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Abstract

ay, it’s ‘VanVleet’ — no space. After two Final Fours at Wichita State and a run at 6th Man of the Year, it’s time we get it right.</p><h2 id="235f">SG Tyreke Evans, Memphis — $3.3m</h2><p id="da6c">Evans had the best individual numbers of anyone on the Tim Duncan All-Stars and would be the TD MVP if he’d done it for almost anyone else other than the tanking Grizzlies. He averaged 19 points, five boards, and five assists in a throwback to his <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2010.html#roy::none">Rookie of the Year</a> campaign that beat out Stephen Curry. Tyreke’s shooting slowed as the gritty Grizz season grinded to a halt, but he finished with career-bests 40% threes, 56% true shooting, and a 111 offensive rating. He was so good early he made <a href="https://94feetreport.com/the-quarter-season-western-conference-nba-all-stars-77ec73d86899">my Quarter Season All-Stars</a> and good enough late Memphis had to bench him to tank. The 22-59 Grizzlies actually had a positive +0.9 rating per 100 possessions with Evans on the court!</p><h2 id="f2df">SF Will Barton, Denver —$ 3.5m</h2><p id="044e">Barton is a holdover from <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-2016-17-tim-duncan-all-stars-94a286314dde">last year’s Timmay All Stars</a>, and but he moves into the starting lineup. Barton is the energy guy that sparks the Nuggets night after night, and he’s often the one guy with the courage and ability to create something in a big moment. Barton is what Corey Brewer was supposed to be: he makes energy defensive plays while filling up the box score with a 16/5/4 line, a 37% trey, and a 113 offensive rating. He leads Denver in minutes played and is top three on the team in points, rebounds, assists, threes, blocks, and steals. And he’s increased his output to 21/7/4 in April as the Nuggets push for the playoffs. But this will be Barton’s last appearance on the TD All-Stars. It’s time for him to get paid.</p><h2 id="a702">PF Luc Mbah a Moute, Houston — $2.1m</h2><p id="b2ca">LRMAM is the single most important player on this list, and after an unfortunate dislocated shoulder in a meaningless game Tuesday, we may find that out the hard way. Mbah a Moute is the Rockets’ X-factor, a jackknife that does a bit of everything on both ends. You’d never know it from his 8/3/1 line, but LRMAM gives Houston the versatility to do what it does defensively. He’s <a href="https://twitter.com/JADubin5/status/983909953621635073">one of seven players</a> in the league that guards opposing PG, SG, SF, and PF at least 15% of his defensive possessions, switching onto anyone at any time, as important to the best team in the NBA’s defense as Harden is to the offense. Mbah a Moute reps Gerald Green and Nene, plus a few other Rockets that just missed the price cut. Let’s hope his injury isn’t season-ending.</p><h2 id="a81a">C Emeka Okafor, New Orleans —$ 775k</h2><p id="ad1f">What a story! The #2 pick in a draft top four that included Dwight Howard, Ben Gordon, and Shaun Livingston, Okafor was out of the league entirely for FOUR YEARS. We all chuckled when Okafor attempted his comeback, but after a missed chance with the Sixers, he bounced around the minors at age 35 before getting a shot with New Orleans. Now he’s averaging 12 and 12 per 36 with the best rebounding and block rates of his career and a 116 offensive rating as the starting center on a playoff team. Incredible. Okafor was a godsend for a team that lost DeMarcus Cousins and had no financial flexibility — so too Darius Miller’s 41% three and veteran Rajon Rondo, though Rondo’s technically ineligible here since Chicago is paying him, too.</p><div id="6b27" class="link-block"> <a href="https://94feetreport.com/the-perfect-2018-all-nba-teams-harden-curry-westbrook-lillard-lebron-durant-giannis-davis-embiid-towns-d5a79340de36"> <div> <div> <h2>Choosing the Perfect 2018 All-NBA Teams</h2> <div><h3>Who’s the second First Team guard? Does LeBron make First Team? And which guards miss the cut completely?</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*C30FYH5zKb989OI2hONMpg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h1 id="5551">THE BENCH</h1><h2 id="15fe">G Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn — $1.5m</h2><p id="d636">My computer tried to autocorrect Dinwiddie to “unwieldiness,” ironic for a starter-quality point guard on a cheap non-guaranteed deal that will probably land him on the TD All Stars next year too. Dinwiddie’s shooting splits are a bit rough at 39/33/81 after being asked to carry Brooklyn’s offense half the season, but he fills up the box score with 16/4/8 per 36. Not

