Harebrained Solutions to the Tanking Problem

Tanking is a huge problem in the NBA.  When teams realize that they have little to no shot at making the play-offs, they rest their starters and treat their fans to drudgery and an almost-guaranteed loss (unless the other team is also tanking).  However, as illustrated by Arturo Gallteti, tanking does not matter that much as talent is always available late in (or even after) the draft.  Of course, basketball front offices haven’t jumped on the “Moneyball” bandwagon to the degree that baseball teams have.  Until they do, this will continue to happen.  Luckily, there is hope; I have a handful of ways to end tanking.  Unfortunately, most of them are rather crazy.

• Change the lottery odds

If teams had less of a chance at obtaining the No.1 pick, then there would be less impetus to tank and more impetus to “gain momentum for next year”.  Maybe we should set the odds of the weakest team getting the pick at 20% instead of 25%, and making the odds the same for teams 10-14.

•   Have the lottery pick more teams

This means that teams cannot just be guaranteed a Top-4 or a Top-5 selection for simply being the weakest team in the league.  No longer will a team jockey for draft positioning because the odds will be so similar.  Although this indirectly increases the odds that the worst team will receive a higher selection, it also increases a chance that a team within reach of the play-offs will receive a higher selection.

• Televise the ping-pong balls rolling off the chute

This is more for peace-of-mind than anything else, but it does mean that the results will be more concrete.  We will not have to worry about any “Patrick Ewing” scenarios, so teams cannot rally for selection in a potentially-rigged election.

• Get Arturo Galletti a job as a sportswriter at ESPN

On the surface, this one makes no sense.  However, Arturo has been a very influential member of the Wages of Wins Journal, and he has used mathematics to prove or disprove many notions, including the importance of a high pick after the first overall selection.  Furthermore, just imagine the epic ensuing PER vs. Wins Produced war!

• Instiute the “Entertaining-As-HEdoublehockeysticks” tournament in some form

This is the brainchild of ESPN/Grantland’s Bill Simmons.  He proposes that seeds 7-15 play a double-elimination tournament for the last play-off spots, giving seeds 1-6 a two week break.  Although I am not falling all over this proposal, I do want something along those lines coming into existence.  My idea is a tiered tournament with best-of-7 elimination rounds not occuring until the Conference Semifinals.  More on that in a later post once I get all the details sorted out.

• Give a larger slice of the Revenue Sharing pie to play-off teams

This one won’t happen for several years since we just got a new CBA signed, but there obviously is not enough incentive for teams to fight for the final spots.  The NBA has ultimately become a Socialist organization where everyone is looking out for the little guy.  If this continues to happen and attendence doesn’t suffer, what incentive will there be for anyone to try to make the play-offs?  This would eventually lead to the NBA being knocked off its de facto pedestal atop the basketball world.  Possibly save the Olympics (I have no numbers for either NBA or Olympic viewership), what other basketball competition draws more fans?  This could end if playing well is not amply rewarded.

Tanking is a serious problem that leads to many NBA fans losing their hair.  I believe (but have no proof) that these proposals might help end this travesty.  (P.S. I hate that word, but I’ll use it anyway because I can’t think of a better one.)

Upsets

Wow, I am absolutely amazed by both Norfolk St.’s upset over Missouri and Lehigh’s upsets over Duke.  Coming in, I thought Lehigh was 60% as good as Duke, and that Norfolk St. was 24% as good as Missouri!  According to my rankings, Norfolk St. was the worst team not in the WKU-Miss Valley game, and Lehigh was eleventh-worst in the tourney.  I had Mizzou ranked fourth and Duke ranked fifteenth.  What I have to say is that, approximately 29% of the time, the weaker team wins in the NCAA tournament according to the Wages of Wins Journal and Ty Wilihinganz at Courtside Analyst.  Yesterday, there were very few upsets.  Therefore, I am not entirely surprised with the quantiy of upsets, but I am totally flabbergasted by which ones did occur.  My full rankings are available at NCAAEvals3.

