Top 5 Deepest and Shallowest Teams in the League

[Scalabrine]

Rosters are pretty much set. Rotations are shaking out. The season is 2 weeks away.

Which depth charts do you look at as the deepest? ie; which teams can get by with an injury or three and have capable guys step in and keep the team afloat?

Which depth charts do you look at as the shallowest? ie; which teams are relying heavily on their rotation players to stay healthy, or which teams are relying on unproven players to play pivotal roles in the rotation from the start?

[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.

2. Washington Wizards - They have a ton of depth but lack elite talent outside of Beal. But they are going 3 deep at most positions filled with trusted rotation players and Rui, Avdija, and Kispert are all young guys ready for minutes.

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.

4. Denver Nuggets - We saw how impressive they were even after Murray went down and they didn't miss much of a beat. Surely they need Murray back to be legit contenders, but they should still be a top tier team in the West even without their 2nd best player and starting point guard. That speaks a ton to their depth.

5. Miami Heat - 3 stars plus a ton of proven vets and young guys. If Oladipo can show any semblance of his old self then this team is 12 deep with really solid players.

[Texas Chuck]

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.

[Lalouie]

do you mean deepest teams and thinnest teams

or do you mean deepest teams who have the bare minimum going on upstairs. i dunno because "shallow" carries a particular meaning

[Scalabrine]

There are alot of young teams that are obviously tanking or trying out a bunch of young unproven players intentionally so I'm gonna try to stay away from them and focus on teams that are actually trying to win ball games.

Shallowest Teams:
1. Chicago Bulls - This is a team that on paper seems like 8 deep. 2 of which are fairly unproven/young/inconsistent in Coby White and Pat Williams. They have a great top 4, but are really going to be banking on everyone staying healthy AND a few unproven guys stepping into a real role for this team. Either of those go wrong and they could be in some trouble.

2. Dallas Mavericks - after Luka and to a lesser extent KP, the team is filled with a bunch of replaceable players that are probably better as 5th starters or situational bench pieces instead of 3rd best players of key minute eaters. Tim Hardaway is their 3rd best player at this point and his best role is probably as a 6th man.

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.

4. Charlotte Hornets - similar situation to the Pelicans but lacking the Top End talent. Ball could take that step into All-Star territory but there are still a lot of questions on roster fit and I think a few of their best players have pretty redundant skill sets (Bridges, Oubre, Washington, to a lesser extent Hayward). Should be interesting to see who steps up to be that 9-10th spot or if they will jsut be looking for that all year and rotating guys based on situation.

5. Golden State Warriors - Their top end talent is there but with Klays injury it seems like they are gonna be counting on Wiseman, Kuminga, Moody to all play big minutes. Juan Toscano Anderson is also in that mix as well. I still am unclear who the backup point guard is and guys like Iggy, Otto Porter, and Bjelica all have seen pretty sharp declines over the past season or two.

[Scalabrine]

do you mean deepest teams and thinnest teams

or do you mean deepest teams who have the bare minimum going on upstairs. i dunno because "shallow" carries a particular meaning

feels pretty synonymous to me but sure...

[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.

[Scalabrine]

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?

[DCasey91]

We the Sixers are more shallow than a kids pool. It’s Embiid or bust lol

We have the worst guard/wing rotation in the NBA, basically what not to do in building a team.

It’s a head-case of an organization without him.

[JN61]

Honestly I'm not that sure if Wizards are that deep. Certainly way deeper than last year but still that roster is very suspect in terms of talent a lot of 5th option type of players or one way players who have either absolutely no offensive game or no defensive game.

How are you going to find minutes for Rui, Bertans and Harrell (and Kuzma) in the same roster? None of them play any defense and more or less plays the same position.

[Bornstellar]

Deepest: Brooklyn, LAL, Denver

Shallowest: Bulls, Mavs, Blazers


Don't see a point in putting non playoff expected teams on there

[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?

i mean guys like Yuta, Flynn, Birch, Banton, Chjampagnie, Svi, Are the bench guys from 7-13 spots that are going to be competing pretty hard for the 7-13 spots (and could do that on most teams) and that doesn't include dekker, johnson, wainright or bonga who to me are on the outside. Top to 7 is Barnes, FVv, Siakam, Og, Boucher, Dragic, trent jr, Precious I doubt those guys make it to the top 7, but just a very deep bench.

[Parataxis]

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.

[beantownski]

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.

2. Washington Wizards - They have a ton of depth but lack elite talent outside of Beal. But they are going 3 deep at most positions filled with trusted rotation players and Rui, Avdija, and Kispert are all young guys ready for minutes.

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.

4. Denver Nuggets - We saw how impressive they were even after Murray went down and they didn't miss much of a beat. Surely they need Murray back to be legit contenders, but they should still be a top tier team in the West even without their 2nd best player and starting point guard. That speaks a ton to their depth.

5. Miami Heat - 3 stars plus a ton of proven vets and young guys. If Oladipo can show any semblance of his old self then this team is 12 deep with really solid players.

no they don't

[Statlanta]

Where's Utah, for deepest teams?

I can't see Denver being in deepest team given their loss of talent and injuries over the past 2 seasons.

[Swish1906]

Ah Scalabrine, didnt expect anything else from him regarding the Knicks and Mavs

[Clay Davis]

Where's Utah, for deepest teams?

I can't see Denver being in deepest team given their loss of talent and injuries over the past 2 seasons.

I think the general consensus was that they were less talented than the Clippers last year. Not sure how much I agree with it.

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using RealGM mobile app

[ShootersShoot]

Utah should be in there

Clarkson
Gay
Ingles
Whiteside
Paschall

Thats easily a top 5 bench plus they have a quality starting lineup.

[nikster]

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.

I dont think any team can lose their top 2 players (3 if you count Kyrie) and expect them to make the playoffs

[ForeverTFC]

Ah Scalabrine, didnt expect anything else from him regarding the Knicks and Mavs

Not sure what the prior precedent is here but honestly you can make a case for the Knicks as a deep team (I wouldn't put them in the top 5 but the argument has some meat) and think most would agree the Mavs have little consequential depth to speak of.