Power ranking shoe company rosters for an actual 5v5 tournament

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3. Adidas

The Team: John Wall, Damian Lillard, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Joel Embiid

Projected Offensive Rating: 117.8, Projected Defensive Rating: 112.7, Projected Net Rating: 5.1

Team Adidas is blessed at the guard position. That makes it so much fun to think about their transition offense. John Wall could speed down the court and either keep it himself or kick to the trailing Lillard and Harden. That would be truly, truly fun to watch. However, they aren’t a one-trick pony. Put them in the half-court and Joel Embiid could cook someone in the post or Harden could go after them in isolation where he finished in the 95th percentile last year.

They are a diverse and talented offensive team whose only issue could be having too many ball handlers. While Harden was able to make it work with Chris Paul in Houston, and Lillard shares with CJ. McCollum in Portland, John Wall has not had the same success. He and Bradley Beal are often not on the same page, so questions about his ability to work with other talented guards are warranted. That being said, the potential of this team offensively is dreamy.

All three guards shot above 36 percent from 3-point range last year. Lillard and Harden both ranked above the 87th percentile in isolation play and could always bail the team out. Then there is the multifaceted Joel Embiid. He has the ability to shoot the 3 or he could put the ball on the floor and blow past opposing big men. Oh yeah, and he can take anybody in the post with confidence. This offense would be able to score in every way possible.

Their defense though is a huge question mark. While Ibaka and Embiid are both tremendous interior defenders and would intimidate anybody entering the paint, the perimeter defense could be atrocious. Wall was on the All-Defensive team in 2014-15 but that is about all these guards have in terms of defensive accolades.

While Team Adidas has the ability to score with any team in the competition, an inability to get stops keeps them out of the top two.

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