The Wildest Lineup Every NBA Team Could Really Try In 2024-25
The Wildest Lineup Every NBA Team Could Really Try In 2024-250 of 30
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As another NBA regular season inches ever closer, it’s important we use this time to take a step back and reflect upon the things that matter most.
You know, like how creative—and potentially weird—teams are willing to get with their lineups.
It is my genuine pleasure to undertake this noble endeavor. My one rule: There are no (real) rules.
Will this try to laser in on combinations that are legitimately intriguing? Definitely. Do I care whether squads are actually willing to use these five-man arrangements? Absolutely not.
Sure, in some cases, the suggested groupings will see the floor. Overall, though, this is more about fascinating lineups each team should roll out, even if just as a stab-in-the-dark experiment.
Atlanta Hawks1 of 30
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The Lineup: Dyson Daniels, Vit KrejÄŤĂ, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, Onyeka Okongwu
Trae Young isn’t here, but that’s because we’re trying to figure out the minutes without him on this side of the Dejounte Murray trade.
Sign me up for a lineup in which the 6’7″ Daniels is its shortest member. He also profiles as the primary playmaker, though part of the appeal for this group is its bandwidth to experiment on-ball with Johnson, KrejÄŤĂ and Risacher.
Granted, the offense overall could be choppy. You need to trust in the spacing from KrejÄŤĂ, Risacher and Johnson to optimize the usage of Daniels and Okongwu. That’s risky. But this quintet has the defensive size and talent to switch everything—or just guard however they want.
Boston Celtics2 of 30
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The Lineup: Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum
Too many of the Boston Celtics’ players are known quantities for head coach Joe Mazzulla to get truly weird. But another extended absence from Kristaps Porziņģis does open the door to lean on some no-center combinations, even though the team retained all of its secondary bigs.
This lineup saw a whopping 32 possessions of action last season, during which time it notched an offensive rating of nearly 147. That’s totally sustainable.
OK, it’s not.
But this arrangement would stretch opposing defenses beyond function even more so than normal. And while size will be a concern, pretty much every player in this gaggle has experience soaking up spot duty on bigs to disrupt the flow of pick-and-roll offenses.
Brooklyn Nets3 of 30
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The Lineup: Trendon Watford, Jalen Wilson, Cam Johnson, Noah Clowney, Nicolas Claxton
What is the point of this season for the Brooklyn Nets if not to get totally and completely weird?
Clowney and Claxton should be spending a ton of time together no matter what. The floor-spacing gets wonky if the former isn’t being guarded from deep. But if he is, head coach Jordi Fernandez can try calling for double-big pick-and-rolls with Claxton as the initiator. He has a real floor game, folks.
This lineup also ensures we see plenty of Watford grabbing the ball and running like hell, and that Johnson gets plenty of self-creation opportunities—though he will be tasked with flying around away from the action, too.
Dorian Finney-Smith is the more sensible pick to round out a pretty huge lineup. But Wilson gives off three-and-D vibes himself and, on balance, is more likely to stick with this team long-term.
Charlotte Hornets4 of 30
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The Lineup: LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Cody Martin, Tidjane Salaun, Grant Williams
Yours truly tends not to be too high on Grant Williams-at-the-5 setups. This is a potential exception.
Miller and a healthy Martin will bring enough defensive versatility to offset Williams’ lack of size. And while Salaun is a project, he operates with the cadence of someone wearing a jetpack. Playing with force can get you burned, but it also guarantees the Hornets won’t be without defensive energy.
This group probably still winds up conceding a lot on the less-glamorous end. Fortunately, it will be electric on the other side.
Both Martin and Salaun are question-mark shooters, but this lineup has enough overall spacing to invite continued downhill aggression from LaMelo. Plus, Miller and Martin can sponge up enough initiation duties for the Hornets to use LaMelo himself as an off-ball spacer.
