Fun Challenge: Construct the best possible 14-man team staying under the $123.65M cap

[JazzMan]

Got this idea from reddit, thought it would translate well here and lead to some offseason discussion lol

The rules:

Construct a 14-Man Roster, no more, no less than 14

Limit of 2 rookie scale salary contracts

Must stay under the $123.655M salary cap, this includes veteran minimum contracts - so no circumventing by filling up 8 guys to $123.6M and then signing vet min. guys, the total salary has to be under $123.655M

Here's what I went with:

G Donovan Mitchell - $30.35M

G Desmond Bane - $2.13M

F Jaylen Brown - $28.74M

F Jayson Tatum - $30.35M

C Jakob Poeltl - $9.39M

$100.96M for starters, 1 rookie contract in Bane

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G Tyrese Maxey - $2.72M

G Ricky Rubio - $5.85M

F TJ Warren - $2.63M

G Max Strus - $1.81M

C Thomas Bryant - $1.97M

F Josh Okogie - $1.97M

G Gabe Vincent - $1.81M

C Tony Bradley - $2.04M

F/C Juwan Morgan - $1.81M

$123.57M for the whole team, 2 rookie contracts in Bane and Maxey

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My goal was to create a true Big 3 that can all score and be the primary option in 2nd unit lineups - Mitchell, Brown, and Tatum is an insane offensive trio, and Brown and Tatum are more than good enough defensively to make up for Mitchell's shortcomings. Desmond Bane is a decent if not solid defender in his own right, so Mitchell being 6'1" and a net-negative defender won't hurt too much on this squad. Poeltl locks down the paint on a budget at just $9.39M, with switchable wings that can space the floor and be aggressive defensively Poeltl would flourish even more on both ends of the floor.

Tatum, Brown, and Mitchell can all stagger if needed as the bench isn't very deep. Tyrese Maxey is a huge piece off the bench though and would be a killer sixth-man, slotting in next to any of Mitchell, Bane, or Rubio in backcourts. Rubio would be the true floor general for the 2nd unit, coming in and making offense a little easier for guys like Max Strus, Thomas Bryant, and Gabe Vincent. TJ Warren is a bit of a risk coming back but at that contract he's too good to pass up, I think he would put together a solid campaign with the offensive firepower this team has.

Bryant and Bradley aren't perfect backup bigs, but they're solid enough, and with Poeltl getting the bulk of the minutes at center barring foul trouble they'd be fine.

I think this team would be a heavy favorite for a Finals appearance, hard to stack up to that star power and the defense is good enough to be Top 10, if not better thanks to the switchable wings and Poeltl holding down the paint

https://hoopshype.com/salaries/players/

Here's the link I used for player salaries, has a full list there

[TheFinalEvent97]

Re: Fun Challenge: Construct the best possible 14-man team staying under the $123.65M

Presumably you would treat players who earn less than 1.81M as though they earned 1.81M?
And does rookie scale just mean 1st or include 2nd round picks?

[JazzMan]

Re: Fun Challenge: Construct the best possible 14-man team staying under the $123.65M

Presumably you would treat players who earn less than 1.81M as though they earned 1.81M?
And does rookie scale just mean 1st or include 2nd round picks?

Anybody who earns less than $1.81M that is not on a rookie scale contract I would treat as $1.81M

But by rookie scale I just mean on their first NBA contract, before their extension has kicked in.

[ojandpizza]

Fun Challenge: Construct the best possible 14-man team staying under the $123.65M cap

Ja - 12.1
Bane - 2.1
Herb Jones - 1.7
Giannis - 42.5
Joker - 33

Starters 91.4 million. Somewhat of a cheat, Herb Jones was signed using the NT MLE and technically not signed under a rookie scale contract though he was drafted. It’s too difficult to not pick Bane. Don’t think there is a better contract for that level of a shooter, or that level of 2-way ability in the entire league. Thought about going value pick at center and getting another max-level wing instead of Joker but if Ja-Adams ball screens are as lethal as they are I can’t even imagine Ja-Joker lol. Also considered Embiid here but Jokers ability to space the floor and also be the guy passing to Giannis was just too much value to not pick. Also considered AD but health..

