[Bleacher Report] Ranking Every NBA Starting Lineup After LeBron James Signs with Philadelphia 76ers
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This list is dogshit
What do we expect from bleacher report
gambling ads
They lack the reputation and credibility of court side report.
Never had the makings of a varsity athlete, bleacher report.
Dog shit slideshows
Wasn’t too long ago that they had their finger on the pulse of the NBA enough to make Game of Zones as good and relevant as it was.
It’s bleacherreport lmao it’s not meant to be good, it’s intentionally bad so as to ragebait us into engaging with it on social media.
Putting Hawks at 8th just so obv lol. I can understand majority of other choices (i dont agree some of them etc.) but how tf Hawks on paper 8th best team in NBA
Tbf it’s not best team it’s best starting lineup
That starting lineup still doesn’t scream 8th best in the entire NBA, unless you’re smoking crack
I mean, it was the 2nd best lineup in terms of net rating last season (min 200 minutes)
The Thunder, Knicks, and Spurs still have to be the top 3. They’re all playoff-proven monster lineups.
76ers can be 4th, but there are too many question marks to put them at #1 before they play a game (How will Embiid look? How will the fit be with 4 ball-dominant guys on offense? Etc.)
And Nuggets/Pacers do not belong above any of those 4.
It’s engagement by ragebait publishing that includes the latest roster signing as the number 1. The fact this is someone’s job is hilarious, I mean most sports journalists jobs are just people who don’t actually want to do journalism but everybody needs a job I guess.
All lists are dogshit. They’re designed to get people to “engage” (i.e. bicker with each other)
We call this kinda article bait here sir, make sure you do your duty and click/share so we can all be angry about nothing while they make ad revenue.
Yeah!
It’s engagement bait to get people riled up, and it works every single fucking time
Spurs at 6? LOL OK.
Yeah wtf I’m not a fan but any list that doesn’t have them in the top 3 is a complete joke
And the Pacers at the 4 spot 😂💀
Even if you expect Hali to be 100% the player he was before the injury it’s too high
Are they above the Knicks, Sixers, or Thunder?
The same argument that puts the Knicks ahead of the Spurs would put the Spurs ahead of the Thunder. This is the Spurs starting five that beat the Thunder and went to the Finals. It was a relatively young group with a first year HC then that is now a year more experienced. Not to mention the Spurs added Tobias Harris who will most likely be starting, so this list is just wrong from the get go.
And I know I’m in the minority, but I don’t see this Sixers team being as dominant as people think they’ll be. Not to mention the Spurs match up very well with them offensively and especially defensively.
I agree about the Sixers, but I have to point out the Spurs did not beat the Thunder starting 5. Even without JDub, it took 7 games including a double overtime.
Yeah, pacers at 4
Garbage list
Bad Defender Denver at Top 5 😂
Also, not sure Harper still comes off the bench this season…
This list has lost all credibility.
First thought was “pacers feel too high, spurs feel too low”
Very unserious org. Pacers and nuggets higher lmfao
Spurs at 6, Pacers at 4. 100% ragebait article
Pacers above the Spurs is insanity . Also Timberwolves should be way higher
Agreed, 2 biggest flaws of the list.
jazz over lakers is also dumb af, luka himself pushes lakers above jazz.
People think Luka is Tracy McGrady now
Pardon me? Replace Luka with prime TMac and we are still better than the Jazz
Luka >>>>>> Tmac
That and the 76ers aren’t the best starting Line-up. Knicks, Thunder, and Spurs are all better.
Right? This list was written by a dipshit.
Celtics being that low is just fucking stupid. Tatum came back and was like 80% of himself… as much as people want to joke this team is at worst a side grade from last year’s regular season C’s with a slightly higher ceiling. Rockets are also above some teams that I wouldn’t put us above. Getting FVV back is big but there’s some glaring offensive issues that don’t disappear and his form is not a guarantee.
I’m fading the pacers hard this year imho. Love Hali, but I think that was lighting in a bottle and they lost a lot of important pieces. I don’t think they’ll be very good
They haven’t lost a lot of important pieces. Thomas Bryant? The only person we lost was Mathurin, and in return gained a top ten center that can actually rebound unlike the one we lost in Myles Turner.
We still have Haliburton, Neismith, Nembhard, Siakam, Obi Toppin, TJ GOAT McConnell, added Oubre and Nance as role players.
Basically the same core, with an upgraded center, with an even deeper bench, that went to game 7 of the Finals before tanking with an injured Haliburton.
They will absolutely be a problem in the East come playoff time. Haliburton never relied upon explosiveness as a star anyway, he’s a pass first guard with a dangerous 3 anywhere on the court.