Chicago Bulls 5 of 30
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The Lineup: Lonzo Ball, Coby White, Zach LaVine, Ayo Dosunmu, Patrick Williams
Any fun or wacky Chicago Bulls lineup construction must begin with Williams at the 5. And given how many guards are on this roster, it’s only right we surround him with four of them.
Lonzo’s inclusion is simply my attempt to manifest availability. He fits in any lineup, and if he’s able to get up and down the floor, even in small spurts, he becomes a value add.
I have no notes for the offensive potential of these five. Everyone shoots treys, they all have experience playing away from the ball, and Chicago has at least three creators in this quintet—a number that climbs to four if you believe in both Lonzo and Dosunmu.
Defense is going to be rough, but that’s true for the 2024-25 Bulls in general. A healthy Lonzo can at least provide a modicum of disruption, and both Dosunmu and Williams have experience tussling with guys above their weight class.
If you’re truly turned off by the lack of size or don’t trust Lonzo to be available, feel free to sub in Matas Buzelis. That injects more off-ball ambiguity into the equation, but the resulting five is wonderfully experimental and chaotic.
Cleveland Cavaliers6 of 30
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The Lineup: Ty Jerome, Sam Merrill, Max Strus, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley
Removing three of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ four stars from the equation is real sicko stuff; it might actually be unhinged. But this is the surest way to put Mobley in charge of the offense and see what that looks like this year.
Go ahead and slot in Darius Garland for, well, anyone if you like. How wild is that resulting lineup, though? And again, he would surely supersede Mobley in the ball-handling pecking order.
Jerome might do the same, but he doesn’t have nearly the same cachet as Garland and Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland can use him and Merrill to spot up around Strus- and Wade-as-the-screener pick-and-rolls with Mobley.
This group also qualifies as five-out if Mobley continues his long-range exploration. Its defense will be suspect without a true secondary rim protector to let Mobley be Mobley in his truest form.
Still, Wade and Jerome are scrappy. More than that, I am willing to concede defense in the name of finding out what Mobley looks like as an offensive linchpin while surrounded by four shooters.
Dallas Mavericks7 of 30
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The Lineup: Luka Dončić, Naji Marshall, P.J. Washington, Maxi Kleber, Dereck Lively II
Logically, it probably doesn’t make much sense for the Dallas Mavericks to play too many minutes without at least two of DonÄŤić, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson on the floor. But it’s going to happen for spells.
And when it does, the Mavs should at least try leaning into being gargantuan.
Everyone in this lineup stands at least 6’7″, and the combination of Kleber and Lively arms the frontcourt with a 6’10” and 7’1″ weapon, respectively. Even if you buy into the Kleber dip, even if you don’t love-love-love how Washington and Marshall match up versus smaller players full-time, this arrangement still figures to ruin lives for opposing offenses.
Dallas may be up against a creation deficit at the other end. Washington will be counted on for more attacking off the bounce. Can he punish mismatches? Get off more of his floaters?
Fair questions, but don’t let them deter you. Marshall can fill in some of the gaps with open-space drives and transition pushes. Also, last time I checked, DonÄŤić was still an offensive system unto himself.
Denver Nuggets8 of 30
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The Lineup: Julian Strawther, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Peyton Watson, Nikola Jokić
This arrangement isn’t too out there on its face. But it does not include a point guard-type, which will run counter to head coach Michael Malone’s impulses unless he is smitten with joint Jamal Murray-Russell Westbrook minutes.
Punting on a floor general is hardly egregious when you have Jokić. Plus, getting more on-ball reps for Watson is part of the appeal here—particularly if he doesn’t boost his three-point volume.
Enough shooting is inside this quintet to explore what the Jokić-Watson dynamic looks like outside of hilarious commercials. It will invariably come at a defensive trade-off.
Braun and Watson have the potential to be—and may already be—elite on that end. Can they effectively cover up for offenses targeting Strawther? If MPJ is locked in and Jokić isn’t fatigued from playing so much basketball these past few years, this quintet has the talent (and size) to get by.