NCAA Player Rankings

On Sunday, James Brocato posted the Position Adjusted Win Score Per 40 Minute numbers for the top 6 players on every NCAA tournament team on the Wages of Wins Journal website (PAWS40 is a simplified statistics that highly correlates with Wins Produced).  Today, I’ve decided to rank the players by PAWS40 in various ways.  (Find the full data at ncaa player rankings, which is saved as a Microsoft Excel 97-2003 workbook.)  So, here they are:

Best:

1. C Anthony Davis, Kentucky (16.07)
2. C Jack Cooley, Notre Dame (12.26)
3. C Ricardo Ratcliffe, Missouri (11.61)
4. PF Pierce Hornung, Colorado St. (11.34)
5. C Tyler Zeller, North Carolina (11.29)
6. PF Jae Crowder, Marquette (11.22)
7. PF Kevin Jones, West Virginia (10.81)
8. C Cody Zeller, Indiana (10.74)
9. PF Doug McDermott, Creighton (10.74)
10. C Jared Sullinger, Ohio St. (10.15)

Worst:

1. SG Brendan Bald, Vermont (-1.79)
2. PF Nigel Snipes, Western Kentucky (-1.58)
3. PF Marcos Tamares, Norfolk St. (-1.31)
4. PF A.J. Hardeman, New Mexico (0.21)
5. SF Kahlil McDonald, Western Kentucky (0.23)
6. C Augustus Gilchrist, South Florida (0.27)
7. SF Julien Lewis, Texas (0.31)
8. SG Brandon Smith, California (0.37)
9. PF Da’Quan Cook, St. Bonaventure (0.55)
10. SG Shawn Stockton, Montana (0.63)

By Region:

South

1. Davis
2. Cooley
3. Cody Zeller
4. PF Andre Roberson, Colorado (9.91)
5. PG C.J. McCollum, Lehigh (9.60)
6. PG Joe Ragland, Wichita St. (8.97)
7. PF Quincy Acy, Baylor (8.64)
8. SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky (8.23)
9. C Mason Plumlee, Duke (8.18)
10. SG Tyrus McGee, Iowa St. (8.05)

West

1. Ratcliffe
2. Hornung
3. Crowder
4. SF Will Barton, Memphis (9.98)
5. C Mike Scott, Virginia (9.84)
6. SF Marcus Denmon, Missouri (9.83)
7. C Drew Gordon, New Mexico (8.78)
8. PF Draymond Green, Michigan St. (8.54)
9. PG Isaiah Canaan, Murray St. (8.44)
10. PG Scott Machado, Iona (8.40)
11. Honorable Mention: C Kyle O’Quinn, Norfolk St. (8.40)

East

1. Jones
2. Sullinger
3. PF Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi (9.58)
4. PF Bernard James, Florida St. (8.91)
5. C Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure (8.77)
6. SG John Jenkins, Vanderbilt (8.69)
7. PF Jeffrey Taylor, Vanderbilt (7.88)
8. SG Dion Waiters, Syracuse (7.79)
9. PG Aaron Craft, Ohio St. (7.65)
10. SG Lenzelle Smith, Jr., Ohio St. (7.45)

Midwest

1. Tyler Zeller
2. McDermott
3. C Jeff Withey, Kansas (9.91)
4. PF Thomas Robinson, Kansas (9.85)
5. SF Otto Porter, Georgetwon (9.51)
6. SF Devon Lamb, Lamar (9.31)
7. C Eli Holman, Detroit (9.01)
8. C Gregory Echenique, Creighton (8.84)
9. PF John Henson, North Carolina (8.79)
10. SG Steven Holt, St. Mary’s (CA), (8.42)

By Position:

Point Guard

1. McCollum
2. Ragland
3. Canaan
4. Machado
5. Kerron Johnson, Belmont (8.09)
6. Craft
7. Lewis Jackson, Purdue (7.65)
8. Nate Wolters, South Dakota St. (7.56)
9. Pierre Jackson, Baylor (7.16)
10. Kevin Pangos, Gonzaga (7.14)
11. Honorable Mention: Scoop Jardine, Syracuse (7.11)

Shooting Guard

1. Jenkins
2. Holt
3. Khalif Wyatt, Temple (8.16)
4. McGee
5. Reggie Bullock, North Carolina (7.90)
6. Waiters
7. Drew Hanlen, Belmont (7.79)
8. Kenny Boynton, Florida (7.67)
9. Charles Abouo, BYU (7.54)
10. Mike Dixon, Missouri (7.49)
11. Honorable Mention: Lenzelle Smith, Jr.

