as needed.

[OkcSinceSGA]

5 pages and somehow the Clippers weren’t mentioned once lmao. You take KD or Lebron off the Lakers and they get smoked in the first round, maybe swept. Westbrook isn’t changing that (he’s been worse than Playoff P the last couple times in playoffs)... and now Kyrie may not be able to even play home games.

Clippers just put up one hell of a fight in the playoffs without Kawhi and honestly looked good enough to go all the way, even no Kawhi. With a bunch of guys hurt. Hell they didn’t have Ibaka most of the year.

Zubac/Ibaka
Batum/Morris/Giles
Kawhi/T Mann/ Boston Jr
Paul George/Luke Kennard
Reggie Jackson/Eric Bledsoe

Is a pretty stacked rotation.

To see the Lakers and Nets mentioned is insulting. Sure they have some decent bench guys, and are loaded with big names... but “depth” sure as hell isn’t their strength. They are top heavy teams.

How are the Clips, Nuggets, Jazz not getting way more mentions?

[Sothron]

Hawks should be here.

Centers: Capela, Collins, Gallo, Ogongwu, Dieng
PF's: Collins, Gallo, Hunter
SF: Hunter, Reddish, Huerter
SG: Bogdan, Huerter, Lou
PG: Trae, Wright, Lou

And that's without even mentioning Solo Hill or their rookies that they are high on. They are legit 2 deep everywhere with a ton of versatility.

They don't have the superstar depth, so if Trae were to go down they suffer more than Brooklyn would, but that's a team with real quality depth.

This right here. The only correct answer for deepest team BY FAR AND AWAY in the NBA. No other team comes even close to the Hawks depth.

[AussieCeltic]

Nobody is going to beleive this, but I think the raptors are going to be really deep in a way. Not nearly the top end they need, but too deep 7/8-13.

I could see it:

Achiuwa/Birch/Gillespie
Siakam/Boucher/Watanabe
Anunoby/Barnes/Svi
Trent/Dragic/Dekker
FVV/Flynn/Bonga

Does that look about right? Who are you expecting to make the leap?

If the Raptors bench is deep, then every team in the league is deep.

Birch/Flynn wouldn’t even crack Boston’s top 12 and Boston is probably top 10ish bench.

Barnes is an unproven rookie who we all have high hopes of but right now is still unproven.

Dragic probably gets bought out or traded.

Which leaves you with Boucher.

Svi, Dekker, Watanabe, Bonga, Gillespie don’t even deserve to be named. These guys are lucky to be in the league.

Is it a bad bench? Not the worst, but I wouldn’t even have it as a top 15 bench let alone one of the best in the league.

[Scalabrine]

This guy just said the Knicks have 12 starters and called Tim Hardaway Jr a 6th man

Aren't you a Mavs fan???

You should know that Hardaway was the 6th man for the Mavs. He came off the bench for more games than he started last year.

I don't want to speak for matt, so matt please correct me if I have this wrong, but I believe the disconnect is you originally said something along the lines of THJ is best suited to be a 6th man, implying you didn't think he was starter material. And I think the past two seasons have proven THJ is very much a starting caliber NBA wing.

Shouldn't matter right if he comes off the bench or not. We had JET here for years who was clearly a starter who came off the bench and last year Rose was clearly the Knicks best PG but they didn't start him so he could help lift 2nd units.

You may not have meant disrespect to THJ just feeling like that's how you'd choose to deploy him, but matt is right to believe, as I do, that he's very much a starting caliber player. Not a great starter, but a solid one for sure.

So you agree that his best role is as a sixth man, but you (and him) believe I'm in the wrong (or that theres a disconnect) for saying that his best role is as a 6th man. Am I reading that right???

I think 6th man is a really valuable role. The NBA agrees with us, seeing as they have an award for that. Noone is saying 6th man isn't a valuable role, but that's what THj ideally is. Not a 3rd option. He doesnt do enough outside of scoring to be as effective as the 4th/5th guy (which is why DFS, Powell, Bullock will all probably start over him), and the Mavs are much better with him as the microwave, instant offense, gunner off the bench.

I guess thats how I remember his top potential being on the Knicks, when he was a 2nd option and an underserved scapegoat. I always defended him on those teams and thought we expected him to play a role that was way outside of what he was best at.

