Now that the #AllTimeNBADraft is over, we will have various analysts weigh in with their opinion on how the GM's did. Here is a breakdown of each team from the Sporting News', Adi Joseph. Check out this link for full rosters.
By Adi Joseph (@AdiJoseph)
Boston: Topping this lineup off with Rick Carlisle really reinforced how strong the selections were. Every player was, at some point, someone of real significance, and there’s not a heavy reliance on the old-timers. Shooting and chemistry won’t be issues, and the fits all make sense. This is the best roster in this thing, though I probably would go back and pick Julius Erving or Karl Malone instead of Dirk Nowitzki.
By Adi Joseph (@AdiJoseph)
Boston: Topping this lineup off with Rick Carlisle really reinforced how strong the selections were. Every player was, at some point, someone of real significance, and there’s not a heavy reliance on the old-timers. Shooting and chemistry won’t be issues, and the fits all make sense. This is the best roster in this thing, though I probably would go back and pick Julius Erving or Karl Malone instead of Dirk Nowitzki.
Washington: I’m really uncertain about the chemistry, but I don’t think any roster has as much talent top to bottom as this one. Every pick was a very strong value except Mark Eaton — and two better big men came in the next two rounds. Phil Jackson is what sells me on this working above all else.
Brooklyn: Waiting so long to pick a point guard paid off because Terry Porter is a great fit for this roster. I love how many defensive specialists you selected, and the basketball IQ is immense, all the way to the choice of Brad Stevens as coach.
Calgary: This roster has a lot of different potential looks to throw at teams, and almost all of them should be good defensively (unless you put those final three picks out all at once, especially with Mark Price).
Chicago: I didn’t much care for five of the final six players chosen (with the egregiously overlooked Blake Griffin being the exception), but the core rotation is excellent and balanced.
Los Angeles: I love the defensive potential here with the starting lineup, and I think it’s one of the better top sixes in this league. But I worry quite a bit about the bench other than Fat Lever, Maurice Lucas and Michael Finley. There were significantly more talented players available to perform the same roles.
Seattle: The back half of the bench is pretty bad, and the pairing of Moses Malone and Dwight Howard seems unwieldy. But the talent level of the nine-man rotation is very, very high. Chemistry is the big concern. How the heck did Julius Erving last so long?
Detroit: I still would love this roster if you swapped Giannis Antetokounmpo for any of a dozen available point guards so much more. But there’s a lot of talent because every single pick other than Antetokounmpo (and maybe Dave Cowens) was at least solid value.
Atlanta: Previously, I’d criticized the pick of Steve Francis. Now, I think the entire bench is bad. The defensive specialists everyone else wisely made sure to grab are notably absent. Carlos Boozer in the ninth round made me laugh, though. Still, Pat Riley is a fantastic coach, and I really like the starting lineup, which will have to carry a larger load for this team than any other.
San Antonio: It’s cool that Stephen Curry somehow got set up to be the top scorer in this league. Literally everyone on this roster other than Curry and final pick Neil Johnston is a noted defender. Chuck Daly (assuming that’s supposed to be Chuck) is such a great coach for this roster that I forgave the lack of traditional talent.
Minnesota: This roster is all over the place, some good picks and some bad ones, some good chemistry moves and some bad ones. But I think it mostly falls right into the middle of the pack.
Miami: This team should be so much fun. I’m not sure whether you get prime Arvydas Sabonis, but if you do, he may very well be the second-best player on the roster. I have major questions about chemistry and defense, though.
New York: The interesting thing about this team is how it seems to almost entirely avoid the 1980s and ’90s stars. The only exception is Charles Oakley. The talent level and chemistry are questionable here and won’t be helped by the odd-ball coaching choice.
Los Angeles 2: I’d start Sam Cassell and Brandon Roy over Derrick Rose and Pete Maravich all day in this scenario. I have a hard time supporting a supposed all-time All-Star scenario that features that Rose-Maravich backcourt. But Kevin Garnett and Bill Walton could be awesome, and Rick Adelman is very underrated. The bench was too recent in a lot of its picks.
St. Louis: I’m still concerned that the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh picks all were forwards. I get that Kevin McHale will play center and Paul Pressey can help run the point, but ballhandling and size will be issues for this otherwise talented team.
Austin: The first three picks were high on talent level and low on fit. The next five were high on fit and low on talent (unless you’re one of those people who think Rasheed Wallace was just as talented as Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber). The bench is pretty mediocre, and the starters aren’t great, and the perimeter is much weaker than the inside. But Chris Paul, Charles Barkley and James Harden aren’t going to be irrelevant.
San Francisco: Similar to Miami Vice, the defense is going to be a very big problem with this roster, and selecting Mike D’Antoni as coach only exacerbates that. The difference is that a lot of the picks seemed like reaches, none more than Kevin Love.
