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| via NBA.com |
Before the NBA season tips off tomorrow night in Toronto at 8 PM ET on TNT, I thought "I should do something of additional fun and little to no purpose other than to say look at me, I made a thing!" so in addition to my upcoming NBA predictions, Here are the 12-man All-Decade Squads for the 2010s for all NBA teams.
Please note that I was the only one with any say on these teams and for the sake of the history of basketball, we'll pretend positions still matter despite the current era of position-less basketball. Sound good? ok. Also, active players on the team's current roster will be italicized for some reason. Personally, I just felt like adding that touch.
Atlanta Hawks
Head Coach: Mike Budenholzer
PG: Jeff Teague
SG: Joe Johnson
SF: Kyle Korver
PF: Paul Millsap
C: Al Horford
Bench: Josh Smith
Bench: Marvin Williams
Bench: DeMarre Carroll
Bench: John Collins
Bench: Thabo Sefalosha
Bench: Dennis Schroder
Bench: Jamal Crawford
This team is the 2014-15 starting lineup with some bench players like Josh Smith and John Collins that have thrived on lottery teams. Solid depth overall but, wouldn't be better than a 5th seed if these 30 teams played a season at their peaks.
Boston Celtics
Head Coach: Doc Rivers
PG: Rajon Rondo
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Paul Pierce
PF: Kevin Garnett
C: Kendrick Perkins
Bench: Isaiah Thomas
Bench: Al Horford
Bench: Jae Crowder
Bench: Kelly Olynyk
Bench: Kyrie Irving
Bench: Brandon Bass
Bench: Marcus Smart
When a team wins a championship, how does one not just go chalk with the lineup for that team as the All-2010s team? The locker room chemistry would be unpredictable but, this is a damn good squad that is top five in the league. Pretty good for a team that threw away a couple seasons transitioning from Doc Rivers to Brad Stevens.
Head Coach: Kenny Atkinson
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Joe Johnson
SF: Gerald Wallace
PF: Kris Humphries
C: Brook Lopez
Bench: Jarrett Allen
Bench: D'Angelo Russell
Bench: Mason Plumlee
Bench: Andray Blatche
Bench: Paul Pierce
Bench: Bojan Bogdanovic
Bench: Joe Harris
A miserable decade ruined by trades for washed up Celtics (and an okay but past-his-prime Paul Pierce) ended on an extremely optimistic note even before they dealt for Kyrie and KD this offseason. Not enough depth on this roster to lock them into a playoff spot but, they'd probably hang around.
Head Coach: Steve Clifford
PG: Kemba Walker
SG: Gerald Henderson
SF: Marvin Williams
PF: Al Jefferson
C: Cody Zeller
Bench: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Bench: Jeremy Lamb
Bench: Boris Diaw
Bench: D.J. Augustin
Bench: Bismack Biyombo
Bench: Nicolas Batum
Bench: Josh McRoberts
Consistently a sixth seed or lower, this all-2010s team has one possible star in Kemba Walker and nothing else of note. A team buried in the cellar for sure with no intriguing backups.
Head Coach: Tom Thibodeau
PG: Derrick Rose
SG: Jimmy Butler
SF: Luol Deng
PF: Carlos Boozer
C: Joakim Noah
Bench: Pau Gasol
Bench: Taj Gibson
Bench: Mike Dunleavy Jr.
Bench: Nikola Mirotic
Bench: Robin Lopez
Bench: Kirk Hinrich
Bench: Ronnie Brewer
Knowing coach Thibs, the Bulls would only use the starters plus Pau, Hinrich and one of Mirotic/Gibson/Dunleavy/Lopez every night and it wouldn't work terribly but, it doesn't make them my favorite team. Notice: There is not a single player left from this All-2010s team left on the Bulls today.
