In the interest of starting a discussion of the quality of the rosters present this CSL post-season, I went ahead and arbitrarily ranked each player by the position they are ROSTERED in currently, during this playoff run. I took a series of things into account, including raw talent, this past season's performance, team success and fit for the position.
So - where does each roster stand in relation to the above rankings? I've average the individual rankings above into "team" averages below.
#1 - Detroit - Average Ranking = 4.8
The Pistons do not start a player that ranks lower than a 7 on this list. No other team can say that. In terms of the even distribution of talent, only Sacramento and then Chicago come close, Detroit just does it better.
#2 - Chicago - Average Ranking = 5.8
Speaking of Chicago, without Gary Harris dragging this average down (they would average 4.5 without him) they may have ousted Detroit as #1.
#3 - Washington - Average Ranking = 6.8
Interestingly, Washington locks down #3 behind a strong performance from John Wall (#1) and Kevin Love (#1) with some assistance from Trevor Ariza ranking 5th in a weak small forward pool.
#4 - Sacramento - Average Ranking = 7.2
The Kings maintain the tightest range imaginable, with four starters scoring between 8-9 and only Parsons - again in a weak small forward class - scoring third. This syncs well with their story arc - team basketball with no real alpha - but it sure has produced some impressive team success.
#5 - Houston - Average Ranking = 7.6
Houston decided to make this whole season (and this article) super difficult for everyone. It feels as if the whole roster is playing out of position. Harden, comically, ranks first on the list of power forwards. Only Blake Griffin had a chance to knock him from the top slot, but Harden has simply turned in a domineering performance. Igoudala ranks lower at point guard than he would at small forward, but Faried (at 6-7) locks down the #2 slot on our list of centers.
#6 - New Orleans - Average Ranking = 7.8
Damian Lillard helps us out here, coming in 5th at shooting guard to compliment Davis at 4th amongst the "power forwards". I've always wanted to have a backcourt threat that could take the scoring pressure off Davis and I feel like Lillard's inclusion (and to a lesser extent, Lee's presence) will help us avoid getting zoned to death.
#7 - Philadelphia - Average Ranking = 8.0
What an awesomely unique team. Parker locks down pole position in our list of small forwards competing in the post season and they brought Deron Williams out of mothballs to score 7th on our list of points. The lowest scoring player on the roster is Adreian Payne at #10 – not bad for such a young team.
#8 - Memphis - Average Ranking = 8.4
It's obvious that Memphis is a back-court oriented team, but what may be less obvious is the quality of the minutes they are getting from Daniel Miller (#11 - Center), a second round selection that's chipping in some decent stats.
#9 - Miami - Average Ranking = 8.8
If not for rostering one of the worst SG/SF combinations of any team in the post season, Miami would have ranked even higher. Lowry (#6), LeBron (#3) and Bosh (#6) all score very well, relative to their playoff peers.
#10 - Utah - Average Ranking = 8.8
These young upstarts rank three players in the top ten (Exum, Hayward and, of course, Favors) with Ennis looking in from right outside at #11. Hickson is the only head-scratcher here.
#11 – Orlando – Average Ranking = 9.4
This is why Paul George takes 25 shots per game. Although Hibbert and Sanders both score top-10 rankings, Chalmers ranks as the worst starting point guard in the playoffs and Wallace barely does better in an already weak small forward tranche.
#12 – Minnesota – Average Ranking = 9.4
Minnesota starts two all-stars in Chris Paul (#4) and Al Jefferson (#5), but could perhaps use some more assistance from other area of their roster.
#13 – Phoenix – Average Ranking = 9.6
This isn’t quite fair (a theme that will be true of the next couple of teams) due to Isaiah Austin’s injury, as he surely would have scored higher than Bobby Portis on this list. Both Bledsoe (#3) and Wiggins (#6) are held down by low scores for both Portis and Len.
#14 – Boston – Average Ranking = 10.4
Bad luck may be an understatement for Boston, with a healthy Westbrook they would have made some serious noise in the playoffs – and some serious noise on this list. They would have likely ranked slightly ahead of Memphis, with Westbrook holding down a top spot at either guard position.
#15 - New York – Average Ranking = 10.8
This, of course, comes with the HUGE caveat that player values, stats and positions really don’t matter for this team. Blake Griffin barely misses out on #1 for the power forward crew, but no other New York player cracks the top ten.
#16 - San Antonio – Average Ranking = 13.2
Well shucks. Durant is one series away from a return but the team won’t make it that far. Outside of KD, who surely would have locked down the top small forward position, San Antonio is being forced to play Parker (#14), Glen Rice (#16), Terrence Jones (#13) and Anderson Varejao (#16), hence the worst average ranking on this list. Durant is for sure gone, which is sad.
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