2018 NBA Season Awards – Team

In the second part of our 2018 NBA Season Awards series (make sure you read part one!) we’re going to look at the All-NBA teams.  It is a popular discussion in the national media right now about how the All-NBA teams should evolve with the game.  Basically, the NBA has become position-less basketball and the All-NBA teams should provide more flexibility so that the top 15 players in a given season are honored.

Well, this is actually something I have been pondering for a while, and have a proposed solution: The All-NBA teams should consist of two guard spots, two frontcourt spots, and one utility spot.  This more accurately reflects the lineup versatility available to a coach during a game, and is more indicative of lineups in the modern era.  You don’t need a traditional big, or you could have a traditional big with three guards.  We don’t need to quibble over whether Jimmy Butler is a guard or a forward.  He’s amazing, that’s what he is.  Get him and the other 14 most amazing guys on these ballots.

So, in the spirit of my own proposal, I am going to construct my All-NBA teams in this mold.  Since I don’t actually have a vote in any of this it’s basically no harm/no foul.

1st Team All-NBA

Guard – James Harden, Rockets

Guard – Damian Lillard, Blazers

Frontcourt – LeBron James, Cavaliers

Frontcourt – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

Utility – Anthony Davis, Pelicans

I’m not going to go into detail regarding my All-NBA 1st team.  This five man grouping is made up of my five MVP finalists.

2nd Team All-NBA

Guard – Steph Curry, Warriors

Guard – Chris Paul, Rockets

Frontcourt – Kevin Durant, Warriors

Frontcourt – LaMarcus Aldridge, Spurs

Utility – Jimmy Butler, Wolves

This is where we get into the most outstanding play outweighing games played.  Had Paul or Curry crossed the arbitrary 60 game threshold, one of them would have taken Dame’s spot on the first team.  Steph only got to 51 games this season, but he finished 4th in PER, 1st in True Shooting Percentage, 5th in Effective Field Goal Percentage, 10th in Usage, 10th in Offensive Rating, 11th in Offensive Win Shares, 2nd in Win Shares/48 Minutes, 3rd in Box Plus/Minus, 1st in Offensive Box Plus/Minus, and 2nd in RPM.

In case anyone is still wondering who is more important to the Warriors, Curry or Durant, it’s not even close.  The Warriors, with Curry on the court, perform at a Net Rating of 14.7.  That number craters to 2.9 when Curry is off the floor.  The Warriors Net Rating only drops by 2 points per 100 possessions when Durant doesn’t play.  Also consider how each plays without the other.  The Warriors Net Rating with only Curry on the floor is actually higher than when both play.  It is a small sample so I wouldn’t read too much into this, but it’s out there.  This is in stark contrast to how the Warriors Net Rating plummets from 13.8 when both Curry and Durant play, to 3.0 when only Durant is on the floor.

Had Steph reached 70 games he would have been the easy MVP Runner-Up.

Chris Paul, in 58 games, finished 6th in Assist Percent, 5th in Offensive Rating, 8th in Offensive Win Shares, 12th in Win Shares, 3rd in WS/48, 6th in Box Plus/Minus, 6th in Offensive Box Plus/Minus, and 1st in RPM by a comfortable margin.

I know I just spent a lot of time shitting on Kevin Durant, but he certainly earned his 2nd team spot.  Durant finished 6th in PER, 10th in TS%, 9th in OWS, 9th in WS, 10th in WS/48, 11th in BPM, 10th in OBPM, and 12th in VORP.

LaMarcus Aldridge was the anchor this season for the Spurs while Kawhi was essentially out the entire year.  Aldridge played his more conventional style of basketball on a team with a lack of shooting that doesn’t provide floor spacing, and was still highly effective.  LMA finished 8th in PER, 10th in OWS, 7th in WS, and 14th in WS/48.

Jimmy Butler, landing in the Curry/Paul camp of not reaching 60 games, was everything the Wolves could have hoped for when they acquired him.  Butler finished 16th in PER, 16th in Offensive Rating, 12th in OWS, 20th in WS, 16th in WS/48, 16th in BPM, 11th in OBPM, 17th in VORP, and 4th in RPM, and belongs on an All-Defense team(more on this later).

3rd Team All-NBA

Guard – Kyrie Irving, Celtics 

Guard – Victor Oladipo, Pacers

Frontcourt – Joel Embiid, 76ers

Frontcourt – Karl-Anthony Towns, Wolves

Utility – Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

This was impossible, and this is where my new roster construction makes things look kind of messy.  Oladipo and Embiid were firmly on my 3rd team, so the final three spots came down to Kyrie, KAT, Jokic, Westbrook, Paul George, Kyle Lowry, and DeMar DeRozan.  Those that didn’t make it have gripes, but I think I got the 15 best players on the season onto these teams, and that’s the entire point.