Detroit Pistons9 of 30
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The Lineup: Cade Cunningham, Malik Beasley, Simone Fontecchio, Tobias Harris, Ausar Thompson
My initial impulse is to roll with a combination that gives the Detroit Pistons four shooters dotting Cunningham. Yanking Thompson for Isaiah Stewart (or Bobi Klintman!) does that and is technically more sensible.
Whatever.
Leaving four of the Pistons’ five most important kiddies off the board felt grimey. This setup lets Detroit gauge more of Thompson’s value as a driver, short-roller and even traditional initiator.
It also forces Thompson and Harris to defend massive bodies. That’s not the end of the world. The former has the strength and nuclear athleticism to rumble with bigs if need be, and the latter has the body type to at least not get pancaked by rival huge people.
Maybe you’re prepared to guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt this arrangement sucks it up defensively. I don’t care. The Pistons are at a point in their build where they have a license to get weird.
Golden State Warriors10 of 30
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The Lineup: Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, De’Anthony Melton, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga
The Golden State Warriors have the youth to go full Steph-plus-kids for a few beats. Just sub in Trayce Jackson-Davis for Melton and you’re there.
Smaller lineups always appeal more to me. And this group gives the Warriors more half-court spacing to delve deeper into a Steph-Kuminga connection while freeing up the latter to squeeze in more overall volume and self-creation.
As is often the case with these configurations, the defense could get ugly. This lineup doesn’t offer a ton of size. But Melton is at least capable of defending up, and Kuminga has always possessed the physical tools to stand his ground against any frontline foe.
Not that I’m asserting this fivesome with lock it down. They probably won’t. But having what could amount to five spacers and three on-ball creators (shout-out Podz) juices the offense to an extent that renders this a worthwhile gamble.
Houston Rockets11 of 30
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The Lineup: Reed Sheppard, Cam Whitmore, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr.
Skip ahead a season or two, and this lineup could be standard fare. In the meantime, barring injuries, the Houston Rockets most likely won’t be chomping at the bit to have all three of Alperen ĹžengĂĽn, Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green on the bench.
Perhaps I’m wrong. I hope I am. But the Rockets have so many playable bodies that building any lineups with a rookie like Sheppard in it could be ambitious.
The overall balance of this arrangement is nevertheless killer. Houston gets four shooters around Thompson while freeing up the touches necessary to see what it looks like when he or Sheppard initiates the offense.
This amalgam properly insulates Sheppard on the defensive end, too. Eason and Thompson are monsters (the good kind), Whitmore’s positional size is a luxury, and Jabari Smith Jr. really upped his malleability and rim-protection reads from his rookie to sophomore seasons.
Indiana Pacers12 of 30
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The Lineup: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Jarace Walker, Johnny Furphy, Pascal Siakam
Siakam-at-the-5 with both Hali and Nembhard on the floor isn’t something the Indiana Pacers went to often—or, really, at all. That trio logged 10 possessions together without another big. (Siakam-at-center is not a look Indiana leaned upon, period.)
It would be interesting to see the Pacers go to it more. Not because it will be gangbusters overall—it could be on offense—but because it gives them more runway to get extensive looks at Walker. While he has a long way to go, at both ends, a defensive tripling of himself, Siakam and Nembhard should be able to get things done.
Throwing in Furphy, a rookie, could be a bridge too far. That’s the entire point of this exercise, though. His movement and shooting, specifically, should pair nicely with the shot-creation capabilities of Haliburton, Siakam and Nembhard. He also preserves the half-court spacing if Indy wants to have Walker screen for Siakam and, please, oh please, attempt to work out of the short roll.
Los Angeles Clippers13 of 30
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The Lineup: Kris Dunn, Kawhi Leonard, Nicolas Batum, Derrick Jones Jr., Ivica Zubac
And so ends the Los Angeles Clippers’ reign as the “small-ball combo we need to see” legends.