Options

bad for a guy Detroit and Chicago both cut in the last couple years, especially considering he’s a better point guard than either of them have.</p><h2 id="286d">G Quinn Cook, Golden State — $14,832</h2><p id="70e9">Waived by both Atlanta and New Orleans earlier this season, Quinn Cook is suddenly a key figure in the Warriors bid for a repeat title. Consider that Golden State has a point guard averaging 16/4/5 per 36 with 50/45/91 shooting, and it’s <i>not</i> Steph Curry. Cook is hitting over 50% of his mid-range shots, too. The Pels and Hawks paid Cook$ 125k to go away. Instead we may be watching him play deep into the summer.</p><h2 id="ee1b">G Trey Burke, New York — $784k</h2><p id="0f8c">Burke has given Knicks fans a reason to keep watching after the Porzingis injury, averaging 16 points and six dimes since the All-Star break and giving the MSG crowd a jolt of energy. Most of his shots are long twos, and he’s making a completely unsustainable 58% of them. Combine that with his terrible defense and there’s no way this thing sticks, but he’s fun either way and gets this year’s Dion Waiters spot on the team.</p><h2 id="5f93">G/F Royce O’Neale, Utah —$ 816k</h2><p id="4c05">I fell in love with <a href="https://94feetreport.com/we-watched-it-so-you-didnt-have-to-utah-jazz-vs-portland-blazers-770b48c8eeab">O’Neale in February</a>, an undrafted rookie wing that slid right into the Utah rotation at almost no cost, one of those glue guys every team needs. O’Neale’s length makes him switchy and useful on defense, and he can do just enough dribbling and passing to add offensive versatility. He plays and guards anything but center. The Jazz are +10.3 per 100 with him on the court, and O’Neale has an impressive +8.2 on/off so they’re truly better with him out there. Utah is 12–1 when O’Neale plays at least 23 minutes and 36–32 otherwise. O’Neale made just 2.7% of Gordon Hayward’s salary this year, and he’s got two more dirt-cheap non-guaranteed years on his deal. Casual fans are about to meet him in the playoffs.</p><div id="6f1b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://94feetreport.com/we-watched-it-so-you-didnt-have-to-utah-jazz-vs-portland-blazers-770b48c8eeab"> <div> <div> <h2>We Watched It So You Didn’t Have To: Utah Jazz vs Portland Blazers</h2> <div><h3>A career game from Joe Ingles, an emerging Royce O’Neale, and a long pesky team led by Donovan Mitchell</h3></div> <div><p></p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*zTxJ5Yy_T4Qgl0_gdD904A.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><h2 id="9753">G/F Reggie Bullock, Detroit — $2.5m</h2><p id="39a3">The Clippers and Suns didn’t want Bullock, and the Pistons didn’t either until they had no other options. Now he’s just about the only reliable wing on the roster. Bullock started more games for Detroit than anyone but Andre Drummond and ranked second in the NBA in three-point percentage at 45%, with a 118 offensive rating and 62% true shooting.</p><h2 id="0b05">F Jeff Green, Cleveland —$ 2.1m</h2><p id="430c">The Cavs committed to starting Jeff Green in the playoffs, and they’ll need his versatility when they’re not playing the Warriors in the Finals. Green is apparently a point center now, his 115 offensive rating and 59% true shooting the best in his career. Cleveland lineups with LeBron, Love, and Green have a gaudy <a href="https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/983451458094936065">126 offensive rating</a> and rate +15.8 since Love’s return from injury. Just one more thing to add to LeBron’s infinite list of career accomplishments: he made Jeff Green useful somehow.</p><h2 id="4185">C David West, Golden State — $2.3m</h2><p id="1880">Some Warriors center had to be here, so we’ll go with the guy that’s played the most minutes. A former two-time All Star, West is posting a career-best PER (21.2) and true shooting (61%) at age 37, and that elbow shot is more deadly than ever as he’s hitting 64% of his attempts from 10 to 16 feet on the season. Just feast your eyes on West’s per-36 line: 18 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. All that for the veteran minimum, along with Zaza, JaVale, and Jordan Bell. The Warriors remain unfair.</p><p id="914b"><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 2017–18 Tim Duncan All Stars

Who are the 12 best bargain players across the NBA this season?

For years, Tim Duncan took a below-market contract for the Spurs despite putting up mirror image per-36 numbers every year for two decades. He made only $5 million in his final season and $10 million the three years prior, a steal for a guy still among the very best in the league when he stepped on the court. That cheap contract allowed the Spurs to add LaMarcus Aldridge and keep the rest of their core together year after year.