Head Coach: Tyronn Lue
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: J.R. Smith
SF: Lebron James
PF: Kevin Love
C: Tristan Thompson
Bench: Anderson Varejao
Bench: Matthew Dellavedova
Bench: Antawn Jamison
Bench: Timofey Mozgov
Bench: Richard Jefferson
Bench: Iman Shumpert
Bench: James Jones
A surprisingly weak bench for a team that made four consecutive finals, Lebron could carry them to the Eastern Conference Finals probably but, Miami's roster looks like a skyscraper compared to this three-story building. Adding a late-career Antawn Jamison to those finals teams is really the only interesting hypothetical here and Antawn Jamison has never generated interest in anything else ever.
Head Coach: Rick Carlisle
PG: Jason Kidd
SG: Jason Terry
SF: Shawn Marion
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Tyson Chandler
Bench: J.J. Barea
Bench: Brendan Haywood
Bench: Dwight Powell
Bench: Vince Carter
Bench: Brandan Wright
Bench: DeShawn Stevenson
Bench: Harrison Barnes
The 2011 Finals team plus Dwight Powell (an okay bench guy in real life), late-career 3-point shooting Vince Carter and average starter Harrison Barnes would fare well across a hypothetical season, Probably a 4th seed for a team that was always in playoff contention until the 2017-18 season led them to Luka Doncic.
Head Coach: George Karl
PG: Ty Lawson
SG: Jamal Murray
SF: Danilo Gallinari
PF: Kenneth Faried
C: Nikola Jokic
Bench: Nene' Hilario
Bench: Will Barton
Bench: Arron Afflalo
Bench: Chauncey Billups
Bench: Gary Harris
Bench: Carmelo Anthony
Bench: Paul Millsap
George Karl versus Mike Malone was one of the hardest head coaching decisions I had to make. Ultimately, Karl didn't miss the playoffs this decade and despite only playing one year this decade in Denver, Carmelo sneaks onto the roster that features a surprising five players from the current Nugget roster.
Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy
PG: Brandon Jennings
SG: Rodney Stuckey
SF: Tayshaun Prince
PF: Greg Monroe
C: Andre Drummond
Bench: Reggie Jackson
Bench: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Bench: Blake Griffin
Bench: Marcus Morris
Bench: Jonas Jerebko
Bench: Tobias Harris
Bench: Ish Smith
I was stunned to find out the Pistons haven't had a better option for their starting guards duo than Jennings/Stuckey. Both locked in their spots in the lineup due to quantity, not quality. This is one of the worst Eastern conference teams without the late addition of Blake Griffin, an annual all-star candidate. Not surprising considering their tough decade of mediocre or worse basketball.
Head Coach: Steve Kerr
PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Draymond Green
C: Andrew Bogut
Bench: Andre Iguodala
Bench: Shaun Livingston
Bench: Harrison Barnes
Bench: David Lee
Bench: Marreese Speights
Bench: ZaZa Pachulia
Bench: Monta Ellis
Imagine the 2016 and beyond Warriors got to keep Harrison Barnes for depth and had someone of Monta Ellis' caliber and speed coming off the bench? Yikes, this team's three championships show up on the All-Decade team and they'd win the Western Conference or at least make the conference finals in this scenario.
Head Coach: Mike D'Antoni
PG: Chris Paul
SG: James Harden
SF: Trevor Ariza
PF: Ryan Anderson
C: Clint Capela
Bench: Dwight Howard
Bench: Patrick Beverley
Bench: Chandler Parsons
Bench: Eric Gordon
Bench: Jason Terry
Bench: Luis Scola
Bench: Kyle Lowry
Teaming up Dwight Howard with Clint Capela is unimaginable in it's weirdness. This bench is stacked and people forget how promising Houston Chandler Parsons once was.
