I'm going to offer some thoughts on each of the teams. Some caveats: I didn't watch all of these players. I have my own biases, which I'm probably not really going to be a lot on. I've got my own internal criteria for judging teams, which I'm probably completely inconsistent on. For the most part, I'm going to be pretty liberal in terms of skills adjusting. If a guy had a rangy jump shot when he played, I'm going to assume he'd be a good shooter now. If a guy played elite defense in his era, I'm going to assume he could do it today. So, with that said:
BOSTON
LeBron James
David Robinson
Rick Barry
Bob McAdoo
Allen Iverson
Chauncey Billups
Dwight Howard
Kevin McHale
Reggie Miller
Deron Williams
Robinson / McHale / Lebron is a heck of a combo. I'm not completely sold on the back court in a league of all-time greats, but both Reggie and Chauncey would be able to play off of Lebron. Every guy in the starting lineup can create his own shot while also playing off the ball. Very solid bench, although I'm not sure if I like Deron Williams here. He had some very good seasons, and might even belong here, but I think he lost luster as his career went on.
Preliminary East ranking: 2nd
PHILADELPHIA
Larry Bird
Karl Malone
Patrick Ewing
Nate "Tiny" Archibald
Paul Pierce
Jason Kidd
Sidney Moncrief
Jerry Lucas
Bob Lanier
Mark Aguirre
Having the top pick helps tremendously, even with the depth in this draft. I always said that if I had the #1 pick, I'd trade down and pick one of two players: Magic (my presumptive #1 pick) or Larry. Those two epitomized what it meant to get the most out of teammates. Larry easily could have hung more stats, but instead he focused on doing what was best for the team. I think only a handful of superstars had that mentality. So, he's the perfect type of player to build around.
Larry, though, isn't enough of a foundation to win in a league like this. Like anybody, he needs a team around him, and I think this team is constructed almost perfectly. Karl Malone is a rare combination of size, strength and athleticism. Until Tim Duncan came along, he was pretty much the consensus best PF of all-time. Filling out the front court is Ewing, who was excellent at scoring, rebounding, and defending.
I really agree with Who's evaluation of this team. Every single player in the starting lineup could defend. Bob Lanier and Sidney Moncrief could be starters in this league, but both come off the bench. Nate Archibald is a 30 / 10 microwave of a player. The only question I have is Jerry Lucas, because I never saw him and haven't done a ton of research on him. However, from what I read he was a 20 / 20 guy who could shoot at an elite level. As probably a 10th man, that's dang impressive.
I think why I really like this team is the versatility. Larry can easily move up to PF, with Pierce at SF and Moncrief at SG. In shifting around its lineup, the team loses nothing, which most teams can't say. There are really no weaknesses here: offense, defense, passing, rebounding, shooting.
Preliminary East Ranking: 1st
CHICAGO
Tim Duncan
Oscar Robertson
Elgin Baylor
Willis Reed
Sam Jones
Dan Majerle
Scottie Pippen
Mitch Richmond
Bob Cousy
Rasheed Wallace
This team made two of the best value picks of the draft, Elgin Baylor and Bob Cousy. And, it's a really strong team, but I've got to be honest: I think they took a real step back by dealing McHale and Reggie. As I've mentioned previously, my view of leagues like this -- where all talent is elite -- is that games are won or lost based upon mismatches. The Duncan / McHale front court created that sort of mismatch, where any team was going to be smothered defensively going up against those two. I think that was lost a little. Yes, Pippen is a great defender as well, but he's not going to work in conjunction with Duncan in the same way. I also think Elgin Baylor's role is a little confused now. Is he slotted to play SG? Yes, he was 6'5" (without shoes?) but he was a SF / PF. I like him at SF, but that puts him in conflict with Scottie. The team is still supremely talented, but I think they took a step back.
Preliminary East Ranking: 3rd
DETROIT
Kawhi Leonard
John Havlicek
John Stockton
Elvin Hayes
Dikembe Mutombo
Alonzo Mourning
Bernard King
Pete Maravich
Michael Cooper
Al Horford
I love a lot of these players individually, but I think the team lacks a top-15 player of all-time, which really sets it back. I like the defensive identity, but my personal belief in these leagues is that great offense is going to beat great defense. The hope is that players will add both, but when speaking about pure defense, I don't think anybody can "shut down" the all-time greats, which is why a team needs to pack elite scoring punch to win. I'm not sure that this team has that.