Small Forward

1. Barton
2. Denmon
3. Porter
4. Devon Lamb
5. Kidd-Gilchrist
6. Brian Voelkel, Vermont (7.85)
7. Victor Oladipo, Indiana (7.27)
8. Kris Joseph, Syracuse (7.23)
9. Rodney McGruder, Kansas St. (7.06)
10. Sean Armand, Iona (7.01)

Power Forward

1. Hornung
2. Crowder
3. Jones
4. McDermott
5. Roberson
6. Robinson
7. Pelham
8. James
9. Henson
10. Acy

Center

1. Davis
2. Cooley
3. Ratcliffe
4. Tyler Zeller
5. Cody Zeller
6. Sullinger
7. Withey
8. Scott
9. Holman
10. Echenique

Deadline Deals

Here, I am going to evaluate each of the trades that were finalized during today’s NBA trade deadline.  They will be in no particular order.  The spreadsheets that I used will be avaliable here as a Microsoft Excel file at the bottom of the page.  (The spreadsheet really helps me look at the numbers, so you might want to look at it, too.)  All wins that I use are changes on my ideal depth charts, not actual minutes, so this has no bearing on what will actually happen.

Trade 1: Memphis trades SF Sam Young to Philadelphia for the draft rights to C Ricky Sanchez

Philadelphia: Sam Young is a decent player with a composite score of .048.  (Composite score is [Wins Produced/48+(Win Shares/48*1.5)]/2.5.  He is not stellar, but I would not at all mind having him as my tenth or eleventh man.  For my depth chart, I project that he would use Thaddeus Young’s 4 minutes at small forward.

Memphis: Ricky Sanchez is a pretty good center in the Argentinian league.  I do not see him coming to the NBA any time soon.  I would have Rudy Gay receive three of those minutes, and Tony Allen one.

Win Changes: Philadelphia: -.235, Memphis: +.142

Verdict: This adds to Philly’s depth plus helps Memphis clear some weight.  There really isn’t much to this deal, but I’m not really against it.  Memphis still wins because this deal allows them to play better players.

Trade 2: Toronto trades SG Leandro Barbosa to Indiana for a future second round pick.

Indiana: I have Leandro taking all of Lance Stephenson’s minutes and three of Dahntay Jones’s.  Leandro can shoot, he has experience, but he has fallen off the cliff.

Toronto: Considering that Barbosa’s been far from stellar (Composite Score of .022), I think this deal makes some sense.  Besides, you don’t have to pay him any more!  I see DeMar DeRozan and Jerryd Bayless splitting Barbosa’s minutes, with Anthony Carter taking six minutes from Bayless at the point.

Win Changes: Indiana -.080, Toronto -.078

Verdict: Toronto definitely wins it, considering that they are picking up a 2nd round pick.

Trade 3: Golden St. trades their 2012 2nd round pick to Atlanta for cash.

Verdict: Atlanta wins because they are getting a draft pick.  This deal seems really pointless unless Golden St. is in dire financial straits.

Trade 4: Cleveland trades PG Ramon Sessions and SF Christian Eyenga to the Lakers for SF Jason Kapono, SF Luke Walton, the Lakers’ 2012 1st round pick, and the right to swap the Heat and Lakers’ 2013 1st round picks.

Lakers: The Lakers finally get a real point guard (for more than one year!) and a small foward with “upside” and “athleticism”, while jettisoning two weak small forwards, including an albatross.  I have Sessions taking all of Fish and Goudelock’s minutes at the point (more on that later), as well as eight of Steve Blake’s minutes.

Cleveland: They get a 1st round pick, and snot, including an albatross deal.  Kryie takes two of Session’s minutes, the rest go to Daniel Gibson.  Kapono takes five of Gee’s minutes.  Walton gets none.

Win Changes: Lakers +.822, Cleveland -.553

Verdict: This is not a bad deal.  Cleveland’s win numbers are skewed because Kapono takes minutes away from the overworked-on-my-depth chart Alonzo Gee.  The Lakers still win because they get younger, better players for a longer period of time, but this is still a good long-term deal for Cleveland.

Trade 5: Portland trades SF Gerald Wallace to New Jersey for C Mehmet Okur, SF Shawne Williams, and a future 1st round pick.

New Jersey: Gerald Wallace is a very good player.  He will take all of Andre Emmett’s minutes, and 22 of Anthony Morrow’s.

Portland: Ouch!  They trade away a very good player for two guys who’ll probably never play for them and a 1st round pick.  Wes Matthews takes 12 of Wallace’s SF minutes, Batum takes 8, and Crawford receives 4.  Aldridge takes his PF minutes.

Win Changes: New Jersey +.593, Portland -.304

Verdict: Portland has plenty of players to replace Wallace, so this deal does not hurt them as much as it does at first glance.  However, despite the 1st round pick, I think New Jersey squeaks out the better part of this deal.