Indiana Pacers
Head Coach: Frank Vogel
PG: George Hill
SG: Victor Oladipo
SF: Paul George
PF: David West
C: Roy Hibbert
Bench: Danny Granger
Bench: Darren Collison
Bench: Lance Stephenson
Bench: Ian Mahinmi
Bench: Thaddeus Young
Bench: Domantas Sabonis
Bench: Myles Turner
Adding Victor Oladipo to the two-time (2013 & '14) conference finalists gives the Pacers a really nice roster. In addition to that, sixth-man Sabonis and center Myles Turner sneak onto this team and make it a lot more attractive than a team with four consecutive first-round exits and a missed playoffs over the past five seasons has any reason to be.
Head Coach: Doc Rivers
PG: Chris Paul
SG: J.J. Redick
SF: Matt Barnes
PF: Blake Griffin
C: DeAndre Jordan
Bench: Jamal Crawford
Bench: Lou Williams
Bench: Montrezl Harrell
Bench: Eric Gordon
Bench: Luc Mbah a Moute
Bench: Danilo Gallinari
Bench: Tobias Harris
There's plenty of scoring here but, the possible snubbing of Patrick Beverley leaves the bench thin on defense. This team is possibly better with Doc Rivers as the head coach but, way more fun under a Mike D'Antoni or someone willing to embrace the three-point shot.
Head Coach: Phil Jackson
PG: Derek Fisher
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Metta World Peace
PF: Pau Gasol
C: Andrew Bynum
Bench: Lamar Odom
Bench: Lou Williams
Bench: Matt Barnes
Bench: Julius Randle
Bench: Lebron James
Bench: Dwight Howard
Bench: Jordan Clarkson
A horrible decade for a team that kicked it off with their second consecutive championship. Adding prime Lebron, headcase Dwight Howard and Lou Williams (who I forgot was even on this team!) to that 2010 championship team is an amazing hypothetical. This team tanked for four years, went with a rebuild for one and then signed Lebron because they could. The quantity of guys like Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson gives them roster spots over decent 2010 players like Sasha Vujacic and Shannon Brown that faded away far too quickly.
Head Coach: Dave Joerger
PG: Mike Conley
SG: Tony Allen
SF: Rudy Gay
PF: Zach Randolph
C: Marc Gasol
Bench: O.J. Mayo
Bench: Courtney Lee
Bench: JaMychal Green
Bench: Vince Carter
Bench: Kosta Koufos
Bench: Quincy Pondexter
Bench: James Ennis
The Grizzlies were underrated every season for about seven years of the 2010s. Not a single present-day player makes the roster and I'm not sure that the Grit N' Grind Grizzlies would stand much of a chance against the deeper teams in the West.
Head Coach: Erik Spoelstta
PG: Mario Chalmers
SG: Dwyane Wade
SF: Lebron James
PF: Chris Bosh
C: Hassan Whiteside
Bench: Goran Dragic
Bench: Udonis Haslem
Bench: Ray Allen
Bench: Shane Battier
Bench: Josh Richardson
Bench: James Jones
Bench: Chris Andersen
The Heat made four consecutive finals with their infamous big three (Wade/James/Bosh) and though they have not replicated the success since Lebron returned to Cleveland, players like Whiteside, Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson certainly add to the Heat's lore.
Head Coach: Mike Budenholzer
PG: Eric Bledsoe
SG: Khris Middleton
SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo
PF: Ersan Ilyasova
C: Brook Lopez
Bench: Greg Monroe
Bench: Brandon Jennings
Bench: Malcolm Brogdon
Bench: Andrew Bogut
Bench: John Henson
Bench: Brandon Knight
Bench: Tony Snell
The best version of the 2010s Bucks has the entirety of their present-day lineup (the only team that can state that) and a mixed bag of backups from various first-round exit teams. People seem to have already forgotten how solid Greg Monroe was when he first came to Milwaukee and this was the only team Brandon Knight stayed somewhat healthy for.