Dallas: I wanted to like the team that took Bill Russell, but I simply think most of these picks were either reaches or poor fits. Russell is going to have a huge burden on defense, and though he did coach his team to two titles, that seems like a bad choice here.
New Jersey: This roster features two of my favorite players of all time (Shawn Kemp and Latrell Sprewell), but I can’t really get behind it. The chemistry is all off, the first pick was silly, the second pick was arguably worse and P.J. Carlesimo was a funny twist but a huge stretch.
Philadelphia: Looking at this roster, I see two great picks: David Robinson and Red Auerbach. Everything in between ranges from absolutely bizarre (Doug Christie) to just plain blah (Freddie Brown). This roster has less talent than any other.
Brooklyn: Waiting so long to pick a point guard paid off because Terry Porter is a great fit for this roster. I love how many defensive specialists you selected, and the basketball IQ is immense, all the way to the choice of Brad Stevens as coach.
Calgary: This roster has a lot of different potential looks to throw at teams, and almost all of them should be good defensively (unless you put those final three picks out all at once, especially with Mark Price).
Chicago: I didn’t much care for five of the final six players chosen (with the egregiously overlooked Blake Griffin being the exception), but the core rotation is excellent and balanced.
Los Angeles: I love the defensive potential here with the starting lineup, and I think it’s one of the better top sixes in this league. But I worry quite a bit about the bench other than Fat Lever, Maurice Lucas and Michael Finley. There were significantly more talented players available to perform the same roles.
Seattle: The back half of the bench is pretty bad, and the pairing of Moses Malone and Dwight Howard seems unwieldy. But the talent level of the nine-man rotation is very, very high. Chemistry is the big concern. How the heck did Julius Erving last so long?
Detroit: I still would love this roster if you swapped Giannis Antetokounmpo for any of a dozen available point guards so much more. But there’s a lot of talent because every single pick other than Antetokounmpo (and maybe Dave Cowens) was at least solid value.
Atlanta: Previously, I’d criticized the pick of Steve Francis. Now, I think the entire bench is bad. The defensive specialists everyone else wisely made sure to grab are notably absent. Carlos Boozer in the ninth round made me laugh, though. Still, Pat Riley is a fantastic coach, and I really like the starting lineup, which will have to carry a larger load for this team than any other.
San Antonio: It’s cool that Stephen Curry somehow got set up to be the top scorer in this league. Literally everyone on this roster other than Curry and final pick Neil Johnston is a noted defender. Chuck Daly (assuming that’s supposed to be Chuck) is such a great coach for this roster that I forgave the lack of traditional talent.
Minnesota: This roster is all over the place, some good picks and some bad ones, some good chemistry moves and some bad ones. But I think it mostly falls right into the middle of the pack.
Miami: This team should be so much fun. I’m not sure whether you get prime Arvydas Sabonis, but if you do, he may very well be the second-best player on the roster. I have major questions about chemistry and defense, though.
New York: The interesting thing about this team is how it seems to almost entirely avoid the 1980s and ’90s stars. The only exception is Charles Oakley. The talent level and chemistry are questionable here and won’t be helped by the odd-ball coaching choice.
Los Angeles 2: I’d start Sam Cassell and Brandon Roy over Derrick Rose and Pete Maravich all day in this scenario. I have a hard time supporting a supposed all-time All-Star scenario that features that Rose-Maravich backcourt. But Kevin Garnett and Bill Walton could be awesome, and Rick Adelman is very underrated. The bench was too recent in a lot of its picks.
St. Louis: I’m still concerned that the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh picks all were forwards. I get that Kevin McHale will play center and Paul Pressey can help run the point, but ballhandling and size will be issues for this otherwise talented team.
Austin: The first three picks were high on talent level and low on fit. The next five were high on fit and low on talent (unless you’re one of those people who think Rasheed Wallace was just as talented as Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber). The bench is pretty mediocre, and the starters aren’t great, and the perimeter is much weaker than the inside. But Chris Paul, Charles Barkley and James Harden aren’t going to be irrelevant.
San Francisco: Similar to Miami Vice, the defense is going to be a very big problem with this roster, and selecting Mike D’Antoni as coach only exacerbates that. The difference is that a lot of the picks seemed like reaches, none more than Kevin Love.
Dallas: I wanted to like the team that took Bill Russell, but I simply think most of these picks were either reaches or poor fits. Russell is going to have a huge burden on defense, and though he did coach his team to two titles, that seems like a bad choice here.
New Jersey: This roster features two of my favorite players of all time (Shawn Kemp and Latrell Sprewell), but I can’t really get behind it. The chemistry is all off, the first pick was silly, the second pick was arguably worse and P.J. Carlesimo was a funny twist but a huge stretch.
Philadelphia: Looking at this roster, I see two great picks: David Robinson and Red Auerbach. Everything in between ranges from absolutely bizarre (Doug Christie) to just plain blah (Freddie Brown). This roster has less talent than any other.
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