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combined). Barton had 12 different games with at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, filling up the box score on the nightly. He did whatever was needed and then some.</p><h2 id="c263">F Nikola Mirotic, New Orleans F Luc Mbah a Moute, Houston</h2><p id="2734">Nikola Mirotic’s teams went 34–21 when he played this year. They went 5–23 without him. That’s a 51-win pace with Mirotic and a 15-win pace without him. In 2018, NBA teams were pretty good with Mirotic and historically awful without him. <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-super-official-2018-nba-regular-season-awards-mvp-harden-most-improved-oladipo-simmons-mitchell-c0c1f2698b17">These are the facts</a>. Mirotic is Montenegrin Ryan Anderson, except that he’s actually useful on defense and can do a little more near the hoop too. On the right team, next to the right big man, he opens up the game for everyone else. And it turns out Anthony Davis is that big man.</p><p id="7718">The top bench forwards aren’t as easy to pick as the guards. Bench guards tend to come in cold and score quickly, while bench forwards often play a lot of roles and give the team a different look. That’s Luc Mbah a Moute. LRMAM is the straw that stirs Houston’s defensive drink. His length and switchiness opens up everything else, and he’s the most important Rocket outside of Harden, CP3, and Capela. He’s probably Houston’s only chance against Kevin Durant too, so we’re about to find out just how valuable he is.</p><h2 id="7ca0">C Larry Nance Jr., L.A. Lakers & Cleveland</h2><p id="ac21">How many big men are right for every matchup? Not many, and even the ones that <i>are</i> don’t always fit. Look at how Rudy Gobert and Joel Embiid were rendered useless at times in the wrong matchup this round or how Karl-Anthony Towns got played out of the series in round one. In 2018, it’s more important than ever for teams to have two or three centers to rotate into the right matchup and game situation. And one of them needs to be an athletic rim runner that can score efficiently and open up the offense. Nance is that guy. He ranked third among <a href="https://94feetreport.com/the-2018-nba-all-junior-teams-basketball-towns-jokic-porzingis-booker-richardson-rozier-turner-russell-d0de2552ba8f">all third-year players</a> in win shares this season behind only Towns and Jokic. Nance has been muted in the playoffs, but just wait for the role he’ll have if the Cavs make the Finals.</p><div id="f808" class="link-block"> <a href="https://94feetreport.com/the-2018-nba-all-junior-teams-basketball-towns-jokic-porzingis-booker-richardson-rozier-turner-russell-d0de2552ba8f"> <div> <div> <h2>The 2018 NBA All-Junior Teams</h2> <div><h3>This year’s rookies are incredible, and the sophomores have come around. So why is the junior class so disappointing?</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*A9aISrKnVJ2IM7EckeqKTQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="f7cb">32nd Team All NBA</h1><h2 id="8744">G Tomas Satoransky, Washington G Terry Rozier, Boston</h2><p id="1d8a">Satoransky saved the season for the Wizards, as much as you can consider an 8-seed in the East “saving” a season. Sato filled in for an injured John Wall and was fantastic, hitting 47% of his threes on 62% true shooting.

