RealGM

Jamal Murray
Zach Lavine
Brandon Ingram
Lauri Markkanen
Bam Adebayo

Assume reasonably good health for everyone and a below average bench (due to salary concerns)

Costly play in team.

around 11th/12th maybe

Ingram is redundant and pointless alongside two other ballhander/creators and a scoring big, as we saw with the Pelicans. Murray and Lavine is a poor defensive backcourt you tried to compensate for with Bam, but Bam can only do so much and the Heat defense is as much a product of Spo and the Heat system as it is him.

Ingram's defensive awareness also lacks so you're looking at a wing trio that will be pretty inept at containing their man on or off ball. Lavine is capable of playing strong man defense but not on a team like this. It'd take a strong defensive roster with a strong coaching culture to get that out of him and this ain't it.

Murray is inconsistent in the regular season and that's playing alongside Jokic, so we can count on him not being the Murray you expect for a big chunk of the season. He'd probably run two man game with Markannen and Bam both, but it won't look anything like with Jokic although it'd still be a good option.

Below average bench sinks them as that means at best average creators coming off the bench, on a team with a frontcourt that thrives with players creating. Markannen less so but the last thing you want is Bam creating his own offense and that's going to happen a lot with Murray on the bench. Sinks them further as it means at best average defensive center, when Bam will be the only thing keeping this defense from being Nellie Mavs level.

Good offense from the starting unit with Murray and Markannen and they'd have some synergy. Expect a big dropoff when the bench comes in. Poor defensive rating from a below average starting unit and poor bench frontline.

Gonna say play-in team in the West, maybe a mid-seed in the East.

With good health a 45-50 win team. With average health (given the issues of Murray/LaVine/Ingram) more like 40 wins is more likley.

Below average on D - Bam keeps them from being bad but there's a limit on what he can do. Lack a super effecicent scorer or elite playmaker to push the offense to the top of the league.

Biggest strength is that the extra offense-creation of the starting lineup allows them to rotate in 2-3 limited bench players at a time and still keep a decent amount of offense-creation on the court. But if your bench is built like that and you end up down a starter or 2 then you end up with issues.

This would be a contender, the random hate is just weird. They have elite shooting from 1-4, and a DPOY level guy that can also score at the 5.

balrog27 wrote:This would be a contender, the random hate is just weird. They have elite shooting from 1-4, and a DPOY level guy that can also score at the 5.

Random hate? where's the defense? It's the West, you forget how tough the West is?, this is not the East.

I place the current Kings higher then this team. no disrepect to the Kings, I'm being real

They'd be a good team in the West barring a strong bench cast IMO. I personally wouldn't want Lavine or Maury TBH. I'd take lesser players simply for roster stability and fit.

Think Lauri would step up, he's never been the same since Utah traded Conley

I really don't like them defensively. Ingram needs to be the second option with the ball which then hurts Lavine. Plus I don't think Bam would have much fun when every shot is contested at the rim

Hard cover because you have a lot of shooting in the line up, but not an ounce of defense bar the 5 and Lauri trying hard

I would replace one of Lavine or Ingram with a less expensive solid 3&D role player and an upgrade for the bench. They would fight for the later playoff spots and could win a series.

SlimShady83 wrote:

balrog27 wrote:This would be a contender, the random hate is just weird. They have elite shooting from 1-4, and a DPOY level guy that can also score at the 5.

Random hate? where's the defense? It's the West, you forget how tough the West is?, this is not the East.

I place the current Kings higher then this team. no disrepect to the Kings, I'm being real

You putting current Kings over this team, roff what? This team has Bmm and Markannen... I agree perimeter lineup is pretty spoty, but this is a far better team than Kings, like what a re you smoking? The worst part about that lineups is that features a King

Depending on the coach, I think this is a contending team. They have the offensive capabilities to outscore most if not all teams in the NBA. And if the right coach gets them to buy in defensively, they have the length, quickness, and anchor big man down low to be a really good defensive team too.

It all depends on the coach. none of these guys seem to be strong leaders or have exceptional bball iq. These guys have a whole bunch of talent, but i question their intangibles and discipline.

If they have a run where everything clicks tho, they have the talent to do some damage. i honestly dont understand how people say this is a bottom feeder team and look at the rockets for example saying they are contenders. the rockets are amazing, dont get me wrong. but they are amazing because they have the intangibles and a strong leader at HC. But definitley less talent.

This team with the correct coaching and proper effort could easily get a high seed. at the same time if these guys are just in cruise control, they can also easily get the best odds in the the next lottery.

I feel like this team would kinda suck relative to what you'd expect. They would win games on pure talent but who are they running offense through? Who is setting things into motion? Looks like a bunch of guys who need the ball (besides Bam) and no one to run the offense. They would get absolutely cooked on defense too. I'm thinking play in territory at best

Is Bam the only one defending?

LarsV8 wrote:Jamal Murray
Zach Lavine
Brandon Ingram
Lauri Markkanen
Bam Adebayo

Assume reasonably good health for everyone and a below average bench (due to salary concerns)

Assuming three strong defensive role players off the bench the team is Not that good in the east or west. Could battle for a playoff spot in the east. Maybe a play in team in the west.
If the bench is poor that’s a lotto team.

Well I think they'd be too exhausted from playing 48 minutes a game to do much in the postseason

I get a "too many cooks" vibe, these guys are all high usage 2nd options, they need a Shane Battier type who doesn't care how much he gets the ball. Going with first round exit but could also easily be not in the 'offs.

They'll be good but that team desperately needs role players and connectors on offense. Sub out anyone 1-3 with Alex Caruso and the ceiling raises substantially.

meekrab wrote:they need a Shane Battier type

Ha! I had literally written in that Battier replaces anyone 2-4 in my post above but then went with somebody contemporary. Anthony Black instead of Ingram could be dope too if he develops how I think he will.