Don’t get me wrong. Jones-at-the-5 alongside Batum and Leonard and then probably Terance Mann and either James Harden or Norman Powell is a group we must see. We probably will. But I find myself wildly uninterested in Los Angeles’ offense—even in the most versatile or kookiest lineups.
Give me all the defense instead.
Any fivesome that caters to this agenda has to include Zubac. He is at once one of the most effective and underrated rim protectors in the game.
Filling out three of the next four spots is a no-brainer. Dunn and Jones can both wear the opposing team’s two best players like a second skin. Peak Kawhi can, too. In this arrangement, though, he’ll shed enormous amounts of pressure—a terrifying notion for opposing offenses.
Our final slot can go a number of different directions. Including Harden doesn’t seem nearly outside-the-box enough. This group can insulate Powell, and Mann would be a value add. But give me the 6’8″ Batum—who, at 35 years old, still plays with an exceptionally high IQ on the defensive end in a way that permits him to switch or hang with tough assignments you wouldn’t expect.
Worrying about the offensive product is fair game. Batum and Leonard (and Dunn) give this quintet just enough playmaking to keep Zubac well-fed, and a healthy Kawhi can still hoop like a No. 1 option regardless of who’s around him.
Los Angeles Lakers14 of 30
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The Lineup: LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Dalton Knecht, Max Christie, Anthony Davis
Rolling with another LeBron-at-the-5 configuration is perfectly acceptable. Personally, I’ve moved on. And the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t built to get much weirder beyond that.
Allow me to propose something novel: LeBron and AD dotted by three (should-be) shooters. Bonkers stuff, right?
By that criteria, of course, D’Angelo Russell should make the cut. But including Reaves, Christie and Knecht offers a nice present-and-future element. The Lakers, remember, hired JJ Redick in part because they believe he can develop Christie and a 26-year-old Reaves.
Before you ask: No, I have no idea what this lineup looks like on defense. Davis could well wind up pulling out his connecting unibrow hairs in frustration. It’s a risk yours truly is willing to take.
If you are feeling really out there, you can sub in Bronny James for Reaves so the lineup checks that father-and-son box. Hell, yank AD instead and then go full LeBron-plus-his-kids, figuratively and literally. Because I am a keyboard coward, I’m opting against the full clickbait route. You’re welcome. Or I’m sorry.
Memphis Grizzlies15 of 30
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The Lineup: Ja Morant, Vince Williams Jr., Jaren Jackson Jr., Santi Aldama, Zach Edey
GG Jackson II appeared in a different iteration of this lineup, but undergoing right foot surgery puts his long-term availability in question. That necessitated bidding farewell to my Ja-plus-four-humongous-human-beings fever dream.
Subbing in Williams at least keeps the spirit of that setup alive. He is 6’4″ but defends like a 6’9″ power wing. He also puts a certain hyperbolic gusto on his passes that makes me wonder how he hasn’t fractured his wrist or dislocated his shoulder. Oh, and he attempted and made enough threes last year to preserve the three-shooters model around Ja and Edey.
Squeezing in Aldama will be a turnoff for some. Shout-out to the people who are turned on.
These lineups aren’t supposed to be safe. Pretty much anyone else renders the combination too basic. Aldama is more than capable of playing as the secondary big next to Edey, and Jackson doesn’t need a defensive position if he’s alongside a primary rim protector.
Offensive execution could get dicey. Defenses won’t fear three-point looks from, well, anyone. Aldama has traces of a floor game that have held up at the 4, but Jackson isn’t so much of a matchup nightmare if he’s your de facto 3.
Then again, he might be.
Ja’s extended absences last season left JJJ to shoulder more self-creation. He should have the bandwidth to punish mismatches. And failing that, more than a handful of defenses will overreact to his spacing out a few feet beyond the arc while Edey sets body-busting screens for Ja.
