You can learn a lot about an NBA team's identity by listening to the coach's buzzwords, studying stats and poring over play-type trends. But you might learn even more by simply looking at which five players take the floor for the opening tip.
A first unit tells you everything you need to know about a team's identity.
Does the wing stopper beat out the sharpshooter for the starting small forward spot? Does the floor-stretching big man earn the nod over the stalwart post defender? Is there enough shooting? How many capable shot creators are there? Who's the weak link offenses will attack?
For the most part, we know who'll be starting this season; most positions aren't up for grabs. But almost every team has a spot in the starting lineup that remains unsettled heading into training camp.
Here, we'll project the opening-night starters for each NBA team. By necessity, that'll require some guesswork, and it'll also mean accounting for injuries that could keep former starters on the bench for a while.
In a few cases, the projected starting unit won't be the team's optimal one. So where appropriate, we'll toss in some mention ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Grant Hughes
Projecting Every NBA Team’s Starting 5 for 2015-16 Season
October 5th, 2015 by Grant Hughes Leave a reply »
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