Duncan isn’t the only veteran giving up money for the betterment of his team. This piece could just as well be called the Dirk Nowitzki All Stars or the Manu Ginobili All Stars. Forty-year-old Ginobili made the key plays down the stretch Monday night to send the Spurs to their 21st straight playoff berth, while Dirk made 47% of his one-legged mid-rangers with 46/41/90 shooting splits at age 39. Like Duncan, each made $5 million or less this year. Would you rather pay for an entire Hall of Fame career or four years of Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng? You still have $12 million left if you picked Manu.

The Super Official 2017–18 NBA Awards

James Harden is MVP, but who’s Rookie or Coach of the Year? Let’s hand out some NBA hardware…

Thus was born the Tim Duncan All Stars. In a salary cap league, every dollar matters. Superstars will always be king, but any successful NBA team will have to hit on cheap veteran deals to reach the highest heights. There are two simple qualifications to be a Tim Duncan All Star:

You must make $5 million or less this season.
No rookie deals allowed. Any good young player on his first contract is especially valuable, but we already know Karl-Anthony Towns and Ben Simmons are really good.

Many of the players below will be free agents this summer and should get a big raise on their next contract. That was the case for some of last year’s Tim Duncan All Stars like James Johnson, Dion Waiters, Patty Mills, and Joe Ingles. One season’s bargain is the next year’s overpriced veteran.

This year’s Tim Duncan All-Star starters make under $11 million combined, yet they may have made the Eastern playoffs. The entire roster makes under $22 million, less than Brook Lopez and barely more than Portland’s paying Andrew Nicholson not to play for them the next five years. You can have this entire 12-man squad for the small price of just 691 minutes of Chandler Parsons… and you got $1 million and change leftover, too.

Without further ado, your 2017–18 Tim Duncan All Stars…

The Official 2018 Worst Team All-NBA

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

STARTING LINEUP

PG Fred VanVleet, Toronto — $1.3m

VanVleet doesn’t start for the Raptors, but we’re giving him the reins to our team. FVV went from undrafted to playing closing minutes for the best team in the East in under two years. He averages 16/4/6 per 36, and he’s hitting 41% of his threes. But if you need proof VanVleet is the real deal, just check the results. Toronto has played 1500 minutes with FVV on the court at +13.1 per 100 possessions, and he sports a +7.7 on/off. Those are good numbers for anyone, but they’re mind-blowing for a bench player on one of the league’s top teams and highlight just how good the Toronto bench has been. And by the way, it’s ‘VanVleet’ — no space. After two Final Fours at Wichita State and a run at 6th Man of the Year, it’s time we get it right.

SG Tyreke Evans, Memphis — $3.3m

Evans had the best individual numbers of anyone on the Tim Duncan All-Stars and would be the TD MVP if he’d done it for almost anyone else other than the tanking Grizzlies. He averaged 19 points, five boards, and five assists in a throwback to his Rookie of the Year campaign that beat out Stephen Curry. Tyreke’s shooting slowed as the gritty Grizz season grinded to a halt, but he finished with career-bests 40% threes, 56% true shooting, and a 111 offensive rating. He was so good early he made my Quarter Season All-Stars and good enough late Memphis had to bench him to tank. The 22–59 Grizzlies actually had a positive +0.9 rating per 100 possessions with Evans on the court!

SF Will Barton, Denver — $3.5m

Barton is a holdover from last year’s Timmay All Stars, and but he moves into the starting lineup. Barton is the energy guy that sparks the Nuggets night after night, and he’s often the one guy with the courage and ability to create something in a big moment. Barton is what Corey Brewer was supposed to be: he makes energy defensive plays while filling up the box score with a 16/5/4 line, a 37% trey, and a 113 offensive rating. He leads Denver in minutes played and is top three on the team in points, rebounds, assists, threes, blocks, and steals. And he’s increased his output to 21/7/4 in April as the Nuggets push for the playoffs. But this will be Barton’s last appearance on the TD All-Stars. It’s time for him to get paid.

PF Luc Mbah a Moute, Houston — $2.1m

LRMAM is the single most important player on this list, and after an unfortunate dislocated shoulder in a meaningless game Tuesday, we may find that out the hard way. Mbah a Moute is the Rockets’ X-factor, a jackknife that does a bit of everything on both ends. You’d never know it from his 8/3/1 line, but LRMAM gives Houston the versatility to do what it does defensively. He’s one of seven players in the league that guards opposing PG, SG, SF, and PF at least 15% of his defensive possessions, switching onto anyone at any time, as important to the best team in the NBA’s defense as Harden is to the offense. Mbah a Moute reps Gerald Green and Nene, plus a few other Rockets that just missed the price cut. Let’s hope his injury isn’t season-ending.

