What championship team had the most well balanced starting 5? (a different approach)

Post #1 » by **penbeast0** » Thu May 5, 2022 8:19 pm

What team that won the NBA championship had the smallest value difference (1 year value, not trade value or career value) between the most valuable starter and the least valuable starter?

I offer the 1970s as a starting point:

Seattle '79: Sikma, Shelton (weakest?), John Johnson, DJ, Gus Williams (strongest?)

runner up off the top of my head:
Boston '74: Cowens (strongest), Havlicek, Silas, White, Chaney (weakest)

Homer38 · Post #2 » by **Homer38** » Thu May 5, 2022 8:23 pm

In the last 10-15 years,I think this is the 2014 spurs

Jaivl · Post #3 » by **Jaivl** » Thu May 5, 2022 8:30 pm

If you count the top 5 in minutes it probably should be the 2014 Spurs, but Splitter was a starter.

My pick, off the top of my head, is the 89 Pistons (thanks to Isiah being pretty meh that postseason).

giberish · Post #4 » by **giberish** » Thu May 5, 2022 9:10 pm

2004 Detroit comes to mind. Hamilton and Prince were pretty good 4th/5th starters and there wasn't a real elite guy.

70sFan · Post #5 » by **70sFan** » Thu May 5, 2022 9:11 pm

I think JJ was overall the weakest in 1979 Seattle team, even though I love him.

How about 2004 Pistons? They didn't have any weak starter either. 1989 Pistons is a good choice as well. 1973 Knicks isn't terrible either, though there is considerable gap between Frazier and Bradley. What about

Post #6 » by **Doctor MJ** » Thu May 5, 2022 9:29 pm

giberish wrote:2004 Detroit comes to mind. Hamilton and Prince were pretty good 4th/5th starters and there wasn't a real elite guy.

My first thought as well. Any time you have an extreme death lineup situation - where one lineup plays tons of minutes together - without any megastar, to me this is probably about great balance (and a pretty lucky starting 5).

Post #7 » by **Doctor MJ** » Thu May 5, 2022 9:32 pm

Homer38 wrote:In the last 10-15 years,I think this is the 2014 spurs

The thing holding them back:

Manu Ginobili, who was always the killer ingredient whenever the Spurs won a title in the 21st century, came off the bench that year.

SK21209 · Post #8 » by **SK21209** » Thu May 5, 2022 9:35 pm

2019 Raptors should be mentioned. Lowry/Green/Kawhi/Siakam/Gasol compliment each other extremely well on both sides of the court. Just an exceptionally well constructed team. I don't interpret "well balanced" to mean they all scored a similar amount of points, I think its more about how they fit together and cover each others weaknesses/play to each other's strengths.