Good: the top-15 starting lineups in the NBA
15. New Orleans Pelicans
Projected starting lineup:
G – Devonte’ Graham
G – Nickeil Alexander-Walker
F – Brandon Ingram
F – Zion Williamson
C – Jonas Valanciunas
This New Orleans Pelicans team offers plenty of talent and upside, but can they gel together on offense and remain disciplined on defense?
Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson were both great defenders at a point in their careers. Jonas isn’t spectacular, but is solid manning the middle. The backcourt is lacking in defensive upside, though.
Still, if this team can mesh together well, their offense should keep them within arm’s reach of any game. If Valanciunas can turn out to be a real stretch-five, BI and Zion could do some real damage now that Adams isn’t standing in the paint and clogging up the lane.
14. Indiana Pacers
Projected starting lineup:
G – Malcolm Brogdon
G – Caris LeVert
F – T.J. Warren
F – Domantas Sabonis
C – Myles Turner
The Indiana Pacers have elite depth at every position. They also have top-end talent at each spot in their starting lineup, but unfortunately, none of their starting five can be considered truly elite.
Sabonis is on the cusp of greatness, and perhaps playing his more natural position of center full-time is the next step to unlocking his potential, but so far, he’s failed to elevate his game to climb onto the same echelon as bigs like Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, or Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Brogdon and Turner appear to be finished products as high-level starters, which certainly isn’t a bad ceiling to have. If one of LeVert or Warren—both of who have suffered bouts with injuries recently—can establish themselves as a true number two option while Sabonis also continues to improve, the Pacers do have a strong enough support system to contend for a title.
13. Dallas Mavericks
Projected starting lineup:
G – Luka Doncic
G – Tim Hardaway Jr.
F – Dorian Finney-Smith
F – Kristaps Porzingis
C – Maxi Kleber
Can new Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd get the most out of KP? That’s the question that looms over the city of Dallas as NBA pundits try to re-assess their views on the Mavericks.
Doncic is already an unquestioned championship-caliber number one option. If Dallas can surround him with a strong enough supporting cast and the Zinger can become a title-worthy sidekick, the Mavericks will be contenders for years to come.
Those are some big ‘ifs’ though. But so long as Doncic is leading the charge, it doesn’t matter who else is starting alongside him—the Mavs will have one of the strongest starting lineups based on his star power alone.
12. Atlanta Hawks
Projected starting lineup:
G – Trae Young
G – Bogdan Bogdanovic
F – De’Andre Hunter
F – John Collins
C – Clint Capela
Clint Capela establishing himself as a high-end two-way player sans James Harden has greatly bolstered this Atlanta Hawks roster.
Kudos to Travis Schlenke for being able to consistently identify talent and surround his franchise cornerstone with good fits to highlight Trae Young’s strengths and cover for his weaknesses.
The additions of Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari didn’t exactly pan out the way the Hawks were hoping, but they’re still solid veterans who can take pressure off of Trae when needed.
The Hawks are burgeoning on “Denver Nuggets”-level of young talent. If Hunter continues to develop, Cam Reddish has a breakout season, and young controversial prospect Jalen Johnson becomes the player Atlanta hopes they drafted, this team could enter elite status quicker than expected.
11. Boston Celtics
Projected starting lineup:
G – Dennis Schroder
G – Marcus Smart
F – Jaylen Brown
F – Jayson Tatum
C – Al Horford
The Boston Celtics had one of the craziest off-seasons for any team in recent memory, but yet, they flew under the radar this summer.
Schroder’s misfortunes could turn out to be found gold for the Celts. While the German point guard isn’t worth the money he was seeking this summer, he’s a great point of attack defender, can create for himself and others, and supply the supplementary scoring Boston needs around Brown and Tatum. The Cs couldn’t have asked for much more than that with what they’re paying him.
This starting lineup is solid from top to bottom, even with Al Horford in the twilight of his career. The question marks surrounding the team would be their new Head Coach Ime Udoka, their depth—which placed in the bottom-10 of my reserve rankings—and if they can form a better chemistry than they showed last season.
The Celtics have enough to talent to compete at the top of the Eastern Conference. We’ll have to see if they can make it work as well on the court as it seems to fit on paper.