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His passing and off-ball abilities opened up the offense in a new way for Washington and gave them the third guard they desperately need going forward.</p><p id="6851">This was supposed to be Fred VanVleet’s 32nd Team spot, but Scary Terry stole it. Wouldn’t be the first thing he stole from Toronto.</p><h2 id="c95a">F Kyle Kuzma, L.A. Lakers F P.J. Tucker, Houston</h2><p id="2f5a">A complete list of players to lead the Los Angeles Lakers in scoring in their 57-year history: Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Worthy, Kareem, West, Baylor, Goodrich, Byron Scott, Sedale Threatt, Vlade Divac, Cedric Ceballos, Swaggy P, Lou Williams… and Kyle Kuzma. So the 90s got dark and the last few years were rough, but still, that’s a heck of a list to be on as a rookie coming off the bench. Imagine leading the Lakers in scoring as a rookie and not even deserving to make it onto the Rookie of the Year ballot.</p><p id="cffd">Tucker played the second-most minutes for a 67-win team that was the best in the NBA all season. Let’s go ahead and call that pretty valuable, no matter how pedestrian his 39% field goal percentage and six-points-six-rebounds stat line make it look.</p><h2 id="35c0">C Domantas Sabonis, Indiana</h2><p id="8105">Like others before (and next to) him, Sabonis blossomed after leaving Oklahoma City. Freed to play center instead of next to Steven Adams, Sabonis became the player everyone saw at Gonzaga. He played closer to the basket and ran the pivot in Indiana, and he racked up 24 points, 16 boards, and 4 dimes per 36 minutes on excellent shooting, outplaying Myles Turner much of the season. Against Cleveland, it was Sabonis who nearly carried the Pacers to victory at times. It remains to be seen how well the two will play together long-term, but this was a good start.</p><div id="c85f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://94feetreport.com/the-2018-nba-all-sophomore-teams-basketball-embiid-saric-murray-jaylen-brown-vanvleet-ingram-brogdon-45d8d9d6dcd1"> <div> <div> <h2>The 2018 NBA All-Sophomore Teams</h2> <div><h3>Enough about rookies — what about the surprisingly delightful sophomore class?</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*dCz8oh8EdZidZGTDvm_M-A.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="d6ed">33rd Team All NBA</h1><h2 id="5598">G Fred VanVleet, Toronto G Eric Gordon, Houston F Jerami Grant, Oklahoma City F Kelly Olynyk, Miami C Montrezl Harrell, L.A. Clippers</h2><p id="ad86">VanVleet reps the bench mob in Toronto. Gordon reps all the bench scoring in Houston. Grant was the starter OKC was afraid to bench Melo for. Olynyk’s +9.5 on/off per 100 possessions led Miami by a wide margin. And Harrell was energetic and fun, and sometimes that’s enough.</p><p id="753c">Apologies to Trey Burke, Pascal Siakim, and Bobby Portis. Maybe you’ll make 34th Team All NBA.</p><p id="16f7"><i>If you enjoyed this piece, give it a few claps 👏</i> <i>👏 so others will see it too! Follow Brandon on Medium or <a href="https://twitter.com/wheatonbrando">@wheatonbrando</a> for more sports, humor, and life musings. Visit Brandon’s <a href="https://readmedium.com/brandon-anderson-writing-archives-6b3ee1a29301#.6cteu050v">writing archives here</a>. Thanks to <a href="undefined">Basketball Reference</a>.</i></p></article></body>

The 2018 NBA Bench Mob All Stars

Anyone can make 1st Team All NBA, but what about 31st Team All NBA? Bench players matter, and it’s time we give them their due

The NBA awards one 6th Man Award to its most outstanding bench player, but the truth is that depth matters in the NBA, and far more than three bench players are worth recognizing on any ballot. Benches give depth and versatility, providing scoring punch and defensive kick. Benches change the game, for better or for worse, when stars can’t play all 48 minutes. So why don’t we care about the NBA’s best bench players?

Let’s pick the 2018 NBA Bench All Stars.

The rules here are simple. Just like for the NBA’s 6th Man Award, any player must start less than half of the games he played for his team to be eligible for 31st Team All NBA. Sorry Tyreke Evans — the Grizzlies just lost too many guys to injury. And sorry Tyler Johnson — my North Dakota love runs deep, but you look like Mose from The Office and it’s creepy.

We award First and Second Team NBA and Third Team NBA. I even gave out a Worst Team NBA for the 30th Team guys that were the worst regular starters in the league. So why stop there? Let’s pick a 31st Team All NBA of outstanding bench players, and a 32nd and a 33rd too. Let’s pick ’em all!!

The Official 2018 Worst Team All-NBA

Forget First Team All-NBA — who were the NBA’s five worst starters?

31st Team All NBA

G Lou Williams, L.A. Clippers G Will Barton, Denver

Lou Williams should not be eligible for this team. But he is, despite being clearly the best player on the Clippers this year and single-handedly keeping them in the playoff hunt at least two months longer than they should’ve been. Williams had the second highest scoring average ever for an NBA backup, trailing only Ricky Pierce’s 23.0 ppg in 1989–90. He may have just completed one of the best NBA bench seasons of all time.

Barton did a bit of everything for Denver. He consistently stepped up in when the spotlight was brightest for the Nuggets. Barton scored 37 in a one-point win against Chicago. He had 23/8/7 in a win in Cleveland. Barton made 5+ threes six times, hit double-digit assists and rebounds multiple times, and had nine games with at least four stocks (steals and blocks combined). Barton had 12 different games with at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, filling up the box score on the nightly. He did whatever was needed and then some.