S Curry - 8.5
Melton - 8.3
Kenrich Williams - 2
Strus - 1.8
Vincent - 1.8
TJ Warren 2.6
D Jones - 2.2
Milton - 1.9
Biyombo - 2.9

14 players. For the bench I wanted players who were capable starters, in this instance either Curry or Melton could start and slide Bane to the 3. Kenrich Williams (similar to Bane) might be the best value contract in the league given the defense and shooting he provides. Vincent and Strus were just high value fillers, both play well above min level deals. TJ Warren would be taking a risk on his health, if healthy he’s a massive addition. Either he or Williams could play the 4 next to Giannis in “small” lineups, and either could play next to him as a 3/4 as well.

The last 3 guys was just grabbing 2 rotation bigs. Biyombo who specializes in defense, Jones who I feel is another great value guy at the price and is young/mobile. Milton is streaky but on his “hot” nights he’s just simply a better scoring threat than anybody in that price range.

Think that totals to 123.4. Didn’t do the whole 2-3 decimals out, but rounded them all up so I should be good. To my knowledge Ja and Bane are the only two rookie scale deals.

[JazzMan]

Re: Fun Challenge: Construct the best possible 14-man team staying under the $123.65M

Ja - 12.1
Bane - 2.1
Herb Jones - 1.7
Giannis - 42.5
Joker - 33

Starters 91.4 million. Somewhat of a cheat, Herb Jones was signed using the NT MLE and technically not signed under a rookie scale contract though he was drafted. It’s too difficult to not pick Bane. Don’t think there is a better contract for that level of a shooter, or that level of 2-way ability in the entire league. Thought about going value pick at center and getting another max-level wing instead of Joker but if Ja-Adams ball screens are as lethal as they are I can’t even imagine Ja-Joker lol. Also considered Embiid here but Jokers ability to space the floor and also be the guy passing to Giannis was just too much value to not pick. Also considered AD but health..

S Curry - 8.5
Melton - 8.3
Kenrich Williams - 2
Strus - 1.8
Vincent - 1.8
TJ Warren 2.6
D Jones - 2.2
Milton - 1.9
Biyombo - 2.9

14 players. For the bench I wanted players who were capable starters, in this instance either Curry or Melton could start and slide Bane to the 3. Kenrich Williams (similar to Bane) might be the best value contract in the league given the defense and shooting he provides. Vincent and Strus were just high value fillers, both play well above min level deals. TJ Warren would be taking a risk on his health, if healthy he’s a massive addition. Either he or Williams could play the 4 next to Giannis in “small” lineups, and either could play next to him as a 3/4 as well.

The last 3 guys was just grabbing 2 rotation bigs. Biyombo who specializes in defense, Jones who I feel is another great value guy at the price and is young/mobile. Milton is streaky but on his “hot” nights he’s just simply a better scoring threat than anybody in that price range.

Think that totals to 123.4. Didn’t do the whole 2-3 decimals out, but rounded them all up so I should be good. To my knowledge Ja and Bane are the only two rookie scale deals.

I went value for my center but I had thought about doing something like Evan Mobley at the 5, but I really wanted Bane and Maxey and they're both on rookie deals lol

[TheFinalEvent97]

Re: Fun Challenge: Construct the best possible 14-man team staying under the $123.65M

G Lonzo Ball $19.53M
G Desmond Bane $2.13M
F Josh Richardson $12.20M
F Giannis Antetokounmpo $42.92M
C Chet Holmgren $9.89M

$86.67M for starters, 2 rookie contracts in Chet and Bane

G Alex Caruso $9.03M
G Josh Okogie $1.97M
G Herb Jones $1.81M

F Otto Porter $6.00M
F T.J Warren $2.63M
F Max Strus $1.82M

C Maxi Kleber $9.00M
C Thomas Bryant $1.97M
C Moritz Wagner $1.88M

$36.11M for bench
$122.78M total

Spent way too much time on this but it's pretty self explanatory, lots of defense and shooting around Giannis with Lonzo providing secondary playmaking. I definitely skewed more towards depth than the other 2 above this lol.