Trade 6: Portland sends C Marcus Camby to Houston for PG Jonny Flynn, C Hasheem Thabeet, and a future 2nd round pick.

Houston: Houston fleeced Portland.  I shouldn’t have been surprised as Daryl Morey is an analystical GM.  Camby will take 15 minutes from Luis Scola, 9 minutes from Patrick Patterson, and 5 minutes from Marcus Camby.

Portland: This is a very poor trade.  They sent a very good player out for two terrible players and a 2nd round pick.  How does that make sense?

Win Changes: Houston +1.552, Portland -.820

Verdict: Houston absolutely smoked Portland in this deal.  They are definitely the hands-down winner.

Trade 7: San Antonio sends SF Richard Jefferson and the Spurs’ 2012 1st round pick to Golden St. for SF Stephen Jackson

San Antonio: I thought that the Spurs’ front office was better than this!  Stephen Jackson is absolutely terrible, and they had no business trading for him.  On second thought, this allots more minutes to better players.  Maybe I spoke too soon….  Matt Bonner, Kawhi Leonard, and Danny Green each get two of Jefferson’s minutes.

Golden St.: I hope that the Warriors realize how well they were able to fleece the Spurs.  This is a job well done for the Warriors’ front office.  Jefferson will take all of Monta Ellis and Klay Thompson’s minutes (I forgot to do all of my calculations yesterday).

Win Changes: San Antonio +.186, Golden St. +.722

Verdict: This is, amazingly, a win-win, but Golden St. takes the cake both short-, long-, and medium-term.  That is, as long as Richard Jefferson doesn’t hit the wall to a subzero level and the pick doesn’t tank too dramatically.

Trade 8: Houston trades C Jordan Hill to the Lakers for PG Derek Fisher and a 2012 1st round pick.

Houston: Nice deal, but I’m not certain it’s the best.  Derek will take 5 of Lowry’s minutes and all of Lee’s time at the point.

Lakers: This is a pretty good deal for these guys.  Hill will takes 5 of Bynum’s minutes, 3 of McRobert’s minutes, Gasol’s minutes at center,  4 more of Gasol’s minutes, and 2 of Troy Murphy’s minutes.

Win Changes: Houston -.386, Lakers +.250

Verdict: The win changes should be higher becuase both players will be giving elite players more rest.  All in all, I think this deal is pretty even, depending on where that pick lands for Houston.

Trade 9: Denver trades C Nene Hilario and C Ronny Turiaf to Washington, Washington trades C JaVale McGee to Denver and SG Nick Young to the Clippers, and the Clippers trade PF Brian Cook to Denver.  Denver also acquires a draft pick.

Denver: They manage a good player for one who has been greatly underproducing.  Cool!  McGee grabs all of Nene’s minutes.

Clippers: Nick Young is an overrated ballstopper.  However, I don’t mind renting him considering how little they actually gave up.  Except for the fact that Wins Produced says he’s a sub-zero player.  Young gets 8 of Williams’s and 5 0f Foye’s minutes.

Washington: The Wiz got a great deal for the overrated ballstopper and the one guy on their team not named Booker who’s actually good but on an expiring deal.  Nene will take JaVale’s minutes, plus five more from Blatche.  Turiaf will take eight of Blatche’s minutes, too.  Maurice Evans will get 11 of Nick Young’s minutes, Jordan Crawford will get 8, Shelvin Mack will get 5, and Roger Mason will get 2.

Win Changes: Denver .459, Clippers -.530, Washington .675

Verdict: Washington wins, with Denver not far behind.

A Few Reasons Why a Michael Beasley-to-the-Lakers Trade Would Be Stupid

There are some trade rumors looming about the Lakers of a three-team trade where Michael Beasley would go to the Lakers, Jamal Crawford would go to Minnesota, and Luke Ridnour and a Lakers first round pick would go to Portland.

Here are a handful of statistics that indicate that Michael Beasley should not go to the Lakers:

1. Win Shares/48: .057
2. Wins Produced/48: .024
3. Despite those terrible stats, Usage Rate: 24.7
4. True Shooting Percentage: 51.1% (2oth in the league is Danilo Gallinari at 57.7%)
5. Effective Field Goal Percentage: 49.3% (2oth in the league is Kevin Garnett at 51.9%)

Here are some other reasons:

6. Matt Barnes with those same metrics:

• Win Shares/48: .141
• Wins Produced/48: .189
• Usage Rate: 16.4
• True Shooting Percentage: 54.1%
• Effective Field Goal Percentage: 48.3%

Even though his Effective Field Goal Percentage is slightly worse, the other numbers indicate that he is a lower-volume, higher-efficiency, significantly better, cheaper option at small forward.  And Kupchak wants to surrender a first round pick for Beasley?  Aye!