Head Coach: Tom Thibodeau
PG: Ricky Rubio
SG: Jimmy Butler
SF: Andrew Wiggins
PF: Kevin Love
C: Karl-Anthony Towns
Bench: Gorgui Dieng
Bench: Nikola Pekovic'
Bench: Kevin Martin
Bench: Luke Ridnour
Bench: Shabazz Muhammad
Bench: Al Jefferson
Bench: Corey Brewer
I was shocked to discover that I had Shabazz Muhammad as the tenth man on any All-NBA team. This Wolves' roster is one of the thinnest around but, combining Love and Towns' offense with Rubio and Butler's defense is sort of fascinating for a team with one playoff appearance the last fifteen years.
Head Coach: Monty Williams
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Tyreke Evans
SF: Trevor Ariza
PF: Ryan Anderson
C: Anthony Davis
Bench: Chris Paul
Bench: David West
Bench: Eric Gordon
Bench: Jason Smith
Bench: Emeka Okafor
Bench: Marco Belinelli
Bench: Alexis Ajinca
Another team that looks super weak from the ninth man and beyond, the Pelicans are the same team they were the entire decade, one without an identity beyond Anthony Davis and co. Boogie Cousins was never healthy enough and couldn't catapult them into the playoffs so, Alexis Ajinca somehow gets the 12th spot over the former all-star.
Head Coach: Mike Woodson
PG: Jason Kidd
SG: Courtney Lee
SF: Carmelo Anthony
PF: Amare' Stoudemire
C: Tyson Chandler
Bench: Kristaps Porzingis
Bench: J.R. Smith
Bench: Raymond Felton
Bench: Enes Kanter
Bench: Steve Novak
Bench: Danilo Gallinari
Bench: Jeremy Lin
Another team with a sad decade of basketball that they'd rather not reflect on, the 2010s Knicks are identified through two players, the Carmelo era and the Porzingis era. Porzingis didn't stay healthy long enough to make the starting lineup over Stoudemire. It's hard to believe that Courtney Lee or Jason Kidd did enough to make this team's starting five but, that's just the quality of Knick basketball this decade.
Head Coach: Scott Brooks
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: James Harden
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Serge Ibaka
C: Steven Adams
Bench: Paul George
Bench: Enes Kanter
Bench: Nick Collison
Bench: Andre Roberson
Bench: Thabo Sefolosha
Bench: Reggie Jackson
Bench: Jeff Green
The Thunder went from being the lowly SuperSonics of 2007 to consistently in contention for an entire decade, missing just one postseason due to Kevin Durant getting hurt during a 45-37 season (still not bad!). Along with Golden State, the Spurs and Houston, this team would be in serious contention to win the west.
Head Coach: Stan Van Gundy
PG: Jameer Nelson
SG: J.J. Redick
SF: Tobias Harris
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Dwight Howard
Bench: Nikola Vucevic
Bench: Ryan Anderson
Bench: Hedo Turkoglu
Bench: Elfrid Payton
Bench: Evan Fournier
Bench: Victor Oladipo
Bench: D.J. Augustin
Orlando had a pretty bleak run after Dwight left for LA. The only lottery pick that's fully delivering for the Magic is Aaron Gordon and the most they've gotten from him is an eight-seed, first-round exit.
Head Coach: Brett Brown
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Andre Iguodala
SF: Thaddeus Young
PF: Ben Simmons
C: Joel Embiid
Bench: Robert Covington
Bench: T.J. McConnell
Bench: J.J. Redick
Bench: Nerlens Noel
Bench: Elton Brand
Bench: Spencer Hawes
Bench: Lou Williams
Pre-tank players make up half of the 76ers' roster while post-tank players make up the other half. I had forgotten how good Spencer Hawes was in Philly.
Head Coach: Alvin Gentry
PG: Steve Nash
SG: Devin Booker
SF: P.J. Tucker
PF: Markieff Morris
C: Tyson Chandler
Bench: Amare' Stoudemire
Bench: Eric Bledsoe
Bench: Goran Dragic
Bench: Jared Dudley
Bench: T.J. Warren
Bench: Marcus Morris
Bench: Marcin Gortat
The Suns missed the playoffs every year this decade, with one winning season under Jeff Hornacek that featured a lot of Isaiah Thomas. That season is forgotten by history as the highlights of this team are a Nash-Booker combo that would be a poor man's splash brothers. Only one season pre-free agency is still enough to get Amare' Stoudemire on the bench.