I just couldn’t keep Embiid, KAT, or Jokic off these awards.  Embiid was my Defensive Player of the Year and is one of the best post-up players in the NBA.  Only Aldridge is in Embiid’s stratosphere for volume of post-up possessions per game while being highly efficient.

Towns is even more efficient in the post up game, albeit on much less volume.  That’s because Towns spends a lot of time behind the arc where he is shooting 42% from deep.  Towns is the single most unstoppable big man on offense in the NBA and his name is littered across the leaderboard.  Towns is 17th in PER, 18th in Offensive Rebound Percent, 4th in Defensive Rebound Percent, 7th in Total Rebound Percent, 2nd in Offensive Rating, 3rd in OWS, 2nd in WS, 6th in WS/48, 12th in BPM, 13th in OBPM, 6th in VORP, 17th in RPM, and 8th in RPM among frontcourt players.

Nikola Jokic finished 13th in PER, 19th in Offensive Rebound%, 13th in Defensive Rebound%, 13th in Total Rebound%, 20th in Assist% (!), 18th in Offensive Rating, 7th in OWS, 8th in WS, 12th in WS/48, 5th in BPM, 12th in OBPM, 5th in VORP, and 5th in RPM.  He is also the best passer 6’10″or taller in NBA history.

Kyrie finished 9th in PER, 16th in Assist%, 8th in Usage, 17th in OWS, 8th in WS/48, 8th in BPM, 5th in OBPM, and 16th in VORP.

Oladpio, the Most Improved Player this season, finished 17th in PER, 14th in Usage, 17th in BPM, 17th in OBPM, 13th in VORP, and 7th in RPM. The Pacers Net Rating plummets from 6.4 to -7.3 when Oladipo isn’t on the court.  Oladipo is also worthy of a First Team All-NBA Defense spot (more on this later).

4th Team All-NBA

Russell Westbrook, Thunder

Kyle Lowry, Raptors

DeMar DeRozan, Raptors

Paul George, Thunder

Jrue Holiday, Pelicans

Since the 4th Team isn’t real I’m just using it to name the guys that were the most difficult to leave off the three All-NBA teams, and then a guy that I just want to highlight.  I bound myself to no positions at all for this.

I came into this exercise expecting to leave Russell Westbrook off these rosters because I am of the school of thought that his stats are empty calories.  He gets tons of rebounds, sure, but when they happen because he doesn’t close out to shooters so he is in better position to pad his stats, I don’t really care.

Having said that, he did just make history by becoming the first player to ever average a triple double in two different seasons.  And even though he stands with his hands on his knees off ball, and has an absolute indifference to defense (more reasons I was expecting to leave him off, plus his terrible efficiency), he is so phenomenal at what he does I decided to include him.  Westbrook finishes the season all over the leaderboard, as he is 11th in PER, 1st in Assist Percent, 2nd in Usage, 14th in WS, 4th in BPM, 8th in OBPM, 3rd in VORP, and 12th in RPM.

Fun Fact: Kyle Lowry led the NBA with 37 charges drawn.  Lowry finished 20th in Offensive Rating, 13th in OWS, 13th in WS, 18th in WS/48, 9th in BPM, 7th in OBPM, 8th in VORP, and 9th in RPM.

I’m sure you’ve read by now about DeMar DeRozan’s transformation this season.  He didn’t become a more deadly three point shooter, but he started shooting a higher volume of them and it is part of the reason why the Raptors offensive overhaul worked so well this year.  He finished 14th in OWS, 16th in WS, and 7th in RPM among shooting guards.  He was the main offensive engine this season on the East’s best team, and he gave up this:

Paul George and Jrue Holiday were two of the best two-way players this season.  I don’t think I really need to spell out for you that Paul George is good, and this is a fake team anyway and I can get into him more on the All-Defense team, but George did finish the season 22nd in WS and 23rd in VORP.

I basically created the 4th Team so I could talk about Jrue Holiday.  I will highlight his defense in a minute, but he had a career year where he became the secondary option on a playoff team (due to Boogie’s injury).  Holiday averaged a career best in points per game, rebounds per game, and Effective Field Goal Percentage.  His counting stats line is 19 points, 6 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game.  Only 5 players in the NBA put up that stat line this season: James Harden, LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, and Jrue Holiday.  He finished 26th in VORP and 34th in WS.