7. Kobe Bryant is a Laker.

All you need to know about this is Kobe has a gawdy Usage Rate of 37.3.  Um….do you need another high-volume shooter?

8. Michael Beasley has had his issues.

I don’t know, but Beas has had his run-ins with the law, and I’m not certain that he’s rehabbed his image yet.

All in all, the Lake Show should not acquire Michael Beasley, period.

NBA Trade Analysis

In this post, I am going to review the recent Monta Ellis trade and talk about some possible Dwight Howard deals that should (but probably won’t) go down during tomorrow’s trade deadline.  dwighthowarddeals is where you can find my statistics tables.  (Composite is equal to [(1.5 times Win Shares/48) +Wins Produced/48/2.5].)  I suggest that you look at my tables when you read the article; they back really back up my opinions.

First, we’ll cover the Golden St.-Milwaukee swap.  In it, Golden St. traded Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh, and Kwame Brown to Milwaukee in exchange for Andrew Bogut and Stepehn Jackson.  Based on this year’s statistics alone, it’s pretty clear that Milwaukee got the better part of the deal.  Even though none of the players have been even remotely average this year, the two best players in this swap according to both Composite and Win Shares now play for Milwaukee (Ekpe Udoh and Monta Ellis).  After that though, it starts to get hairy.

First of all, injuries have limited both Andrew Bogut and Kwame Brown to less than ten games this year.  Both guys are out until play-off time.  HIstory suggests that Bogut will be better next year (for his career he has been above-average, and significantly so according to Wins Produced), while Brown is unpredictable (his stats have fluctuated, and he’s at the age when player’s start “falling off the cliff”.)  I take it that Bogut will return to the realm of very good despite the fact that he is peaking, and Brown will be neither a star nor a scrub next year.

But wait; there’s more!  Regardless of how good the former No. 1 overall pick will be next year, he’s a free agent this summer!  There is no guarantee that Brown will even stick around next year.  He may become a worthless rental.

Furthermore, Monta Ellis has a big-time albatross contract.  His current salary is $11 million, and he will make that same wage for the next two years!  He’s highly overrated, and he is well-known for his ability to dominate the ball.  Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee’s incumbent point guard, is also known to be an overrated player who dominates the ball.  I wonder how that’ll work out….

Ekpe Udoh is an okay player with “upside”.  Upside is a powerful word often used to greatly overvalue young players.  Believe it or not, Udoh is already 24, and he is only a couple years away from his peak; who knows if he’ll make the jump to an elite (or even average) player.  As he is still on his rookie contract, his salary shouldn’t be much of an issue, though.

However, Milwaukee did not get fleeced; they unloaded the terrible Stephen Jackson.  Jackson is a sub-zero player by both measures, yet he obtains a hefty paycheck of $9.256 million this year, and he’s not on an expiring deal.  Luckily, there’s only one more year left on his contract (which will hopefully be his last in the NBA).  Unfortunately, Marc Jackson is bound to play him; he’s a scorer after all.  Too bad; this was a wasted opportunity to give the superb (according to Wins Produced) or average (according to Win Shares) Brandon Rush more minutes at shooting guard.

The verdict: Milwaukee wins this trade in the short term, but if Bogut’s back at his normal level, Golden St. seals the deal with a win.

Now, I’m going to cover two proposals for a Dwight Howard trade; one where the Lakers acquire him, and one where the Nets do.  I’ll start with the Lakers.

My proposal is that the Lakers trade Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and the Lamar Odom pick to Orlando for Dwight Howard, Ryan Anderson, Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson, and Glen Davis.

Wait, what!  Trade Kobe?  No way!

Yes, way.  I’ll tell you why: Kobe is an old, overrated, extremely overpaid ballstopper who needs to go.

In a nutshell, you’re trading the No. 2 center in the league (Bynum), a very good shooting guard (Kobe), and a late first round pick in a deep draft for the No. 1 center in the league (Dwight), the most underrated player in the league (Anderson), a decent point guard (Nelson), a suitable replacement at the 2 who is old but still has some years left (J-Rich), and a total albatross who was thrown in to balance the whole thing out (Davis).

