Connect with us

Sports

The Whiteboard: Which team has the best record with all their stars … – FanSided

Published

on

Injuries have hit plenty of teams who began the season with championship hopes. How would the NBA standings look if we only counted when stars were healthy?
As with any other season, injuries have played a major role in the current state of the NBA standings. Stars like Devin Booker, Steph Curry, Zion Williamson, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant and Karl-Anthony Towns have all missed extended periods. But how would the NBA standings look if we took only each team’s record this season, only in games where both of their two best players were healthy?
In terms of determining who each team’s best players actually are, I used my own subjective evaluation, factoring in projected statistical production as well as offensive and defensive primacy. It’s a little bit tricky because in some cases players who were presumed to be stars haven’t performed that way, or role players have, but I tried to consider the planned roster construction coming into the season.
In the case of teams that made a significant trade during the season, like the Brooklyn Nets, I considered the stars on the roster for each portion of the season. In their case, before the Kyrie Irving trade, I looked at games where both Kyrie and Kevin Durant were healthy. After the Durant trade, I looked at games where Nic Claxton and Mikal Bridges were healthy. I basically threw out the team games played between when Kyrie Irving was traded and when Durant was traded.
The biggest takeaway here is probably how much Milwaukee still stands above the rest of the field. And just considering the top two stars doesn’t even take into account how good they could be if Khris Middleton is full healthy and fully effective in the playoffs, something that’s been far from a given so far this season.
The disparity between the healthiest and least-healthy teams is also fairly dramatic. The Knicks have had Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle on the court for 62 games this season. The Pistons had Cade Cunningham and Bojan Bogdanovic healthy for just 12. The Hornets had LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier healthy for just 33.
Taking this view only makes the Western Conference look more muddled. You have theoretical contenders like the Lakers, Suns, Clippers, Warriors and Pelicans able to hold onto that status, in part, because their star duos have all been together for 40 games or less this season. You can also see just how much the extended injury absences of players like Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns and Zion Williamson have disrupted the seasons for their teams.
The Nuggets rise to the top of the heap here but I’m not sure this really should make Nuggets fans feel any better, especially considering they trail the Celtics and Bucks in this metric by a decent amount.
Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with someone you love! If you don’t like The Whiteboard, share it with someone you loathe!
Got a basketball question? Send it to us on Twitter or by email and we’ll try to answer it in our Friday mailbag. 
Hosts Ethan Skolnick and Brady Hawk run through a handful of the most interesting teams in the league to decide who is a contender and who is a pretender. Subscribe to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Several teams have already clinched playoff berths while others have already seen their seasons end. Which teams are next up to secure a playoff spot or a spot in the NBA Draft Lottery?
THE WHITEBOARD. Subscribe to our NBA daily email newsletter. light
© 2023 Minute Media – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators’ opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

source

Copyright © 2023 Sandidge Ventures