C Emeka Okafor, New Orleans — $775k

What a story! The #2 pick in a draft top four that included Dwight Howard, Ben Gordon, and Shaun Livingston, Okafor was out of the league entirely for FOUR YEARS. We all chuckled when Okafor attempted his comeback, but after a missed chance with the Sixers, he bounced around the minors at age 35 before getting a shot with New Orleans. Now he’s averaging 12 and 12 per 36 with the best rebounding and block rates of his career and a 116 offensive rating as the starting center on a playoff team. Incredible. Okafor was a godsend for a team that lost DeMarcus Cousins and had no financial flexibility — so too Darius Miller’s 41% three and veteran Rajon Rondo, though Rondo’s technically ineligible here since Chicago is paying him, too.

Choosing the Perfect 2018 All-NBA Teams

Who’s the second First Team guard? Does LeBron make First Team? And which guards miss the cut completely?

THE BENCH

G Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn — $1.5m

My computer tried to autocorrect Dinwiddie to “unwieldiness,” ironic for a starter-quality point guard on a cheap non-guaranteed deal that will probably land him on the TD All Stars next year too. Dinwiddie’s shooting splits are a bit rough at 39/33/81 after being asked to carry Brooklyn’s offense half the season, but he fills up the box score with 16/4/8 per 36. Not bad for a guy Detroit and Chicago both cut in the last couple years, especially considering he’s a better point guard than either of them have.

G Quinn Cook, Golden State — $14,832

Waived by both Atlanta and New Orleans earlier this season, Quinn Cook is suddenly a key figure in the Warriors bid for a repeat title. Consider that Golden State has a point guard averaging 16/4/5 per 36 with 50/45/91 shooting, and it’s not Steph Curry. Cook is hitting over 50% of his mid-range shots, too. The Pels and Hawks paid Cook $125k to go away. Instead we may be watching him play deep into the summer.

G Trey Burke, New York — $784k

Burke has given Knicks fans a reason to keep watching after the Porzingis injury, averaging 16 points and six dimes since the All-Star break and giving the MSG crowd a jolt of energy. Most of his shots are long twos, and he’s making a completely unsustainable 58% of them. Combine that with his terrible defense and there’s no way this thing sticks, but he’s fun either way and gets this year’s Dion Waiters spot on the team.

G/F Royce O’Neale, Utah — $816k

I fell in love with O’Neale in February, an undrafted rookie wing that slid right into the Utah rotation at almost no cost, one of those glue guys every team needs. O’Neale’s length makes him switchy and useful on defense, and he can do just enough dribbling and passing to add offensive versatility. He plays and guards anything but center. The Jazz are +10.3 per 100 with him on the court, and O’Neale has an impressive +8.2 on/off so they’re truly better with him out there. Utah is 12–1 when O’Neale plays at least 23 minutes and 36–32 otherwise. O’Neale made just 2.7% of Gordon Hayward’s salary this year, and he’s got two more dirt-cheap non-guaranteed years on his deal. Casual fans are about to meet him in the playoffs.

We Watched It So You Didn’t Have To: Utah Jazz vs Portland Blazers

A career game from Joe Ingles, an emerging Royce O’Neale, and a long pesky team led by Donovan Mitchell

G/F Reggie Bullock, Detroit — $2.5m

The Clippers and Suns didn’t want Bullock, and the Pistons didn’t either until they had no other options. Now he’s just about the only reliable wing on the roster. Bullock started more games for Detroit than anyone but Andre Drummond and ranked second in the NBA in three-point percentage at 45%, with a 118 offensive rating and 62% true shooting.

F Jeff Green, Cleveland — $2.1m

The Cavs committed to starting Jeff Green in the playoffs, and they’ll need his versatility when they’re not playing the Warriors in the Finals. Green is apparently a point center now, his 115 offensive rating and 59% true shooting the best in his career. Cleveland lineups with LeBron, Love, and Green have a gaudy 126 offensive rating and rate +15.8 since Love’s return from injury. Just one more thing to add to LeBron’s infinite list of career accomplishments: he made Jeff Green useful somehow.

C David West, Golden State — $2.3m

Some Warriors center had to be here, so we’ll go with the guy that’s played the most minutes. A former two-time All Star, West is posting a career-best PER (21.2) and true shooting (61%) at age 37, and that elbow shot is more deadly than ever as he’s hitting 64% of his attempts from 10 to 16 feet on the season. Just feast your eyes on West’s per-36 line: 18 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. All that for the veteran minimum, along with Zaza, JaVale, and Jordan Bell. The Warriors remain unfair.

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.