According to Wins Produced, Ryan Anderson is the tenth-best player in the league, Dwight is eleventh, Bynum’s in the mid-twenties, J-Rich is a bit above average, and everyone else is below the .099 threshold.  This trade is almost fair because Davis is so bad and Nelson is only a slight upgrade at the point.  (Of course, every minute Nelson plays can allow Fish, Blake, or J-Rich to supplant the overrated Goudelock at the 2).  Howard, Anderson, and Bynum are the only underpaid players in this deal, and Howard won’t be for long.  Plus there’s that first round pick.  According to PER (measuring public perception), this deal isn’t too squiggy either.  The Lakers win out, but Orlando gets a nice haul.

My other idea is that Dwight (by himself) goes to New Jersey for Brook Lopez, Kris Humprhies, MarShon Brooks, Anthony Morrow, and Damion James.  I’m sure the Nets take this deal, but in reality it’s a bit of a suckerpunch.  We all know know about Dwight.  Here’s the Nets package:

Lopez: A young. overrated center who is a poor rebounder, oft-injured, and on an expiring deal.  His numbers for this season are a bit skewed since he reinjured himself after five games, but he’s only  a tad bit above average when he is health according to both statistics, although Wins Produced rated him as sub-zero last year.  Ouch!

Humprhies: a very good 4 in his prime on an expiring deal.  If the Nets had a better supporting cast, a player comparable to him and a 1st round pick would have sealed it.

Brooks: Young, fairly overrated scorer.  This guy will become a good player, but he may or may not become a star.

Morrow: A pretty good shooting guard.  Somewhat underrated by the media (but not by PER), he’s a solid player.

James: Injured, on an expiring deal, and only good according to Wins Produced last year.

This is a good deal for the Nets, an okay deal for the Magic, and that’s that.  Of course, this creates a logjam at shooting guard  for the Magic with J-Rich, but this might be as good as it gets.

March 14 Quote of the Day No. 2, Which Was Really Intended to Have Been for March 15, Except for the Fact That I Messed Up

“None but a coward dares to boast that he has never known fear.”  Ferdinand Foch

March 14 Quote of the Day

“If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?”  Vince Lombardi

My NBA Depth Charts, Part 6

This is the final installment of my NBA depth charts series.  I hope you have enjoyed them, and that you return to my site to read my future posts.  I apologize for the long wait in between installments; I’ve been busy.

Sacramento

PG Isaiah Thomas (33), Tyreke Evans (12), Jimmer Fredette (3)

SG Marcus Thornton (34), Francisco Garcia (14)

SF Tyreke Evans (22), Donte Greene (18), Francisco Garcia (5), Tyler Honeycutt (3) John Salmons (0)

PF Jason Thompson (34), Chuck Hayes (12), Donte Greene (2)

C  DeMarcus Cousins (34), Chuck Hayes (8), Hassan Whiteside (8)

Inactive: J.J. Hickson (expiring), Travis Outlaw (albatross)

Minutes Division: DeMarcus Cousins (34), Tyreke Evans (34), Marcus Thornton (34), Jason Thomapson (34), Isaiah Thomas (34), Donte Greene (20), Chuck Hayes (20), Francisco Garcia (19),  Hassan Whiteside (8), Jimmer Fredette (3), Tyler Honeycutt (3), John Salmons (0)

GM’s Note: Somebody needs to blow this team up and start over.  Luckily, Cousins, Thornton, Evans, Fredette, and possibly Thompson are all vastly overrated; you have some real trade “value”.

San Antonio

PG Tony Parker (34), Gary Neal (8), T.J. Ford (6)

SG Manu Ginobli (32), Danny Green (10), Gary Neal (6), James Anderson (0)

SF Matt Bonner (20), Kawhi Leonard (18), Richard Jefferson (6), Danny Green (4)

PF Tiago Splitter (25), DeJuan Blair (17), Kawhi Leonard (3), Richard Jefferson (2), Matt Bonner (1)

C  Tim Duncan (32), DeJuan Blair (5), Matt Bonner (5), Tiago Splitter (3), Kawhi Leonard (3)

Inactive: Cory Joseph, Eric Dawson (expiring)

Minutes Division: Tony Parker (34), Tim Duncan (32), Manu Ginobli (32), Tiago Splitter (28), Matt Bonner (26), Kawhi Leonard (24), DeJuan Blair (22), Danny Green (14), Gary Neal (14), Richard Jefferson (8), T.J. Ford (6), James Anderson (0)

GM’s Note: This a great team, with Richard Jefferson as a possible trade piece for value and albatrosses.