Miami Heat16 of 30
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The Lineup: Jimmy Butler, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jović, Bam Adebayo, Kel’el Ware
Right off the cuff, this lineup isn’t going to do much for the Miami Heat offense. Butler as your primary playmaker is a default, but this group tops out at two respectable shooters. And depending on the night, even that may be a stretch.
There is enough collective basketball IQ between Adebayo, Butler and Jaquez to figure it out. The spacing gets more bearable, potentially, if Bam and Jimmy are willing to nudge up their spot-up volume from distance.
Whatever offensive intrigue the Heat forfeit with this fivesome they make up for with defensive scrappiness galore. Jović improved a great deal on that end last season. Deploying him as your pseudo-3 isn’t picture perfect, but Miami can steer him toward the right perimeter matchups with Jaquez, Butler and Adebayo as safety nets.
Any combination featuring Bam and Ware on the frontline could be considered funky—unless you expect head coach Erik Spoelstra to moonlight with that combination in the first place, which I totally do. Tossing in Jović and then populating the backcourt with Butler and Jaquez is funkier, and it leaves Miami pretty huge positionally without being too big overall.
Milwaukee Bucks17 of 30
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The Lineup: Damian Lillard, Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Taurean Prince, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Constructing Giannis-in-the-middle combinations are great fun on the surface, but they require moving Brook Lopez to the bench and displacing Antetokounmpo from his most devastating defensive role.
We’ll have to get over it. The Milwaukee Bucks aren’t built to get too experimental if we just box their Core Four into their usual roles.
That explains why Khris Middleton is nowhere to be found here, either. If Prince already isn’t a more trustworthy defensive option, Middleton’s dual-ankle surgeries at least make it a debate. He’s also more used to bystander duty on the offensive end.
Scraping together reasonable defensive stands could prove to be a chore. Giannis is totally capable of manning the middle, but you need Green and Trent to hold up against glitzy assignments. Possible? Yes. Definitive? Not at all.
Rolling the dice speaks to me anyway. Giannis-plus-four-shooters will always be a lethal combination, Dame gets plenty of spacing to work both inside and outside the arc, and if Green can guard with the flashes of energy he showed last season, this quintet has the chance to ascend into lineup-data Nirvana.
Minnesota Timberwolves18 of 30
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The Lineup: Rob Dillingham, Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert
Triple bigs? Triple bigs.
The Minnesota Timberwolves played Reid, KAT and Gobert together last season for fewer than 50 possessions. That’s low enough volume for this to be considered weird.
Including Dillingham makes it weirder.
Jaden McDaniels is the pick if you want to couch Edwards’ defensive workload. Mike Conley makes more sense if you want a stabilizing floor general.
Give me the mystique of Dillingham’s shot-making, both on and off the ball. This lineup is nothing if not gargantuan enough to shelter him defensively; and if he, Reid and Towns are all drilling their treys, Edwards will have more than enough runway with which to work when going downhill.
New Orleans Pelicans19 of 30
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The Lineup: Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Javonte Green, Zion Williamson
Shamit Dua of the world-famous Substack: In The N.O. basically called this the “Zion and the dawgs 2.0.” lineup during our recent discussion on the New Orleans Pelicans for Hardwood Knocks (1:02:52 mark). I’m here for it.
Pivoting to Zion-plus-shooters, as Dua also noted, might be more novel. This group certainly isn’t that. The spacing could be not-so-great. But Murphy is a knockdown sniper while both Jones and Murray have improved their touch from distance.
Collectively, this fivesome should be able to do nasty stuff on the run. They would also be hard-wired for defensive chaos.
Jones is a system’s worth of anarchy by himself. Murray should up the bedlam factor now that he’s surrounded by more defensive talent. Murphy can shoulder heavier lifts than he’s shown. And Green has made a career out of guarding way up.
