538 projects 76ers as most likely NBA Champ

[Arsenal]

Brogdon
Lamb
Warren
Sabonis
Turner

The Pacers will struggle to score 90 points per game with that bunch.

Are you serious? That 5-man unit produces elite scoring production.

Brogdon - 19.7 ppg-per36
Lamb - 19.3 ppg-per36
Warren - 20.4 ppg-per36
Sabonis - 20.4 ppg-per36
Turner - 16.7 ppg-per36

You guys are sleeping so hard on the Pacers. They have one of the deepest teams in the conference.

And a healthy Oladipo gives them a star level onball player that could make them a stealth contender.

Are you serious with this kind of elementary level "analysis"? You're a smart guy so it's more likely you're trolling.

Because based on your method, the Celtics are better than the Pacers:

Walker: 26.4 pp36
Brown: 18.1 pp36
Hayward: 15.9 pp36
Tatum: 18.2 pp36
Kanter: 20.1 pp36

Total Celtics: 98.7 pp36 vs. Total Pacers: 96.7 pp36

[Kobblehead]

Of course the Celtics with Kemba are better than the Pacers without Oladipo.

[cool93]

Brogdon - 19.7 ppg-per36
Lamb - 19.3 ppg-per36
Warren - 20.4 ppg-per36
Sabonis - 20.4 ppg-per36
Turner - 16.7 ppg-per36

per36 is useless for role players. There is a reson why player isn't playing 36 minutes. For example Brogdon would finish his career after 20 games in that rhythm. He can't stay healthy playing less than 30.

[LloydFree]

Brogdon
Lamb
Warren
Sabonis
Turner

The Pacers will struggle to score 90 points per game with that bunch.

Are you serious? That 5-man unit produces elite scoring production.

Brogdon - 19.7 ppg-per36
Lamb - 19.3 ppg-per36
Warren - 20.4 ppg-per36
Sabonis - 20.4 ppg-per36
Turner - 16.7 ppg-per36

You guys are sleeping so hard on the Pacers. They have one of the deepest teams in the conference.

And a healthy Oladipo gives them a star level onball player that could make them a stealth contender.

Very.

When Malcolm Brogdon is your best player and everyone else is a role player. That's an easy team to defend. Without Oladipo, that team will get shut down. There's not one player you have to double team and not one player you have to dedicate a top defender to guard. Same reason that team got shut out in the playoffs.

[Kobblehead]

You're acting like it's a team of Danny Greens and P.J. Tuckers, though.

Everyone in that starting lineup can go and get buckets.

T.J. Warren can routinely give you 20. Jeremy Lamb can routinely give you upper teens. Brogdog can give you upper teens. Sabonis is a secret stud that could be flirting with 20 in a starting role.

Pacers are loaded with scoring production. Scoring points will not be a problem for them.

[LloydFree]

You're acting like it's a team of Danny Greens and P.J. Tuckers, though.

Everyone in that starting lineup can go and get buckets.

T.J. Warren can routinely give you 20. Jeremy Lamb can routinely give you upper teens. Brogdog can give you upper teens. Sabonis is a secret stud that could be flirting with 20 in a starting role.

Pacers are loaded with scoring production. Scoring points will not be a problem for them.

Naah. TJ Warren may be able to get some buckets. The others?... they can hit open shots when the opposing defense is concentrating on Giannis, Oladipo or Kemba Walker.

[Kobblehead]

Jeremy Lamb and Malcolm Brodgon did more than just convert assists. Both were getting theirs, plenty.

You can't undersell point production. The guys in that lineup straight up produce points. They'll coast through the regular season with no problems, offensively.

[Sixerscan]

Warren and Lamb were putting up numbers on crappy teams. Someone has to score on those teams. Everyone acted like Tyreke Evans was going to be this big pick-up for them based on him scoring a lot for Memphis, didn’t happen. It’s a lot harder to be effective when you’re actually in playing games that matter.