[Scalabrine]

5 pages and somehow the Clippers weren’t mentioned once lmao. You take KD or Lebron off the Lakers and they get smoked in the first round, maybe swept. Westbrook isn’t changing that (he’s been worse than Playoff P the last couple times in playoffs)... and now Kyrie may not be able to even play home games.

Clippers just put up one hell of a fight in the playoffs without Kawhi and honestly looked good enough to go all the way, even no Kawhi. With a bunch of guys hurt. Hell they didn’t have Ibaka most of the year.

Zubac/Ibaka
Batum/Morris/Giles
Kawhi/T Mann/ Boston Jr
Paul George/Luke Kennard
Reggie Jackson/Eric Bledsoe

Is a pretty stacked rotation.

To see the Lakers and Nets mentioned is insulting. Sure they have some decent bench guys, and are loaded with big names... but “depth” sure as hell isn’t their strength. They are top heavy teams.

How are the Clips, Nuggets, Jazz not getting way more mentions?

It's stacked when Kawhi is healthy but the fact is he's probably not gonna play this year.

Zubac/Ibaka
Morris/Winslow
George/Mann
Bledsoe/Kennard
Jackson/Bledsoe

I guess thats pretty deep if they all stay healthy. It's kind of on a Wizards level, but some of those guys are more injury prone and they don't have the depth behind them.

[Johnny Bball]

Nobody is going to beleive this, but I think the raptors are going to be really deep in a way. Not nearly the top end they need, but too deep 7/8-13.

I could see it:

Achiuwa/Birch/Gillespie
Siakam/Boucher/Watanabe
Anunoby/Barnes/Svi
Trent/Dragic/Dekker
FVV/Flynn/Bonga

Does that look about right? Who are you expecting to make the leap?

If the Raptors bench is deep, then every team in the league is deep.

Birch/Flynn wouldn’t even crack Boston’s top 12 and Boston is probably top 10ish bench.

Barnes is an unproven rookie who we all have high hopes of but right now is still unproven.

Dragic probably gets bought out or traded.

Which leaves you with Boucher.

Svi, Dekker, Watanabe, Bonga, Gillespie don’t even deserve to be named. These guys are lucky to be in the league.

Is it a bad bench? Not the worst, but I wouldn’t even have it as a top 15 bench let alone one of the best in the league.

[SharpyShuffle]

5 pages and somehow the Clippers weren’t mentioned once lmao. You take KD or Lebron off the Lakers and they get smoked in the first round, maybe swept. Westbrook isn’t changing that (he’s been worse than Playoff P the last couple times in playoffs)... and now Kyrie may not be able to even play home games.

Clippers just put up one hell of a fight in the playoffs without Kawhi and honestly looked good enough to go all the way, even no Kawhi. With a bunch of guys hurt. Hell they didn’t have Ibaka most of the year.

Zubac/Ibaka
Batum/Morris/Giles
Kawhi/T Mann/ Boston Jr
Paul George/Luke Kennard
Reggie Jackson/Eric Bledsoe

Is a pretty stacked rotation.

To see the Lakers and Nets mentioned is insulting. Sure they have some decent bench guys, and are loaded with big names... but “depth” sure as hell isn’t their strength. They are top heavy teams.

How are the Clips, Nuggets, Jazz not getting way more mentions?

Clippers scraped through the first round in seven even WITH Kawhi. They would absolutely have gotten eliminated in the first round without him.

[AussieCeltic]

I could see it:

Achiuwa/Birch/Gillespie
Siakam/Boucher/Watanabe
Anunoby/Barnes/Svi
Trent/Dragic/Dekker
FVV/Flynn/Bonga

Does that look about right? Who are you expecting to make the leap?

If the Raptors bench is deep, then every team in the league is deep.

Birch/Flynn wouldn’t even crack Boston’s top 12 and Boston is probably top 10ish bench.

Barnes is an unproven rookie who we all have high hopes of but right now is still unproven.

Dragic probably gets bought out or traded.

Which leaves you with Boucher.

Svi, Dekker, Watanabe, Bonga, Gillespie don’t even deserve to be named. These guys are lucky to be in the league.

Is it a bad bench? Not the worst, but I wouldn’t even have it as a top 15 bench let alone one of the best in the league.