Rebounding could be suspect, admittedly. But does that matter when you’re setting the league record for forced turnovers? Let’s find out. (Please?)
New York Knicks20 of 30
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The Lineup: Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby
Most people are wondering whether New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau will channel his burgeoning #TryStuff gene and give actual run to Anunoby-Julius Randle frontlines. Removing any semblance of a big from the equation may be asking too much.
Yet, this quintet has two to three dudes—namely Anunoby and Hart—who are comfortable punching above their positional weight. OG is also going to be guarding behemoths in frontcourt pairings with Randle anyway. Hart is a defensive upgrade as the 4.
You probably want more bankable shot creation from a collection of smalls, but Bridges and DiVincenzo can ferry secondary expectations. Hart will keep both bodies and the ball moving, particularly after rebounds. And Anunoby is good for one to four complicated-looking drives per game that inevitably leave you thinking “Maybe he can do more with the ball after all.”
Even if that doesn’t do it for you, the Knicks dredge up enough aggregate spacing with this ensemble for Brunson and his mesmerizingly idiosyncratic footwork to blow opposing defenses to smithereens. And that should do it for you.
Oklahoma City Thunder21 of 30
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The Lineup: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Chet Holmgren
Getting weird with the Oklahoma City Thunder almost mandates you leave at least one of SGA, Holmgren and Jalen Williams on the bench. The latter gets the boot here in service of Chet-plus-four-guards.
Luguentz Dort should probably be on the docket if you don’t want to overextend Joe or SGA at the defensive end. But both Caruso and Wallace can guard basically whoever themselves, and Joe’s shooting, motion and secondary screening maximizes what should be a spicy offense.
SGA has plenty of room to work, but this group also lets Oklahoma City stress-test Holmgren’s on-ball creation. That actually matters.
Alternative selections abound. Kenrich Williams-at-the-5 configurations, Holmgren solo-star minutes, ultra-small groupings that force Dort or J-Dub to guard 5s—the possibilities are endless.
This arrangement is an attempt to blend the ambitious and wild with the somewhat plausible. And given that we saw some of SGA, Wallace, Joe and Chet with a guard last season, the Caruso-era version seems fairly reasonable.
Orlando Magic22 of 30
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The Lineup: Jalen Suggs, Jett Howard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tristan da Silva, Paolo Banchero
Souping up the Orlando Magic offense is a prerequisite for any off-the-rails suggestions. Sticking Banchero at the 5 gets you there. Especially if you can have enough shooters flying around him.
Use Franz Wagner instead of Da Silva if you please. The former is more of a known quantity—and bound to be physically stronger on defense. But Wagner’s three-point shooting has declined year-over-year. Give me the mystery box three-and-D prospect in this instance, as well as the idea of Howard’s pinballing offense.
Deploying this group will demand even more on-ball work from Suggs. That’s actually dope, if only because he did enough last year to warrant deeper exploration.
Gary Harris is floating around the roster if you’re in the market for more certainty. Not for me, though. I have zero idea how the defense fares with this fivesome—KCP and Suggs and even Banchero could make it respectable. Regardless, experimenting is fun.
Philadelphia 76ers23 of 30
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The Lineup: Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., Caleb Martin, Paul George, Guerschon Yabusele
Apologies to Joel Embiid. Tapping into the Philadelphia 76ers’ inner funkiness is easier without him.
Plopping Yabusele into the 5 spot is not ingenious. On the contrary, it might be a disaster. He’s only 6’8″, and this group doesn’t really include anyone who can pitch in down low. Maybe George or Martin, but that’s a stretch.
On the bright side, Yabusele is built like a brick house made up of many other miniature brick houses. His strength and girth gives him a fighting chance against select rival centers.
Every other element of this lineup is golden. The other four players can all dribble and decision-make. Oubre’s decision-making doesn’t include much ball movement, but that’s fine.
