Best starting lineups?

[Roy H.]

Bleacher Report ranks the top 10 starting lineups as:

1.  Warriors
2.  Celtics
3.  76ers
4.  Clippers
5.  Nuggets
6.  Nets
7.  Suns
8.  Twolves
9. Bucks
10. Grizzlies

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10041846-ranking-every-nba-starting-lineup-after-2022-free-agency

Bucks in 9th was good for a chuckle.  What say you?

[Vermont Green]

Things that struck me:

Most of the top line ups include two traditional bigs, others a big and a swing.  I am not seeing too many of the 1-big line ups that I keep hearing are the new norm.

BKN has Simmons starting at Center.  Wow.  I don't see that working.

Philly will be interesting now that they have PJ Tucker to play PF and Harris can play as a wing.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.  And of course how good Harden is.

MIN could be a sleeper.

Not sure MIL is as bad as 9th but they have some questions.

[Celtics2021]

I say it's unfortunate our starting lineup only got to play together in 12 of 24 games last playoffs.

With regard to the Bucks, it's not clear what their starting lineup is.  They have Grayson Allen in there at the 2, and while he started most games during the regular season, he came off the bench for the majority of the playoffs.  I'd put them above Minnesota tho, that's silly.  Numbers 4-6 all have big question marks of guys who were out most or all of last season (Kawhi, Wall, and George, Murray and Porter Jr, and Simmons and Harris), and I do think there's a little bias towards thinking "if only these teams were healthy last year."  The Bucks probably deserve to be above the Nets also.  I'm fine with most of the rest of them.

I guess mine would be:

Warriors
Celtics
6ers
Clippers
Nuggets
Suns
Bucks
Nets
Grizzlies
Wolves

[RJ87]

Things that struck me:

Most of the top line ups include two traditional bigs, others a big and a swing.  I am not seeing too many of the 1-big line ups that I keep hearing are the new norm.

BKN has Simmons starting at Center.  Wow.  I don't see that working.

Philly will be interesting now that they have PJ Tucker to play PF and Harris can play as a wing.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.  And of course how good Harden is.

MIN could be a sleeper.

Not sure MIL is as bad as 9th but they have some questions.

Philly has tried to play Harris as a wing before - when they had Al - and it didn't work. I don't see it working now.

[Vermont Green]

Things that struck me:

Most of the top line ups include two traditional bigs, others a big and a swing.  I am not seeing too many of the 1-big line ups that I keep hearing are the new norm.

BKN has Simmons starting at Center.  Wow.  I don't see that working.

Philly will be interesting now that they have PJ Tucker to play PF and Harris can play as a wing.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.  And of course how good Harden is.

MIN could be a sleeper.

Not sure MIL is as bad as 9th but they have some questions.

Philly has tried to play Harris as a wing before - when they had Al - and it didn't work. I don't see it working now.

They apparently thought the problem was Horford, not Harris.  I don't expect Harris to break out or anything but I think he is better suited to play as a true wing.  That is a solid starting line up, even with Maxey.

[RJ87]

Things that struck me:

Most of the top line ups include two traditional bigs, others a big and a swing.  I am not seeing too many of the 1-big line ups that I keep hearing are the new norm.

BKN has Simmons starting at Center.  Wow.  I don't see that working.

Philly will be interesting now that they have PJ Tucker to play PF and Harris can play as a wing.  It will be interesting to see how that goes.  And of course how good Harden is.

MIN could be a sleeper.

Not sure MIL is as bad as 9th but they have some questions.

Philly has tried to play Harris as a wing before - when they had Al - and it didn't work. I don't see it working now.

They apparently thought the problem was Horford, not Harris.  I don't expect Harris to break out or anything but I think he is better suited to play as a true wing.  That is a solid starting line up, even with Maxey.

Hmm. I think he's best as a stretch four because his foot speed isn't that great. Maybe Tucker's defensive versatility makes it work better? It'll be an experiment for sure.

[bdm860]

Questioning the Clippers so high.

4 guys over 30.  2 of which haven't played in over a year.  Genuinely curious as to how that's going to play out over the season.

A healthy prime Kawhi/George can carry any lineup though, but are we still going to be seeing prime Kawhi?

[Goldstar88]

Questioning the Clippers so high.

4 guys over 30.  2 of which haven't played in over a year.  Genuinely curious as to how that's going to play out over the season.

A healthy prime Kawhi/George can carry any lineup though, but are we still going to be seeing prime Kawhi?

The Warriors have a bunch of guys over 30 and they just one the whole thing.  It’s a crapshoot, I suppose.

[Moranis]

The Bucks at 9 in ridiculous.  They have the best player in the world.  2 other all star level players, a veteran starting center that has been there for years, and a pesky shooter in the last spot.  They basically won the title with that lineup and may have last year had Middleton not gotten hurt.  Golden State is probably the only team I'm confident in saying wouldn't swap their starting 5 with the Bucks right now (others might not, but they'd certainly think about it). 

[Goldstar88]

The Bucks at 9 in ridiculous.  They have the best player in the world.  2 other all star level players, a veteran starting center that has been there fore years, and a pesky shooter in the last spot.  They basically won the title with that lineup and may have last year had Middleton not gotten hurt.  Golden State is probably the only team I'm confident in saying wouldn't swap their starting 5 with the Bucks right now (others might not, but they'd certainly think about it).

I agree. That’s asinine. You could make an argument that the Bucks should be #1.

[gouki88]

I am really quite blown away at Minnesota being ahead of Milwaukee. Hilarious. No idea why the Clippers are so high too, particularly over Milwaukee and Denver.

I think ours is the best though. We saw what our starting lineup was capable of for a couple of months last season. Assuming health, ours is the best

[jambr380]

Interesting that the #1 team in the EC last season didn't make the top 10 list. I know Herro doesn't count because he is the 6th man, but I guess they aren't that high on Butler/Bam.

[Celtics2021]

Interesting that the #1 team in the EC last season didn't make the top 10 list. I know Herro doesn't count because he is the 6th man, but I guess they aren't that high on Butler/Bam.

It’s tough to know what Miami’s starting lineup will be without Tucker (as the article points out, he was in 9 of their 10 most-used lineups last season).  They’re projecting Lowry, Strus, Robinson, Butler, and Adebayo, which is rather wanting.  But it also shows how Miami could be in a bit of trouble.  They lost Tucker and didn’t replace him.