Preliminary East ranking: 6th
MIAMI
Shaquille O'Neal
Jerry West
Dwyane Wade
Paul George
Nate Thurmond
Manu Ginobili
Bobby Jones
Chris Webber
Marcus Smart
Detlef Schrempf
Shaq plus West is one of the best -- if not the best -- inside/outside duos in the league. This team has us consider one of the great what ifs in NBA history: what is Shaq and Webber had played together? Would that have worked? Orlando didn't think so, mostly due to spacing and FT shooting. I would have loved to see that lineup in the real NBA. In this league, would they get in each other's way? It's a possibility, but I give it the benefit of the doubt.
I think this team had a couple of overdrafts, which leads to a very slight talent deficit, but overall a fun team to watch.
Preliminary East ranking: 5th
ATLANTA
Wilt Chamberlain
Dirk Nowitzki
Walt Frazier
Paul Westphal
Grant Hill
George Gervin
Ralph Sampson
Robert Parish
Terry Porter
Marques Johnson
This team has been a hard one for me to evaluate. With each pick after Wilt and outside of George Gervin, I've questioned whether there was better talent on the board, whether Who was reaching a bit. However, after 10 rounds I just really like how this team fits together. Wilt / Dirk / Hill / Westphal / Frazier would just really fit together well as a team, and probably the right mix of talent to get the most out of Wilt.
Preliminary East ranking: 4th
LOS ANGELES
Kevin Garnett
Steph Curry
Tracey McGrady
Julius Erving
Dave Cowens
Steve Nash
Draymond Green
Artis Gilmore
Shawn Marion
Elton Brand
This team has a really smart starting lineup. KG + Cowens would be a tenacious starting front court, and Steph Curry makes the team better just by stepping on the court, giving everybody else so much space. Draymond Green doesn't belong on this team (or in this league), but the rest of this team is extremely smartly built.
Preliminary West ranking: 2nd
GOLDEN STATE
Bill Russell
Kevin Durant
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Isiah Thomas
James Harden
Tom Heinsohn
Bruce Bowen
Billy Cunningham
David Thompson
Joel Embiid
Another really, really good team. I love Durant in the second round; he's the type of unicorn that will make it hard even for the best of teams to cover him. Harden off the bench is another such mismatch. I didn't like the Bowen pick much, and outside of Harden the bench isn't my favorite, but there's a lot to love here. The big question for me: how dominant is Giannis in this league? Can he cover the great PFs?
Preliminary West ranking: 3rd
PORTLAND
Magic Johnson
Moses Malone
Charles Barkley
James Worthy
Clyde Drexler
George Mikan
Ben Wallace
Dennis Johnson
Tony Parker
Alex English
My guess: somebody grew up watching basketball in the 80s and 90s, and it shows. This is another team that just fits really well. Magic feeding Barkley, Drexler, Worthy and Moses is just incredibly fun to think about. I would have liked to see more versatile bigs off the bench, but that's a minor quibble.
Preliminary West ranking: 1st
UTAH
Michael Jordan
Bill Walton
Dennis Rodman
Bob Pettit
Joe Dumars
Chris Mullin
Klay Thompson
Wes Unseld
Derrick Rose
Andre Iguodala
I think Utah only had two players on its roster at the end of the 4th round, and it shows a little. Jordan has GOAT credentials, but I think he'd be frustrated based upon a relative lack of talent compared to other teams here. Yes, Walton had a great couple of seasons, but even then he was banged up. A lot of the other guys were second or third fiddles on their teams. In a league of all-time greats, I think Jordan needs another top-20 player to play beside, and here he doesn't necessarily have it.
Preliminary West ranking: 4th
DALLAS
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Anthony Davis
Chris Paul
Vince Carter
Ray Allen
Dominique Wilkins
Ron Artest
Pau Gasol
Chris Bosh
Mark Price
I love a lot of the talent, I'm not crazy about the fit. In relative teams, I think the defense is weak outside of the Kareem / Davis combo. I think other teams are going to be able to score on the Dominique / Vince / Ray combo.
Preliminary West ranking: 5th
SAN ANTONIO
Hakeem Olajuwan
Kobe Bryant
Yao Ming
Gary Payton
Hedu Turkoglu
Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway
Dave DeBusschere
Jimmy Butler
Dale Ellis
Karl-Anthony Towns
I love the Hakeem / Payton combo. Getting great defenders at center and point guard is a great start. I wish a handful of these picks could be redone. I wasn't a giant fan of Yao, Hedu, or Butler. Also, I question Kobe Bryant. I think he struggled to share the ball, and I worry about him taking shots away from more efficient players.
Preliminary West ranking: 6th
One quick note: While I listed my preliminary rankings, things can change wildly with one trade. There isn't one team here that I'd have "out of contention". One particularly good or bad trade, and a team could easily move four or five slots in my rankings.