Philly should have the personnel to run off rebounds and turnovers, and Maxey’s blow-by speed should shine in the half-court. If this quintet posts an offensive rating less than infinity, it’ll be patently shocking.
Phoenix Suns24 of 30
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The Lineup: Devin Booker, Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, Oso Ighodaro, Kevin Durant
Sliding Durant to the 5 is not a ridiculous move by the Phoenix Suns. He manned the middle last season for over 550 possessions, during which time the team, by and large, posted elite offensive returns to go along with suboptimal defensive results.
Remedying that may prove impossible. This arrangement attempts to shore up the defense in a way that makes the end product a little bizarre.
Keeping both Bradley Beal and Tyus Jones on the pine may backfire, particularly when it’s in favor of a rookie, and when Durant-at-center combos were generally most potent last year when playing with both Beal and Booker.
We plow on anyway.
Booker, Durant and Allen should provide enough offense in the aggregate. Passing is a tad light in this group, but D-Book can make it work for stretches, and head coach Mike Budenholzer should definitely gauge Ighodaro’s playmaking out of short rolls when he’s surrounded by four shooters.
This fivesome doesn’t lean all the way into defense. But Durant was frantically good at that end for, like, more than half of last season. O’Neale is scrappy. Allen held his own in an outsized role. Booker has a one-on-one switch he can flip. And so much of Ighodaro’s appeal is staked in his positional malleability.
Portland Trail Blazers25 of 30
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The Lineup: Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant, Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams III
What good is having eight kabillion centers (OK, four) if you’re not going to play at least two of them together?
Clingan and a healthy RW3 are not an intuitive offensive fit, but who knows, maybe the former puts those practice threes to work. They are much more appealing, if potentially smothering, as a defensive duo.
Clingan is ginormous, and as he reinforced during summer league, he knows how to leverage that enormity. Williams, meanwhile, is one of the most mobile bigs around when not battling injuries. He can float around and help from the corners.
Hashing out the rest of the lineup dictates planting your flag in an identity. I’m choosing to go with gobs of size—and Sharpe. This group wants for primary playmaking, but Avdija, Grant and Sharpe can do enough on-ball stuff to generate looks for themselves. Avdija will be critical to teeing up the bigs.
Going with Scoot Henderson is a nice hedge against playmaking concerns. But I trust Sharpe to work within more confined spaces (for now), and he’s a more menacing off-ball shooter—another functional element this lineup may end up lacking.
Sacramento Kings26 of 30
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The Lineup: De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Keon Ellis, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray
Sincere condolences to Domantas Sabonis. He is a casualty of this “Play all your guards, plus Murray, dammit!” look.
Nobody should be concerned about the offense. The Sacramento Kings are fielding four ball-handlers, four spacers and three borderline elite to actually elite creators. Rival defenses will finish possessions in the fetal position.
Sacramento is far more vulnerable, possibly cooked, on defense itself. Squint hard enough, though, and you can see three average-or-better stoppers: Fox, Ellis and Murray.
The latter is the skeleton key who unlocks the roadmap to respectability. Murray dabbled last season in defending everyone and contesting shots at the rim. Can he do it full-time, even if in situational spurts? It’s an objectively unreasonable ask. At the same time, he is working off a defensive leap few saw coming.
Let’s not put limits on him now.
San Antonio Spurs27 of 30
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The Lineup: Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Harrison Barnes, Victor Wembanyama
This is a pretty tame lineup relative to others. You can’t get too unconventional with the San Antonio Spurs unless you’re prepared to entirely punt on shooting. I’m not.
Surrounding Castle with four shooters who do not require the ball is instead the goal. And, well, mission accomplished.
Yes, Wemby officially counts as a shooter. He finished his rookie campaign downing under 29 percent of his spot-up treys, but the 37.5 percent clip he notched on pull-up triples is high enough to give him benefit of the doubt.