Where am I wrong? You have 3 rotation players on your bench in Boucher/Dragic and “hopefully” Barnes. No one else would see minutes on most teams - especially no playoff minutes.

Benches 100% better than Toronto (in no particular order)

1. Nets
2. Hawks
3. Jazz
4. Grizz
5. Celtics
6. Warriors
7. Clippers
8. Nuggets
9. Suns
10. Wizards
11. Kings
12. Knicks
13. Cavs

Benches probably better

Bulls
Heat

And I’m factoring in that I think Barnes will be a good player and Dragic will be there for the season. If Barnes isn’t a solid rookie and Dragic gets traded like he’s rumoured to be, you literally have no one that would get minutes anywhere.

[OkcSinceSGA]

5 pages and somehow the Clippers weren’t mentioned once lmao. You take KD or Lebron off the Lakers and they get smoked in the first round, maybe swept. Westbrook isn’t changing that (he’s been worse than Playoff P the last couple times in playoffs)... and now Kyrie may not be able to even play home games.

Clippers just put up one hell of a fight in the playoffs without Kawhi and honestly looked good enough to go all the way, even no Kawhi. With a bunch of guys hurt. Hell they didn’t have Ibaka most of the year.

Zubac/Ibaka
Batum/Morris/Giles
Kawhi/T Mann/ Boston Jr
Paul George/Luke Kennard
Reggie Jackson/Eric Bledsoe

Is a pretty stacked rotation.

To see the Lakers and Nets mentioned is insulting. Sure they have some decent bench guys, and are loaded with big names... but “depth” sure as hell isn’t their strength. They are top heavy teams.

How are the Clips, Nuggets, Jazz not getting way more mentions?

Clippers scraped through the first round in seven even WITH Kawhi. They would absolutely have gotten eliminated in the first round without him.

Clippers weren’t the same team mentally in round one. Losing Kawhi took the team’s mental toughness to another gear they didn’t know they had.

[TravisScott55]

Any long term injury to Nikolai Vucevic and Chicago is screwed.

[Scalabrine]

If the Raptors bench is deep, then every team in the league is deep.

Birch/Flynn wouldn’t even crack Boston’s top 12 and Boston is probably top 10ish bench.

Barnes is an unproven rookie who we all have high hopes of but right now is still unproven.

Dragic probably gets bought out or traded.

Which leaves you with Boucher.

Svi, Dekker, Watanabe, Bonga, Gillespie don’t even deserve to be named. These guys are lucky to be in the league.

Is it a bad bench? Not the worst, but I wouldn’t even have it as a top 15 bench let alone one of the best in the league.

Where am I wrong? You have 3 rotation players on your bench in Boucher/Dragic and “hopefully” Barnes. No one else would see minutes on most teams - especially no playoff minutes.

Benches 100% better than Toronto (in no particular order)

1. Nets
2. Hawks
3. Jazz
4. Grizz
5. Celtics
6. Warriors
7. Clippers
8. Nuggets
9. Suns
10. Wizards
11. Kings
12. Knicks
13. Cavs

Benches probably better

Bulls
Heat

And I’m factoring in that I think Barnes will be a good player and Dragic will be there for the season. If Barnes isn’t a solid rookie and Dragic gets traded like he’s rumoured to be, you literally have no one that would get minutes anywhere.

The Bulls bench is definitely not better. Right now it's Coby White, Derrick Jones, and Alex Caruso as the certain guys. Then Troy Brown, Tony Bradley as the likely other 2 in the rotation.

[Mrakar]

3. New Orleans Pelicans - They are 6 deep in my opinion. Zion, Ingram, Val, Sato, Graham, and Hart. After that it's a bunch of unprovens (Hayes, NAW, Lewis, Murphy 3, Marshall) or guys that havent done much with their chances/on the back end of their career (Temple, Hernangomez, Gabriel). I like the 6 they have, but one of those young guys needs to take a big leap for them to be more than a team fighting for the play in.

Even though i agree that Pels are not deep, i think you've missed rotation by quite large margin.
NAW will be more important player to Pels than Hart, Sato and Graham.
I expect by end of the season that Murphy is playing more minutes than Hart, and also Marshall will be as important to the team as Sato and Hart.