Greatest teams by peak value
It's a compelling, fun hypothetical: If every NBA team had its players in the prime of their careers, which would be the best?
For instance, what if the Brooklyn Nets had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson et al. during their absolute peaks? Where would that team rank among all such teams?
Readers enjoyed Friday's column attempting to answer this question by ranking this season's teams, and many of them raised the same follow-up question: What about the all-time best teams? In truth, we can't rank the best "peak value" teams ever because my wins above replacement player (WARP) metric dates back only to 1977-78, when the league first tracked player turnovers. But here are the star-studded leaders since then, including a No. 1 that might surprise you.
The method remains the same as Friday's column. For each player, I've taken their best season in terms of WARP as their "prime" value, and the team's rating is made up of the 12 best players by this measure.
Honorable mentions
• 1983-84 Los Angeles Lakers (123.0 WARP): The best of the Magic-Kareem-Worthy Lakers teams thanks to the presence of Bob McAdoo and Swen Nater.
• 2004-05 Dallas Mavericks (126.4 WARP): Just one player with an All-NBA nod (Dirk Nowitzki), but a host of quality veterans that went 10 deep in peak value.
• 2012-13 Los Angeles Clippers (127.5 WARP): A star-studded wing rotation of Chauncey Billups, Caron Butler and Grant Hill.
• 1985-86 Philadelphia 76ers (128.0 WARP): The best-rated entrant from the '80s combined a young Charles Barkley and an old McAdoo with the Dr. J/Moses Malone core as the only team in NBA history with four MVPs.
• 2001-02 Orlando Magic (128.4 WARP): Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill plus a frontcourt rotation of Patrick Ewing and Horace Grant.
10. 1999-2000 Phoenix Suns (129.5, 5 All-Stars, 3 All-NBA)
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The Suns sneak onto the list via something of a technicality. In March, they brought future Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson (16.2 WARP at peak) out of retirement when Jason Kidd (21.2) was sidelined. Add in a young Penny Hardaway (19.3) and Phoenix would certainly not lack for ballhandling.
9. 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks (129.8, 4 All-Stars, 4 All-NBA)
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The NBA's best team circa 2002, these Mavericks combined four All-Stars (Kidd; Vince Carter, 16.5; Shawn Marion, 19.2; and Dirk Nowitzki, 19.7) with two of the best players never to make the All-Star Game (Jason Terry, 12.7; Lamar Odom, 11.9). They surpassed the 2011 championship team on this list by adding Carter and Odom, but were too far past their prime to avoid a first-round sweep at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
8. 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers (130.7, 5 All-Stars, 4 All-NBA)
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These Lakers are typically the first team that comes to mind when considering groups that would have been amazing together in their prime. With Karl Malone (20.5) and Gary Payton (20.0) joining Kobe Bryant (20.4) and Shaquille O'Neal (25.7) in pursuit of a missing championship ring, this is the sole team on the list with four players who posted 20-WARP seasons. In five-on-five, they'd be tough to beat. So why aren't the Lakers higher? After Horace Grant, the fifth All-Star on the roster, the star talent drops off as the rest of the rotation was made up of role players like Rick Fox (7.5) and Derek Fisher (5.5).
7. 2008-09 Phoenix Suns (132.1, 4 All-Stars, 4 All-NBA)
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By far the most accomplished team ever to miss the playoffs (the 1992-93 Detroit Pistons rank second among that group), these Suns featured two MVPs in O'Neal and Steve Nash (17.8) plus two more All-NBA First Team picks in Hill (21.1) and Amar'e Stoudemire (16.0). Yet despite solid role players like Jason Richardson (10.6) and Leandro Barbosa (9.0), Phoenix rated 26th in defensive rating and finished ninth in the West with a 46-36 record.
6. 1994-95 San Antonio Spurs (132.4 WARP, 6 All-Stars, 3 All-NBA)
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Good luck matching up with this frontcourt. The Spurs had Moses Malone (21.9) backing up fellow MVP David Robinson (27.3) next to Dennis Rodman (16.5). And San Antonio also had accomplished veterans like Doc Rivers (13.5) and Terry Cummings (13.0) coming off the bench.
5. 2004-05 Houston Rockets (132.7 WARP, 5 All-Stars, 6 All-NBA)
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To paraphrase Stefon, this team had everything: The tallest All-Star (Yao Ming), a two-time scoring champ (Tracy McGrady), a four-time Defensive Player of the Year (Dikembe Mutombo), the best player never to make an All-Star team (Rod Strickland), one of Dennis Rodman's North Korean teammates (Vin Baker), "Baby Barkley" (Clarence Weatherspoon), an ESPN broadcaster (Jon Barry), a member of the Fab Five (Juwan Howard), an insomniac (Moochie Norris) and a Heisman trophy winner (Charlie Ward). The bouncer is Jeff Van Gundy's pitbull and the password is "13 points in 35 seconds."
