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'12 was the lockout-shortened season where the regular season that year was 66 games.

Among all 30 NBA teams, the following teams had the corresponding starting lineup from which center they started the most. Here are the most used lineups for each team from their respective divisions:

Atlantic Division:
Boston: Kevin Garnett (started alongside Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass)
New Jersey: Shelden Williams (started alongside Deron Williams, MarShon Brooks, DeShawn Stevenson and Kris Humphries)
New York: Tyson Chandler (started alongside Jeremy Lin, Landry Fields, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire)
Philadelphia: Spencer Hawes (started alongside Jrue Holiday, Jodie Meeks, Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand)
Toronto: Aaron Gray (started alongside Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson and Amir Johnson)

Central Division:
Chicago: Joakim Noah (started alongside Derrick Rose, Ronnie Brewer, Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer)
Cleveland: Tristan Thompson (started alongside Kyrie Irving, Anthony Parker, Omri Casspi and Antawn Jamison)
Detroit: Greg Monroe (started alongside Brandon Knight, Rodney Stuckey, Tayshaun Prince and Jason Maxiell)
Indiana: Roy Hibbert (started alongside Darren Collison, Paul George, Danny Granger and David West)
Milwaukee: Drew Gooden (started alongside Brandon Jennings, Shaun Livingston, Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova)

Southeast Divison:
Atlanta: Zaza Pachulia (started alongside Jeff Teague, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams and Josh Smith)
Charlotte: Bismack Biyombo (started alongside D.J. Augustin, Gerald Henderson Jr., Corey Maggette and Tyrus Thomas)
Miami: Joel Anthony (started alongside Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh)
Orlando: Dwight Howard (started alongside Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Ryan Anderson)
Washington: JaVale McGee (started alongside John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Chris Singleton and Trevor Booker)

Northwest Division:
Denver: Timofey Mozgov (started alongside Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried)
Minnesota: Nikola Pekovic (started alongside Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour, Wesley Johnson and Kevin Love)
Oklahoma City: Kendrick Perkins (started alongside Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka)
Portland: Marcus Camby (started alongside Raymond Felton, Wesley Matthews, Gerald Wallace and LaMarcus Aldridge)
Utah: Al Jefferson (started alongside Devin Harris, Raja Bell, Gordon Hayward and Paul Millsap)

Pacific Division:
Golden State: Andris Biedrins (started alongside Charles Jenkins, Monta Ellis, Dorell Wright and David Lee)
L.A. Clippers: DeAndre Jordan (started alongside Chris Paul, Randy Foye, Caron Butler and Blake Griffin)
L.A. Lakers: Andrew Bynum (started alongside Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol)
Phoenix: Marcin Gortat (started alongside Steve Nash, Jared Dudley, Grant Hill and Channing Frye)
Sacramento: DeMarcus Cousins (started alongside Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Thornton, John Salmons and Jason Thompson)

Southwest Division:
Dallas: Brendan Haywood (started alongside Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki)
Houston: Samuel Dalembert (started alongside Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin, Chandler Parsons and Luis Scola)
Memphis: Marc Gasol (started alongside Mike Conley, Tony Allen, Rudy G and Marreese Speights)
New Orleans: Chris Kaman (started alongside Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli, Trevor Ariza and Gustavo Ayon)
San Antonio: DeJuan Blair (started alongside Tony Parker, Danny Green, Richard Jefferson and Tim Duncan)

Based on overall performance, the ones who look like they could easily be replaced with Prime Lakers-era Shaq are Shelden Williams (New Jersey), Aaron Gray (Toronto), Zaza Pachulia (Atlanta), Bismack Biyombo (Charlotte), Joel Anthony (Miami), Kendrick Perkins (Oklahoma City), Marcus Camby (Portland), Andris Biedrins (Golden State), Brendan Haywood (Dallas), Samuel Dalembert (Houston) and DeJuan Blair (San Antonio).

Which one of the most replaceable starting centers would you bench in favor of an upgrade in the form of Prime Lakers-era Shaq?

And which starting core would Prime Lakers-era Shaq fit better with? Assuming you put him on either the Nets, Raptors, Hawks, Bobcats, Heat, Thunder, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Mavs, Rockets or Spurs.

I mean...replacing Joel Anthony for Prime Shaq would simply be unfair.

Replacing Brandon Bass would make the Celtics clear title favorites. I would have also liked to see him on the Clippers or Phoenix.

Colbinii wrote:I mean...replacing Joel Anthony for Prime Shaq would simply be unfair.

Replacing Brandon Bass would make the Celtics clear title favorites. I would have also liked to see him on the Clippers or Phoenix.

DeAndre Jordan was about to have his best years with the L.A. Clippers, and Marcin Gortat was about to have some good years with the Suns and later the Wizards, so neither the Clippers, Miami nor Phoenix are ideal optimal fits for Prime Lakers-era Shaq.

You make the most oddly specific threads I’ve ever seen lol.

Every one

Would be interesting to see him in Dallas or Indiana

parsnips33 wrote:Would be interesting to see him in Dallas or Indiana

Roy Hibbert was still good for the Indiana Pacers and had not yet hit his premature decline, so the Pacers aren't an option. On the other hand, you made a good case for Lakers-era Shaq being an upgrade over Brendan Haywood, and possibly a better replacement for Tyson Chandler who left for the New York Knicks as a free agent after he won a ring with Dallas in '11.

Imagine Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki and Lakers-era Shaq in the starting lineup together. Would that help give Dallas a chance to repeat as NBA Champions?

Heat might be the best team with prime Shaq, but in terms of benefiting the most I'm not so sure. By the 2012 Finals they'd already transitioned to going smaller with Bosh at center full time, and the odd man out with Shaq thrust into the lineup would've been Battier who had an amazing series as a 37 mpg starter. And regarding degree of benefit, how much more benefit is there in going from 2012 champion without Shaq to 2012 champion with Shaq?

My guess as to who would benefit most would be a non-contender who suddenly gets elevated to contender status with a prime Shaq. Perhaps the defending champion Mavs who lost Tyson Chandler in 2012 and ended up as a 7th seed who got swept out of the first round? Dirk was 33yo and exiting his prime (his final All-NBA season) but I have to think he had enough left to have formed a championship-caliber duo with prime Shaq, and the fit seems flawless. As it were Dallas got swept by the would be WC champs OKC, but 3 of the 4 games were decided by a total of 10 points so I think it's reasonable to imagine prime Shaq tilting that series. Had the Mavs with Shaq then advanced to the Finals in a rematch against Miami, I really like their chances. Not only would Dallas be a better version of the team that beat Miami in 2011, but Miami likely isn't able to devote starter mins to their most optimized lineup as I seriously question whether Spo would match up Bosh (who'd suffered an abdominal strain earlier in the playoffs) against Shaq

The Lakers

Fisher
Kobe
Odom
Pau
Shaq

We already know what Kobe can do with Shaq or Pau, but having both in the frontcourt....