In the event Castle’s playmaking gets rattled by defenses, Vassell has the secondary chops to pick up some of the slack. He also happens to be the smallest player in this configuration…at 6’5″.
Depending on how well Castle’s defense translates, Vassell’s improvement on that end last year arms the Spurs with enough perimeter fight around Wemby to hold firm. The like-sized build of everyone alongside him permits San Antonio to switch if need be as well.
Toronto Raptors28 of 30
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The Lineup: Immanuel Quickley, Bruce Brown Jr., Gradey Dick, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes
Is Barnes both the primary big and ball-handler in this arrangement? Maybe. Possibly.
Probably.
Quickley is, of course, capable of running the show and operating on-ball. Barrett and Brown can both handle the rock, too. But Barnes may already be the best passer of the bunch, and this group complements him with, let’s say, three bankable shooters. (You’re welcome, RJ.)
Most will invariably say this lineup is too small. I neither disagree nor care. Brown and even Barrett can pitch in trying to tussle with enemy bigs. Granted, that doesn’t exactly downgrade the defensive risk factor.
The offensive dynamism should be enough to offset it—unless you don’t buy RJ’s partial-season performance with the Raptors as a finisher and shooter, in which case, yours truly would advocate for Barnes, Quickley, Gradey, Chris Boucher and Kelly Olynyk to get a crack at court time.
Utah Jazz29 of 30
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The Lineup: Cody Williams, Lauri Markkanen, Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Filipowski, Walker Kessler
Welcome to our first, and last, quadruple-big lineup. The 6’8″ Williams is the smallest player of the ensemble. And that’s, like, really cool.
It would not surprise me if the defense for this group skews toward stingy. Hendricks and Williams can keep pace with anyone on the perimeter, and Markkanen has shown he can hang with certain wings. Walker “On The Trade Block, For Some Reason” Kessler remains a deterrent at the rim, and Filipowski has, at times, looked serviceable guarding in space.
Figuring out the offense is the bigger issue. This gaggle is thin on proven self-creation and passing.
The Jazz can use this deficit to baptize Williams by fire. He has more playmaking chops to explore—on drives, specifically—than his role at Colorado allowed. Utah can clearly try leaning on Markkanen for more from-scratch elements as well. Yours truly isn’t opposed to plumbing the life out of Hendricks’ and Filipowski’s floor games.
No combination should be off limits to the Jazz, regardless of how zany. On the contrary, the zanier, the better. They aren’t in the business of racking up immediate wins. Worst-case scenario, this lineup bombs and costs them wins—which is team CEO Danny Ainge’s best-case scenario.
Washington Wizards30 of 30
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The Lineup: Bub Carrington, Malcolm Brogdon, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, Kyle Kuzma
Full disclosure: I’m a smidgeon worried this fivesome will be too good for the Washington Wizards’ purposes. General manager Will Dawkins may have to trade Brogdon and/or Kuzma mid-possession when it proves to be a matchup nightmare.
Plunking Kuzma into the center position likely inoculates the group against being too effective. He, Coulibaly and George aren’t built to jockey for position with truer-sized bigs. (Though, to Coulibaly’s credit, he scraps like hell no matter how much weight or how many inches he’s giving up.)
Excluding Alex Sarr is kind of a bummer. But the final product looks too conventional regardless of whom he replaces.
Slotting in Corey Kispert is more appealing—from a selfish standpoint. Sub him in for Brogdon or Kuzma, and you have fewer options to handle the ball on offense. That is fantastic news for those of us who want to see both Bub and Bilal get the initiator’s green light.
Settling on this combination feels right in the end. Brogdon isn’t the type of player who infringes upon touches for others, and Washington can feature Kuzma as a screening play-finisher to maximize headlining experimentation for Carrington and Coulibaly. (Please, please, pretty please let Bilal screen and make plays off center-floor catches, too, Mr. Brian Keefe.)
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes.