Toronto

PG Jose Calderon (33), Jerryd Bayless (11), Anthony Carter (4)

SG  Jerryd Bayless (20), Leandro Barbosa (12), DeMar DeRozan (6)

SF Linas Kleiza (30), DeMar DeRozan (9), Gary Forbes (9)

PF Amir Johnson (22), Ed Davis (16), James Johnson (10)

C  Andrea Bargnani (30), Aaron Gray (8), Ed Davis (8), James Johnson (2)

Inactive: Jamaal Magloire (cheap, expiring), Rasual Butler (cheap, expiring), Solomon Alabi (cheap)

Minutes Division: Jose Calderon (33), Jerryd Bayless (31), Andrea Bargnani (30), Linas Kleiza (30), Ed Davis (24), Amir Johnson (22)DeMar DeRozan (15), Leandro Barbosa (12), James Johnson (12), Gary Forbes (9), Aaron Gray (8), Anthony Carter (4)

GM’s Note: You have several players who might be overrated, such as Barbosa, Kleiza, and DeRozan.  You are in need of a good wing; use your trade pieces.

Utah

PG Devin Harris (31), C.J. Miles (17), Earl Watson (0)

SG Raja Bell (23), Alec Burks (20), C.J. Miles (5)

SF Gordon Hayward (25), Jeremy Evans (19), Alec Burks (4), Josh Howard (0)

PF Paul Millsap (34), Derrick Favors (10), Al Jefferson (4)

C  Al Jefferson (28), Enes Kanter (18), Derrick Favors (2)

Inactive:  Jamaal Tinsley, DeMarre Carroll (cheap)

Minutes Division: Paul Millsap (34), Al Jefferson (32) Devin Harris (31), Gordon Hayward (25), Alec Burks (24), Raja Bell (23), C.J. Miles (22), Jeremy Evans (19),  Enes Kanter (18), Derrick Favors (12), Josh Howard (0), Earl Watson (0)

GM”s Note: People still think Josh Howard, C.J. Miles, and Derrick Favors have a lot of value.  If you get an overwhelming package for Favors, do not hesitate; for the others, anything even will be good.

Washington

PG John Wall (28), Shelvin Mack (20), Jordan Crawford (0)

SG Roger Mason (26), Nick Young (21), Maurice Evans (1)

SF Trevor Booker (30), Chris Singleton (14), Maurice Evans (4), Jan Vesely (0)

PF Kevin Seraphin (34), Andray Blatche (5), JaVale McGee (5), Trevor Booker (4)

C  JaVale McGee (26), Andray Blatche (22)

Inactive: Ronny Turiaf (expiring, injured), Rashard Lewis (injured, king of albatrosses)

Minutes Division: Trevor Booker (34), Kevin Seraphin (34), JaVale McGee (31), John Wall (28), Andray Blatche (27), Roger Mason (26), Nick Young (21), Shelvin Mack (20), Chris Singleton (14), Maurice Evans (5), Jan Vesely (0), Jordan Crawford (0)

GM’s Note: You know you have a problem when a sub-zero player is playing twenty-six minutes a game.  Luckily, everyone other than Booker, Seraphin, and Mason is vastly overrated; you could fleece a lot of people if you’re not afraid to pull the trigger!

My NBA Depth Charts, Part 5

This is my fifth installment of my depth chart revisions.

Oklahoma City

PG Russell Westbrook (34), Reggie Jackson (8), Royal Ivey (8), Daequan Cook (6)

SG James Harden (36), Daequan Cook (10), Royal Ivey (2)

SF Kevin Durant (36), Lazar Hayward (8), Daequan Cook (4)

PF Serge Ibaka (32), Nick Collison (16)

C Cole Aldrich (20), Nazr Mohammed (18), Kendrick Perkins (10), Nick Collison (0)

Inactive: Thabe Sefolosha (injured), Eric Maynor (injured), Ryan Reid (cheap)

MInutes Division: Kevin Durant (36), James Harden (36), Russell Westbrook (34), Serge Ibaka (32), Daequan Cook (20), Cole Aldrich (20), Nazr Mohammed (18), Nick Collison (16), Kendrick Perkins (10), Royal Ivey (8), Reggie Jackson (8), Lazar Hayward (8)

GM’s Note: This a great team, but they to add more backcourt depth.  Their depth in general is not great, but they might want to dangle Russell Westbrook in front of people in order to obtain a bounty of guards.

