Skip to main content

Boogie's Fake Team

On a recent TrueHoop Show episode with Kevin Arnovitz and Kevin Pelton, they played a little game that piqued my interests. After a discussion about how Sacramento and Vlade Divac have failed DeMarcus Cousins (I really don't want to rehash that; that would take nearly a thousand words and would be really depressing), they ended their conversation with drafting a fake team under the salary cap for Boogie.

So, I'm unabashedly going to do that: a 13-man roster, under the salary cap, with the sole purpose of making Boogie happy and in the Finals contention.

Starting Lineup
PG: John Wall (Salary: $16.96 million)
SG: Rodney Hood (Salary: $1.41 million)
SF: Jae Crowder (Salary: $6.29 million)
PF: Serge Ibaka (Salary: $12.25 million)
C: DeMarcus Cousins (Salary: $15.85 million)

Bench
PG: Cory Joseph (Salary: $7.35 million)
SG: Malcolm Brogdon (Salary: $925 thousand)
SF: Tony Snell (Salary: $2.37 million)
PF: Channing Frye (Salary: $7.81 million)
C: Willie Cauley-Stein (Salary: $3.55 million)
PG: T.J. McConnell (Salary: $875 thousand)
SG: Jordan McCrae (Salary: $875 thousand)
PF: Jarell Martin (Salary: $1.29 million)

And, we are under the salary cap with room to pay Rodney Hood when he demands a max contract in a couple years. This lineup is easily ten deep, and in the playoffs, the rotation can easily tighten to nine. Wall and Boogie can play pick-and-roll really well together, and since Boogie's now a 37% three-point shooter, Wall will have ample space in the lane to finish on pick-and-pop schemes. Hood and Crowder can spot up, if need be, and are adept post-entry passers for Boogie. The team is also going to be a monster on defense, with Ibaka protecting the paint and Wall, Hood, and Crowder playing intense ball denial.

What opens up the floor geometry is the bench. I would personally stagger Wall's minutes and insert him with the bench mob - playing off Frye's amazing shooting. Joseph can play off-the-ball with Hood handling mostly, or he can play a Mike Conley-lite role, feeding Boogie on every possession and cutting or spotting up. Again, this is entirely speculative, but it's a fun thought exercise.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The NBA Time Machine

"I do not do cross-era comparisons." - David Jacoby That's how a lot of smart people view the NBA throughout history, as distinct eras, each with their most dominant players and most dominant teams - the 1960s with Russell's Celtics battling the individual greatness of Wilt, the coke-addled 70s with the rise of Kareem, the star power of the 1980s, featuring Magic's Lakers, Bird's Celtics, the Bad Boy Pistons, and Dr. J's Sixers, Jordan in the 90s, the barren wasteland of the early to mid-2000s with Shaq and Kobe, and then LeBron's world. Another way to distinguish these eras are through playing styles: The 1970s were all about gliding as close to the hoop and making smooth finishes near the rim. The 1980s were about pushing the pace and finding an open man in space. Jordan ushered in an era of hero ball with an emphasis on surrounding good post up players with cutting (i.e. MJ in Chicago, Hakeem in Houston, and Ewing in New York), something that c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hall of Fame Speculation

The Hall of Fame is an achievement, and it's a fun exercise, at least for me, to think about players who deserve to be in and those who don't. Among retired players, there are obvious shoo-ins - guys like Kobe Bryant and Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. There's no point talking about those players. Let's talk about some controversial players. We did a little bit of this on Episode 12 of The Crevice. You can check that out right here: Chris Webber (1993-2008) Stats: 17,182 PTS; 8,124 REB; 3,526 AST; 1,200 BLK; 1,200 STL Accolades: ROY, 5x All-Star, 1 All-NBA 1st Team, 3 All-NBA 2nd Team, 1 All-NBA 3rd Team BasketballReference HOF Probability: 14.6% Let's do the first simple check - the "who's got these stats" check. There are 12 players in NBA history who have recorded more that 17,000 points, 8,000 rebounds, and 3,500 assists, 11 of whom are retired. All of those 11 are in the Hall of Fame. Granted, Webber is at the very bottom ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 2013 NBA Draft: Failing Giannis

Anyone who's friends with me knows that I love trashy TV shows; one of those shows is the CW Network's Arrow . Yes, yes, I know, you started reading this piece, hoping for some basketball geekiness. But I swear, I'll pull this back to relevance in a few sentences. Anyways, in the first season of Arrow , the eponymous Green Arrow runs around Starling City at night, delivering vigilante justice to the evil businessmen illegally and often violently exploiting the workers of the city for their own financial gain. He busts into their offices on the top of high-rises and accuses them, "You have failed this city." I wish I could do that to the fourteen GMs that passed on Giannis Antetokuonmpo in the 2013 NBA Draft. Another thing that anyone who's friends with me knows about me is that I have an unhealthy obsession with Giannis's playing style, ability, and general persona. For God's sake, he's basically a seven-foot point guard on offense and a rangy, ...
Post a Comment
Read more