F Nikola Mirotic, New Orleans F Luc Mbah a Moute, Houston

Nikola Mirotic’s teams went 34–21 when he played this year. They went 5–23 without him. That’s a 51-win pace with Mirotic and a 15-win pace without him. In 2018, NBA teams were pretty good with Mirotic and historically awful without him. These are the facts. Mirotic is Montenegrin Ryan Anderson, except that he’s actually useful on defense and can do a little more near the hoop too. On the right team, next to the right big man, he opens up the game for everyone else. And it turns out Anthony Davis is that big man.

The top bench forwards aren’t as easy to pick as the guards. Bench guards tend to come in cold and score quickly, while bench forwards often play a lot of roles and give the team a different look. That’s Luc Mbah a Moute. LRMAM is the straw that stirs Houston’s defensive drink. His length and switchiness opens up everything else, and he’s the most important Rocket outside of Harden, CP3, and Capela. He’s probably Houston’s only chance against Kevin Durant too, so we’re about to find out just how valuable he is.

C Larry Nance Jr., L.A. Lakers & Cleveland

How many big men are right for every matchup? Not many, and even the ones that are don’t always fit. Look at how Rudy Gobert and Joel Embiid were rendered useless at times in the wrong matchup this round or how Karl-Anthony Towns got played out of the series in round one. In 2018, it’s more important than ever for teams to have two or three centers to rotate into the right matchup and game situation. And one of them needs to be an athletic rim runner that can score efficiently and open up the offense. Nance is that guy. He ranked third among all third-year players in win shares this season behind only Towns and Jokic. Nance has been muted in the playoffs, but just wait for the role he’ll have if the Cavs make the Finals.

The 2018 NBA All-Junior Teams

This year’s rookies are incredible, and the sophomores have come around. So why is the junior class so disappointing?

32nd Team All NBA

G Tomas Satoransky, Washington G Terry Rozier, Boston

Satoransky saved the season for the Wizards, as much as you can consider an 8-seed in the East “saving” a season. Sato filled in for an injured John Wall and was fantastic, hitting 47% of his threes on 62% true shooting. His passing and off-ball abilities opened up the offense in a new way for Washington and gave them the third guard they desperately need going forward.

This was supposed to be Fred VanVleet’s 32nd Team spot, but Scary Terry stole it. Wouldn’t be the first thing he stole from Toronto.

F Kyle Kuzma, L.A. Lakers F P.J. Tucker, Houston

A complete list of players to lead the Los Angeles Lakers in scoring in their 57-year history: Kobe, Shaq, Magic, Worthy, Kareem, West, Baylor, Goodrich, Byron Scott, Sedale Threatt, Vlade Divac, Cedric Ceballos, Swaggy P, Lou Williams… and Kyle Kuzma. So the 90s got dark and the last few years were rough, but still, that’s a heck of a list to be on as a rookie coming off the bench. Imagine leading the Lakers in scoring as a rookie and not even deserving to make it onto the Rookie of the Year ballot.

Tucker played the second-most minutes for a 67-win team that was the best in the NBA all season. Let’s go ahead and call that pretty valuable, no matter how pedestrian his 39% field goal percentage and six-points-six-rebounds stat line make it look.

C Domantas Sabonis, Indiana

Like others before (and next to) him, Sabonis blossomed after leaving Oklahoma City. Freed to play center instead of next to Steven Adams, Sabonis became the player everyone saw at Gonzaga. He played closer to the basket and ran the pivot in Indiana, and he racked up 24 points, 16 boards, and 4 dimes per 36 minutes on excellent shooting, outplaying Myles Turner much of the season. Against Cleveland, it was Sabonis who nearly carried the Pacers to victory at times. It remains to be seen how well the two will play together long-term, but this was a good start.

The 2018 NBA All-Sophomore Teams

Enough about rookies — what about the surprisingly delightful sophomore class?

33rd Team All NBA

G Fred VanVleet, Toronto G Eric Gordon, Houston F Jerami Grant, Oklahoma City F Kelly Olynyk, Miami C Montrezl Harrell, L.A. Clippers

VanVleet reps the bench mob in Toronto. Gordon reps all the bench scoring in Houston. Grant was the starter OKC was afraid to bench Melo for. Olynyk’s +9.5 on/off per 100 possessions led Miami by a wide margin. And Harrell was energetic and fun, and sometimes that’s enough.

Apologies to Trey Burke, Pascal Siakim, and Bobby Portis. Maybe you’ll make 34th Team All NBA.

If you enjoyed this piece, give it a few claps 👏 👏 so others will see it too! Follow Brandon on Medium or @wheatonbrando for more sports, humor, and life musings. Visit Brandon’s writing archives here. Thanks to Basketball Reference.