r/justbasketball

I’m a Boston Celtics fan, and I think one of the biggest keys to our success has been Payton Pritchard bringing a lot of offensive power off the bench. Even in the early part of last season when we moved Payton into the starting lineup, we had Anfernee Simons being that hot scorer off the bench.

As we move into this new season, it seems that Pritchard will be back in the starting lineup again, with 39-year-old Mike Conley being the lead guard off the bench, along with the other young wings in Baylor, Walsh and Hugo.

I’m concerned that we won’t have someone who can score consistently off the bench, but then I looked around the league last season and not many of the top teams have a prolific or consistent scorer on the bench.

While the Celtics (as above) and the Spurs (in Keldon Johnson) had offensive firepower on the bench, the Pistons (who won the East) and the Knicks (who won it all) didn’t. Jordan Clarkson was the Knicks player with the highest PPG off the bench - a meagre 8.6 compared to Simons’ 14.2.

The Knicks as a team were also 28th in the league in total bench scoring, only 31.6 points per game, compared to the Thunder and the Spurs (both in the top 10) with 41 points per game coming from the bench.

So, what do y’all think? How important really is bench scoring in today’s NBA? If you have a starting 5 that can consistently give you buckets like the defending champions, is that the most important thing?

MJ never could beat Bird and BOS. If Bird didn’t retire because of his back issues, MJ doesn’t win 6 rings. Not saying the GOAT MJ or my Bulls don’t win rings in the 90s, but Bird would be in more GOAT conversations if he played longer then 13 seasons.

Yo so I’ve been wanting to get into basketball for quite some time now as a person from the UK I haven’t ever really been able to do that. But the time is now and because I support Everton in the premier league I’ve heard the grizzlies are quite similar so I’ve decided to start supporting the grizzlies so, if anyone has any highlights or anything that they would recommend me it would be much appreciated.

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I don't think that NBA fans actually watch the sport. Genuinely, I believe that most NBA fans either just like the culture that surround the sport, or watch clips on YouTube or reals to form their opinions and compared to other sports have such little knowledge of the history of the sport and are much more attached to players than teams. This is obviously anecdotal, and there are fans who are legitimate students of the game and are diehard fans of their team but short form media has ruined online and real life discussions of the sport. The media is reactionary and inflammatory and focus so much more on players than teams. Might be more of a rant than an unpopular opinion but basketball is such an awesome sport that is so accessible and unique but the culture and product leaves so much to be desired. Commentary sucks, players are divas, officiating is becoming borderline embarrassing and the fact that they advertise sports betting CONSTANTLY should be illegal. The league cares more about fanduel and shoe sales than the actual game. It's just such a shame that with all the talent in the league, its probably never been a worse time to be an NBA fan.

They supposed to make it easier for Curry.
Trade jimmy butler he’s jus now able to run.
Trade Moses Moody he knew is over with
Trade Al Horford
Trade Will Richards
Trade Pat Spencer
Trade Kristaps Porzingas, he been disappearing for 2 years.
Keep Dray as a vet but less pay and mentor the younger guys.

If Ben Simmons is in a winning situation and he’s healthy, I think he will play great. I honestly pick him over Draymond when healthy.

Start

Pg: Stephen Curry (offensive engine)
Sg: Brandin Podz (Connector-Energize guard)
Sf:(A) Michael Porter Jr (3 and D forward)
Pf: Yaxel Lendeborg (Scoring Defensive connector)
C: Kel’el Ware (Stretch/ Rim protector) like KP

Bench

Pg: (A)Brandon Williams (Scoring back up pg)
LJ Cryer ( spot up shooter)
Sg: De’Anthony Melton(3 and D guard)
Lajae Jones( 3 and D wing)
Sf: Gui Santos ( Energy 3 and D wing)
Pf: Ben Simmons (Point Defensive forward)
Draymond Green (bench mentor) (Defensive point forward)
C: Marvin Bagley III (Athletic Scoring Big)

Overall Defense is Better, more shooting and more rebounding.

Floor: 42-40
Projected: 48-34
Last year: 37-45
Ceiling: 54-28 (nuggets last year record 3rd seed)

Thank you for everything Russ ❤️

Hey guys, me and my friends used to constantly debate how good nba players were.

We would play a game where someone has 10 players and we would take turns bidding on who we wanted and see who would make the better team.

We kept running into the same issues though, it sucks to have a third person who makes the list of 10 players, and there’s no real way to tell whose team is better.

So I spent a little over a month building exactly that, a website that generates the players for you and then simulates a 7 game series with a box score for each game to see which of your guys are preforming or underperforming.

Me and my friends have been having fun with it, and I think other people should have the same opportunity to have fun like us. So I’ll drop the link here, and let me know if there’s anything you guys would want to see changed. Thanks!

The video is too long for Streamable, so I had to use another platform.

Basically, since he got traded from the Jazz.

He had 3 games as a starter (all regular-season) during this period.