I like Zubac, but I really dislike how he’s used to shit on Myles. Myles was great on a team that went to the ECF and Finals in consecutive years. He was a good starting center with a unique skill set that will not be easily replaced.
Zu’s very good himself. I’m excited to see him on the team. But he’s only had one standout season in his career. The rest of the time he’s been decent. I expect he’ll get a bump from playing with Haliburton, but this assumption that he’s far and away better than Myles is just that: an assumption.
Turner was so good on those Pacers teams, he’s fallen off a cliff since then and people have retroactively made him bad on the Pacers runs. it’s not like Zubac is some allstar center. he’s good and might be better with them but all the people who are like “this is a 100% unanimous upgrade” are probably a little too harsh. also Zubac isn’t getting any younger, he’s not old but for big men they break down fast and their game doesn’t age well. just looking for a little more nuance in the conversation
I was a long time Turner defender and still think he’s a good dude. but him as a 5 out center doesn’t work. We have the receipts now, he was subbed out for a 4 during the final two rounds of the playoffs.
I think a lot of people don’t consider is that:
1 - Our rebounding was abysmal during our finals run. We came back and beat the knicks despite grabbing 100 fewer boards over 6 games.
2 - During our biggest runs that entire season, our 5 was either not involved in the play or subbed off the floor for Obi Toppin
If we want to go no rebounding no big defense we haven’t really lost anything. We may have lost some space in the middle but I will gladly experiment and see what a Hali/Zubac pnr looks like before running a 5 out again
I support this read, I wasn’t a huge Pacers guy. handful of regular season games and all the postseason ones. this is a more nuanced explanation than I could give
I would be surprised to see them above a 6th seed. No hate but I can easily place 4 eastern teams above them in 76ers, Cavs, Celtics, and Knicks. The Heat are awful as constructed but still have, at the moment, a healthy Giannis. Magic won’t just roll over. Pistons are still good. And if we assume Kawhi goes to the Raptors that’s another team that won’t be easy to beat. That’s 8 teams that genuinely health depending will be competitive for a playoff spot.
They didn’t lose much. They lost Turner (replaced him with Zubac). They lost Mathurin (replaced him with Oubre). Obviously Hali returning from injury is the big question mark. But if the main argument for why they may not be good is they “lost” a bunch from the 2025 team, it’s a flawed one.
Yeah I was surprised how we were top 4 but I’m not complaining lmao.
Are people still taking what Bleacher Report says seriously???
The biggest flaw is Sixers at number 1. I totally get that we have to respect the talent on that team, but are they really favoring a line up that’s never played a game together over the superb teams we saw in finals, which are largely running it back intact to benefit from continuity and proven chemistry?
Minnesota should definitely be higher
Nuggets at 5 and Wolves at 12 is definitely something
Well yeah, Nuggets lost to the Minnesota bench, not the starters duh
Nuggets starting lineup is about as good as it’s ever been, the issue is the bench
Is it though? Healthy MPJ clears Cam and it’s not even close
and Christian Braun unfortunately exists lol
A healthy AG makes a HUGE difference. He’s more important to the team than Murray
And I don’t think he’s ever going to truly be healthy again. Hamstrings are just cooked unfortunately.
That’s probably not our starting lineup, but regardless it’s so much better than so many teams above us
I really don’t think Ayo should be in the starting lineup either. He should be first man off the bench imo
Ya it might be Shannon who starts since he’s bigger, which helps Jaden out some
The average NBA fan + media personality will not remember the Wolves exist until they win like 3 rings, it’s crazy how often they get left out of conversations
I don’t really like the 3 guard lineup + McDaniels at the 4
Lakers at 16 is crazy
It’s bait is what it is.
Lakers have a massive fanbase so they do this at bait specifically to increase engagement. Bleacher Report has always been clickbait garbage.
Not a lakers fan but I agree especially teams like the jazz who haven’t played together yet
Laughable at best
Pacers 4th is bait
They added a borderline all NBA guy to a team that was in game 7 of the finals a year ago. People are really sleeping on them
I agree… but they’re not 4th. Not until we see Halliburton post Achilles injury at the very least
Hali just did an east bay in practice, never seen him do one before the tear. I think he’s fine now
Dunk inflation… wdym Haliburton can eastbay lmao, these guys are so good
The pacers made the finals despite Haliburton being a trash can to start the 24-25 season. He didn’t even make the all star team because he had multiple 0 point games. He had a huge mental block after the calf injury lingered all off season. He figured it out and made all nba and led them to the finals. He has 82 games to figure it out again… the team will be fine.