[Kobblehead]

Warren and Lamb were putting up numbers on crappy teams. Someone has to score on those teams. Everyone acted like Tyreke Evans was going to be this big pick-up for them based on him scoring a lot for Memphis, didn’t happen. It’s a lot harder to be effective when you’re actually in playing games that matter.

Let's be real, though. Most knew Tyreke was going to turn back into a pumpkin. He's always been such a transparent losing, lottery ball player.

Do you get that impression from Warren and Lamb?

[Kobblehead]

Hornets were marginally relevant. For the little it's worth, they were battling for a playoff seed all year and only missed out by 2 games. So some of what Lamb was doing mattered.

[Sixerscan]

Warren and Lamb were putting up numbers on crappy teams. Someone has to score on those teams. Everyone acted like Tyreke Evans was going to be this big pick-up for them based on him scoring a lot for Memphis, didn’t happen. It’s a lot harder to be effective when you’re actually in playing games that matter.

Let's be real, though. Most knew Tyreke was going to turn back into a pumpkin. He's always been such a transparent losing, lottery ball player.

Do you get that impression from Warren and Lamb?

Maybe not to that degree but I don’t expect them to just be inserted into a completely different roster and put up those numbers. You can’t just put 5 guys that were on 4 different teams together and act like their points per 36 are all that relevant. It’s not like when the Sixers swapped Chandler out for Harris their offense got 14 points better.

[Kobblehead]

Shedding light on their per-36 scoring is just to point out that the players they've brought together are insanely productive.

[ExplosionsInDaSky]

One of Indy's young guns is going to have to step up. I really really like Aaron Holiday....Not a fan of TJ Leaf, but he's shown some things too so, it's not quite that far of a reach to say that Indy can't make some noise in the east if they stay healthy. TJ Warren is such an underrated addition....The guy can score 20 in his sleep and he's a great fit on that roster. Sabonis is on the verge of becoming a star, Lamb has finally found his "role". It really depends on Brogdon and Oladipo and how they perform, but Indy is a team full of consistent solid players that are always effective.

[BigRedDog]

I think as of right now the 76ers are the clear favorites in the East. I cant make a decision if htey are better than the Clippers... i think they might be but i want to see the clippers first.. the clippers defense has potential to be really nasty also and i think the clippers are a better offensive team.

[76ciology]

Is Tobias and Horford the best duo in the league as 3rd&4th best player in a team? Closest I can think of are dlo&draymond (could be the best), Bledsoe and Brolo and Lou will and Harrell.

[sixers hoops]

Is Tobias and Horford the best duo in the league as 3rd&4th best player in a team? Closest I can think of are dlo&draymond (could be the best), Bledsoe and Brolo and Lou will and Harrell.

Going off of last year’s production, I would go with Dlo and Draymond. I wouldn’t be shocked if Tobias gets significantly better. He has really moved around the league a lot, yet continually gets better. As Joel and Ben evolve, he has an opportunity to play a huge role on a contender. Not really sure how close Tobias is to reaching his ceiling.

[Sixerscan]

I would take a bunch of team’s 3rd and 4th best players over Williams and Harrell (or Beverley or Shamet etc) They don’t belong in the conversation imo. That team is two top 10 guys and a bunch of role players with different limitations.

[LloydFree]

The Clippers don't have a strong 3rd, 4th or 5th starter. But they have about 8 really good bench role players on under-market contracts. As currently constructed, I don't think they would win the Championship, but they have so many useful players, they could trade any 3 of them for a final piece like Marc Gasol, and complete their lineup.

[youngcrev]

The Clippers don't have a strong 3rd, 4th or 5th starter. But they have about 8 really good bench role players on under-market contracts. As currently constructed, I don't think they would win the Championship, but they have so many useful players, they could trade any 3 of them for a final piece like Marc Gasol, and complete their lineup.

Yeah, and I think they'll do just that at the deadline. In the meantime they likely take advantage of that depth for load management purposes.

[Sixerscan]

Yeah they're a pretty obvious trade team. Lakers might be too but I don't really see much in terms of anyone people would actually want on that team.