721 Points on 247/563 (43.9%) from the field, 177/425 (41.6%) from 3, 50/61 FT (82.0%), in 2,651 minutes played, in 175 games played (3 as a starter in regular-season)

2022-23 regular season stats, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks (46 games played), age 35:

317 points on 108/248 FG (43.5%), 83/203 (40.9%) from 3, 18/21 (85.7%) from the line, in 1,043 minutes played.

2023 NBA playoffs stats (The Bucks were stunned by the 8th-seeded Miami Heat 4-1 in the first round. Giannis got injured too), playing all 5 games:

34 Points on 12/23 FG (52.2%), 10/20 from 3 (50.0%), and no free throws in 89 minutes played.

2023-24 regular-season stats, playing for the Orlando Magic (68 games played), age 36:

296 Points on 99/227 FG (43.6%), 70/161 from 3 (43.5%), 28/34 FT (82.4%), in 1,169 minutes played.

2024 NBA Playoffs stats (the Magic lost 4-3 to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the First Round), playing in all 7 games:

11 Points on 4/12 FG (33.3%), 2/7 from 3 (28.6%), 1/2 FT, in 68 minutes played.

2024-25 regular-season stats, playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves (19 games played, one as a starter), age 37:

15 Points on 6/23 FG (26.1%), 3/15 from 3 (20.0%), and no free throws in 114 minutes played.

He did not play in the 2025 NBA playoffs. He was healthy, just did not play.

His team reached the Western Conference Finals before losing 4-1 in the series to the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Wolves played 15 playoffs games, winning 4-1 against the Lakers in the first round, and the 4-1 again, but this time against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals

2025-26 regular-season stats, playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves (27 games played, two as a starter), age 38:

41 Points on 16/27 FG (59.3%), 7/16 from 3 (43.8%), 2/2 FT (100%), in 153 minutes played.

2026 NBA Playoffs (3 games played out of 12):

7 Points on 2/3 FG (66.7%), 2/3 from 3 (66.7%), 1/2 FT (60.0%), in 14 minutes played.

The Timberwolves won 4-2 against the Nuggets in the first round, before losing to the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 in the Western Conference Semifinals.

After the World Cup, I’ve been getting into European football and how the leagues are set up with their titles, tournaments, and entire pyramid system.

With that in mind, I have made a little overhaul as to what the NBA could look like post-expansion with 32 teams in the league. I’ve been thinking about how the NBA could make the regular season feel more meaningful while also making every trophy feel unique. Here’s what I’d change:

1. Expand to 32 teams and relocate.

2 Conferences
4 Divisions per conference
8 divisions total with 4 teams each

Western Conference

Pacific: Lakers, Clippers, Las Vegas, Suns
Northwest: Warriors, Kings, Supersonics, Blazers
Central West: Jazz, Nuggets, Thunder, Grizzlies
Southwest: Rockets, Spurs, Mavericks, Pelicans

Eastern Conference

Atlantic: Celtics, Knicks, Nets, Sixers
Northeast: Raptors, Wizards, Cavs, Pistons
Central East: Wolves, Bucks, Bulls, Pacers
Southeast: Heat, Hornets, Hawks, Magic

Not entirely sure on the names of the divisions but these should suffice for now.

2. Reduce the regular season to 80 games.

Two fewer games wouldn’t change much financially, but it would slightly reduce wear and tear while making each game matter a bit more.

The math also just makes sense. Each team will play their division rivals 4 times (3 teams x 4), the other in-conference out-of-division teams 3 times (12 teams x 3), and those in the other conference twice (16 teams x 2).

Which should add up to 80 games.

3. NBA Cup group stage & knockout games fixes.

I’d rather the Cup knockout stage be its own competition instead of counting towards regular-season standings. The group stage games will still count towards regular season games but the knockout stage will be its own category.

Also, let’s bring back relevancy to divisions again. The group stage is now played against division rivals. Each team will play each of their division rivals 4 times in the regular season anyway - making 2 of those games (1 home & 1 away) part of the NBA Cup just makes sense.

Those who finish at the top of their division after the 6 group stage games will be the ones who qualify & represent their division in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.

Imagine Boston vs. Philly, the Battle of LA, or the Texas derbies having a guaranteed playoff-style games twice a year in the middle of the regular season.

4. Award an official League Title to the team with the best regular season record.

Probably my most contentious take, but just like the English Premier League, finishing as the #1 team over an 80-game season should be recognised as a championship in its own right. It rewards consistency rather than just getting hot in the playoffs.

I think this would change so many legacies and give legitimacy to some all-time teams & players who have not been given their flowers due to the obsession over ring culture.

Which would also encourage less coasting and load management from players as they now have another title to win/play for.

5. Finally, make the “Treble” (or Grand Slam) an actual achievement.

Teams could aim to win:
🏆 NBA Cup (single game elimination tournament)
🏆 NBA League Title (best regular season record)
🏆 NBA Championship (best of 7 playoffs)

Winning all three in one season would be an incredibly rare feat and give teams multiple meaningful goals.

What do you think?