The Whiteboard: How to build the best $15 NBA team on Twitter

Need help with putting together teams for $15 on NBA Twitter? We’ve got you covered.

NBA social media communities are awesome. The debates that come from these like-minded groups of NBA fans are often better than what’s broken down among the experts on podcasts or television shows.

One of my personal favorite debates is a constantly-changing one that always has a central theme. Someone shares a table/chart, usually with 25 NBA players. Five are priced at $1, five more at $2, et cetera, through the premier $5 players. Users are then tasked with building the best possible team for $15.

Here’s one that blew up on Wednesday morning. The tiers are pretty flawed, as they often are. Spending $4 on DeMar DeRozan is ludicrous, and as good as Kristaps Porzingis is, he shouldn’t be that high either. On the flip side, all of the $1 players are damn good options, especially Chris Paul.

Here’s the key to putting together one of these teams that could really compete: get all the superstars you can. The NBA is a star-driven league. It makes sense. With just five players on the floor on each team, and the same players out there for offense and defense, elite talent can really change the game.

I always go for two $5 players, and then a mix of $3, $2 and $1 supporting pieces. For this particular exercise, my $5 picks were Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Good luck containing LeBron’s drives with Steph spacing the floor.

Now it’s time for the supporting cast. The nice thing about Steph and LeBron is they’re relatively easy players to build around. We definitely need some wing defenders on the squad, though. Curry isn’t as bad defensively as some posit he is, but he’s not an elite defender, and LeBron has seen better days on defense.

Luckily Victor Oladipo and Paul George both are capable of playing truly lock-down D, and they’re also great shooters from 3-point range. For $1 apiece, adding them both is a no-brainer. Now we just need a big man to round out the squad.

Joel Embiid is the $3 center, but let’s get really funky here and add Giannis Antetokounmpo to the mix. This team is going to be an absolute blast to watch, with three shooters, Giannis and LeBron posing a threat on offense. The defense would be incredible, too, even if there’s no traditional center manning the middle.

In addition to loading up on stars, it’s usually a good idea to avoid too many players who can’t shoot. LeBron improving his 3-point percentage in his latter years helps with that here, leaving Giannis at the five at the only real non-shooter.

Finally, defensive liabilities have to be limited. The $4 tier is basically team no-defense, with Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan and Karl-Anthony Towns. Investing that much into players who need the ball to be truly effective and who cannot defend makes it difficult to construct a well-rounded team.

The real secret, however, is that there is no secret. Aside from building the teams on NBA 2K and going at it there, there’s no way to be wrong about this. Just have fun, and always pay extra for LeBron. He’s worth it.

Next: The Encyclopedia of Modern Moves

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