Head Coach: Terry Stotts
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: C.J. McCollum
SF: Nicolas Batum
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge
C: Robin Lopez
Bench: Wesley Matthews
Bench: Al-Farouq Aminu
Bench: Maurice Harkless
Bench: Brandon Roy
Bench: Andre Miller
Bench: Jusuf Nurkic
Bench: Mason Plumlee
The Trail Blazers have had a very successful decade for a team with just one conference finals appearance and the depth of this roster reflects that. Who knows how this team's fortunes would have changed with a healthy Brandon Roy.
Sacramento Kings
Head Coach: Dave Joerger
PG: Isaiah Thomas
SG: Tyreke Evans
SF: Rudy Gay
PF: Jason Thompson
C: DeMarcus Cousins
Bench: Darren Collison
Bench: Willie Cauley-Stein
Bench: Marcus Thornton
Bench: Omri Casspi
Bench: Buddy Hield
Bench: Ben McLemore
Bench: Beno Udrih
Dave Joerger gets the slight edge over George Karl, whose tenure ended on an acrimonious note. The depth just isn't there on this team that has made incredibly strange personnel choices since Boogie Cousins was in town.
Head Coach: Gregg Popovich
PG: Tony Parker
SG: Manu Ginobili
SF: Kawhi Leonard
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge
C: Tim Duncan
Bench: Danny Green
Bench: Patty Mills
Bench: Tiago Splitter
Bench: George Hill
Bench: Boris Diaw
Bench: Matt Bonner
Bench: DeMar DeRozan
An annual contender and my favorite All-2010s team when you add DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge to a group of 10 NBA Champions.
Head Coach: Nick Nurse
PG: Kyle Lowry
SG: DeMar DeRozan
SF: Kawhi Leonard
PF: Serge Ibaka
C: Jonas Valanciunas
Bench: Amir Johnson
Bench: Pascal Siakam
Bench: Jose Calderon
Bench: Fred VanVleet
Bench: Patrick Patterson
Bench: Ed Davis
Bench: Danny Green
Unsurprisingly, the Raptors' roster is half made up of guys from the 2019 championship roster. Re-adding Valanciunas and DeRozan to a Nick Nurse-coached team is very intriguing though still behind Miami and maybe others in the East.
Head Coach: Quin Snyder
PG: Deron Williams
SG: Donovan Mitchell
SF: Gordon Hayward
PF: Derrick Favors
C: Rudy Gobert
Bench: Paul Millsap
Bench: Al Jefferson
Bench: Joe Ingles
Bench: Enes Kanter
Bench: Trevor Booker
Bench: Andrei Kirilenko
Bench: Ricky Rubio
Adjusting to life after Jerry Sloan was challenging for Utah until Rudy Gobert showed up and now, the Jazz are a playoff lock. The Jazz look surprisingly deep even though they have no guard depth beyond the starters.
Head Coach: Randy Wittman
PG: John Wall
SG: Bradley Beal
SF: Otto Porter Jr.
PF: Markieff Morris
C: Marcin Gortat
Bench: Nene' Hilario
Bench: Trevor Ariza
Bench: Martell Webster
Bench: JaVale McGee
Bench: Tomas Satoransky
Bench: Trevor Booker
Bench: Kelly Oubre Jr.
Lowkey, Randy Wittman is the worst all-2010s head coach. The latter part of the Wizards' decade is well represented here. Remember Martell Webster?
See anything outrageously wrong? Should DeMarcus Cousins be on the Pelicans? Was there a forgotten player that NEEDS to be on your favorite team? Feel free to comment below. After All, I'm just here to start a dialogue.
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