Orlando

PG Jameer Nelson (26), Chris Duhon (22)

SG J.J. Redick (32), Jason Richardson (16), DeAndre Liggins (0)

SF Hedo Turkoglu (23), Quentin Richardson (20), Jason Richardson (5)

PF Ryan Anderson (36), Glen Davis (9), Daniel Orton (3)

C Dwight Howard (36), Daniel Orton (10), Glen Davis (2)

Inactive: Justin Harper (cheap), Ishmael Smith (cheap, expiring)

Minutes Division: Dwight Howard (36), Ryan Anderson (36), J.J. Redick (32), Jameer Nelson (26), Hedo Turkoglu (23), Chris Duhon (22), Jason Richardson (21), Quentin Richardson (20), Daniel Orton (13), Glen Davis (11), DeAndre Liggins (0)

GM’s Note: This is a play-off team, but it will probably exit early.  There is next to no way Dwight Howard stays with the Magic.

Philadelphia

PG Louis Williams (33), Jrue Holliday (15)

SG Thaddeus Young (28), Jodie Meeks (13), Evan Turner (7)

SF Andre Iguodala (32), Evan Turner (7), Jodie Meeks (5), Thaddeus  Young (4), Andres Nocioni (0)

PF Elton Brand (26), Lavoy Allen (22), Craig Brackins (0)

C Nikola Vucevic (33), Tony Battie (12), Elton Brand (3)

Inactive: Craig Brackins, Francisco Elson (cheap), Spencer Hawes (injured, expiring)

Minutes Division: Louis Williams (33), Nikola Vucevic (33), Andre Iguodala (32), Thaddeus Young (32), Elton Brand (29), Lavoy Allen (22), Jodie Meeks (18), Jrue Holliday (15), Evan Turner (14), Tony Battie (12), Andres Nocioni (0), Craig Brackins (0)

GM’s Note: This team is set, especially with Hawes coming back soon.  I would be ecstatic if I had this roster.

Phoenix

PG Steve Nash (36), Shannon Brown (4), Ronnie Price (4), Michael Redd (4)

SG Josh Childress (31), Grant Hill (10), Shannon Brown (4), Michael Redd (3)

SF Jared Dudley (35), Hakim Warrick (9), Grant Hill (4)

PF Marcin Gortat (34), Channing Frye (8), Markieff Morris (5), Hakim Warrick (1)

C  Robin Lopez (25), Channing Frye (20), Markieff Morris (3)

Inactive: Sebastian Telfair

Minutes Division: Steve Nash (36), Jared Dudley (35), Marcin Gortat (34), Josh Childress (31), Channing Frye (28), Robin Lopez (25), Grant Hill (14), Hakim Warrick (10), Shannon Brown (8), Markieff Morris (8), Michael Redd (7), Ronnie Price (4)

GM’s Note: The good news here is that the starting line-up is not terrible.  The bad news is that you have hardly any depth whatsoever (Channing Frye, Markieff Morris, and Hakim Warrick just won’t cut it).  Luckily, Shannon Brown, Grant Hill, and Michael Redd are overrated; you can still make a move to put you in the play-off chase.

Portland

PG Elliot Williams (30), Raymond Felton (12), Armon Johnson (6)

SG Wesley Matthews (26), Jamal Crawford (22)

SF Nicolas Batum (26), Gerald Wallace (22), Wesley Matthews (0)

PF LaMarcus Aldridge (27), Gerald Wallace (6), Marcus Camby (6), Craig Smith (5), Kurt Thomas (4)

C  Marcus Camby (21), Craig Smith (14), Joel Pryzbilla (10), Kurt Thomas (3)

Inactive: Nolan Smith, Luke Babbitt, Chris Johnson (expiring)

Minutes Division: Elliot Williams (30), Gerald Wallace (28), LaMarcus Aldridge (27), Marcus Camby (27), Nicolas Batum (26), Wesley Matthews (26), Jamal Crawford (22), Chris Smith (19), Raymond Felton (12), Joel Pryzbilla (10), Kurt Thomas (7), Armon Johnson (6)

GM’s Note: Despite being in need of a point guard, I am inclined to think that this team is in preetty good shape.  If you can turn some of their excess frontcourt depth into a quality point, they will be very successful.