For the defensive teams I stuck with the same roster construct that I used for the All-NBA teams, but seeing as how you would want your best defensive lineup anchored by an elite rim protecting 5, the teams shape out in a conventional fashion.

1st Team All-Defense

Guard – Victor Oladipo, Pacers

Guard – Jimmy Butler, Wolves

Frontcourt – Robert Covington, 76ers

Frontcourt – Anthony Davis, Pelicans

Utility – Rudy Gobert, Jazz

More on Oladipo: He finished 8th in DWS, 1st in Steal Percent, 3rd in Deflections per Game, 4th in Total Deflections, 6th in Block Percent among guards that played at least 41 games, 2nd in DRPM among shooting guards, and 3rd in DRPM among all guards.

Jimmy Butler finished 9th in Steal%, 3rd in DRPM among shooting guards, and 4th in DRPM among all guards.

Robert Covington tied for the league lead in Deflections per Game, was 1st in Total Deflections, 12th in Steal%, 12th in Defensive Rating, 5th in DWS, 1st in DRPM among small forwards, and 2nd in DRPM among all forwards.

For more on Anthony Davis and Rudy Gobert, see my breakdown of the Defensive Player of the Year award.  I gave Embiid DPOY for playing a few more games but noted than Gobert had the larger defensive impact.  Here we go for the more outstanding play, so Gobert gets the 1st Team nod.

2nd Team All-Defense

Guard – Ben Simmons, 76ers

Guard – Jrue Holiday, Pelicans

Frontcourt – Paul George, Thunder

Frontcourt – Al Horford, Celtics

Utility – Joel Embiid, 76ers

Ben Simmons is 19th in Steal%, 9th in Defensive Rating, 2nd in DWS, 4th in DBPM, 4th in DRPM among point guards and 7th in DRPM among all guards.

Jrue Holiday finished 9th in Deflections per Game, 6th in Total Deflections, 11th in Block% among guards that played at least 41 games, 5th in DRPM among point guards and 8th in DRPM among all guards.  He was also a 2nd Team defensive pick of Kevin Pelton.

Paul George tied for the league lead in Deflections per Game, was 2nd in Total Deflections, 6th in Steal%, and 10th in DWS.

For more on Al Horford and Joel Embiid, see my breakdown of the Defensive Player of the Year award. 

3rd Team All-Defense

3rd Team All-Defense isn’t a real thing but I just wanted to highlight some guys that were outstanding. 

Guard – Chris Paul, Rockets

Guard – Andre Roberson, Thunder

Frontcourt – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks

Frontcourt – Draymond Green, Warriors 

Utility – Andre Drummond, Pistons

Chris Paul is a point guard that can switch across three positions and credibly guard the best wing players in the NBA.

Andre Roberson was in contention for DPOY until he suffered a season ending injury that limited him to 39 games.  He finished first among all guards in DRPM.

Giannis finished 20th in DWS and can switch across all 5 positions.

Draymond Green was 13th in DBPM, 9th in DRPM among power forwards, 10th in Deflections per Game, and can switch across all 5 positions.

Andre Drummond lit up the defensive leaderboard this season, finishing 1st in Defensive Rebound Percent, 1st in Total Rebound Percent, 12th in Block%, 1st in Defensive Rating, 1st in DWS, and 1st in DBPM.

The rookie teams are position-less and just looking to honor the 10 best rookies from the season.  At least the NBA caught onto this somewhere.

1st Team Rookie

Ben Simmons, 76es

Donovan Mitchell, Jazz

Jayson Tatum, Celtics

Kyle Kuzma, Lakers

Lonzo Ball, Lakers

I covered the first four rookies here in my 2018 NBA Season Awards – Individual article, so I’ll just talk about Lonzo quickly.  Lonzo, among rookies that played at least 500 minutes, finished 17th in WS, 5th in DWS, 14th in OBPM, 5th in DBPM, 4th in BPM, and 4th in VORP.  Lonzo also finished the season 14th in DBPM in the NBA, 3rd in DRPM among all point guards and 7th in DRPM among all guards.  He finished 36th in the entire league in DRPM.

2nd Team Rookie

Lauri Markkanen, Bulls

John Collins, Hawks

Jarrett Allen, Nets

Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kings

Bam Adebayo, Heat

Here is a table of everyone’s rookie ranking among rookies that played at least 500 minutes:

Shoutouts: Jordan Bell, Warriors; De’Aaron Fox, Kings; Dennis Smith Jr., Mavs; Royce O’Neale, Jazz; Josh Hart, Lakers; Dillon Brooks, Grizzlies