Also the beauty of the modern nba. It’s really hard to decide who’s better. I’d argue the Pacers starting 5 can match anybody in the nba and proved it…. But you could say the same about OKC, New York, Philly, San Antonio. Then how do you write off Jokic or the wolves team that keeps showing so much fight or Houston with an actual pg returning or a young hawks team or maybe the Cavs finally or it together. NBA is so deep right now I love it.
Zubac borderline all NBA is an overstatement
Harris is starting over champaigne surely?
Most likely
Probably but I think there is going to be a lot of experimenting with lineups this year now that we have more depth. Harris, Champagnie, Vassell, Bryant, Keldon, Barnes, and Reed will all be getting some forward minutes plus whoever you want to count as a forward when Fox/Castle/Harper are out there together.
Bleacher Report should be considered war criminals. Every take is vehemently dogshit.
Unfortunately bad takes get more attention than good takes. So they will continue pushing bad takes
Pacers over spurs is BLASPHEMY lmao
There’s a HUGE elephant in the room with the Sixers that all these analysts are forgetting. Embiid has to actually play.
Sit him for 80% of the regular season and trot him out for the playoffs.
He still can’t play the 30 games you need to play in the playoffs. They basically tried this last year and after the Celtics series he was basically a corpse. I wanted him in the game against the Knicks, which shouldn’t be the case for a superstar.
Last season he had an appendectomy and start applying 17 days later. Gave everything he could for the sixers to come back from a 3-0 deficit and ran out of steam.
He is also the same guy who played two playoff series with orbital bone fractures (different years) and Bell’s palsy.
The hope is this year he can play more games but only 25 minutes versus 30 plus, take some of the workload off his body and play more games
Well we would have to hope he doesn’t get an appendectomy right before the playoffs again. I don’t think the process (pardon the pun) was wrong just because it didn’t work.
I don’t think its necessarily wrong either but expecting him to play more than 35 games might be expecting too much. He has barely been able to do that for the last 3 years. Yeah, it’s not all one injury but at some point you have to think the guy is just cursed or injury prone at the very least.
He was playing 2 weeks after a major surgery lol
No one will admit that he basically sold that series for them. He has nothing left in the tank after the half of every game, slowed the team down, forced them to watch him fall and flail on every possession. It was comedy. Featuring Maxey’s speed and VJs grit would have been a much harder match up than Embiid dragging himself all over the court, but the latter prevented the former. Without Embiid I think Philly takes 1 maybe 2 games
The 20-25 games in the playoffs are the hardest and most intense. He’s not durable enough for that, look what happened this year.
Replace Embiid with a serviceable big man or even bona (athletic rim protector).
Where do you rank Maxey, VJ, Brown, Bron, Bona? Top 10 offense
Replace Embiid with Adem Bona and every team with a great center is gonna bang their asses in the post all game.
Pause
In 2k sure, but they have a LOT to figure out.
Well that’s the thing… you’re probably getting Bron for ~60 games or less. So for those maybe 25 games Bron is missing how many is Embiid out? Maxey, VJ, Brown, Bona is still really good but it’s also equally beatable.
Idk I mean the team’s gonna fucking slam puss regardless but this is ranking on name value and not the reality of the team at all. They’ll have home court but I’d be shocked to see them end 1st in the east
Honestly it’s still nice even without Embiid. If the 76ers had an average back up center like Gafford in that lineup, it’d still be top 5 lineup in the league.
This isn’t a power ranking, it’s a ranking of starting lineups. All players are considered healthy (like Haliburton and Tatum).
They also probably don’t fit together
It’s the best lineup to take turns and stagger them with serviceable bench guys
I could see the main starting 5 not having a great plus/minus with each other
And LeBron is 41.
Lmfao, 6th? Gotta be rage bait.
Yup. This list is trash. It hilarious that people are ranking 41 year old LeBron as if he is 31.
Should be thunder, spurs, Knicks, 76ers in that order.
Seriously. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills with people pretending the Sixers are suddenly some world beater team. Even Lebron will continue to drop off at age 42, Embiid is made of glass, and JB and Maxey are good but not great players.
Jb and maxey aren’t great? They were both top 5 in mvp rankings throughout last season
Both top 5 in MVP rankings throughout the season and neither of them were top 5 in voting? And Maxey didn’t get a single vote? And then Boston traded away their MVP candidate for funsies. Crazy how that turned out.
Maxey was never in MVP conversations and it’s pretty clear the league doesn’t think JB is anywhere close to that either.
Top 20 guys not top 5.
Queta def starting over Robinson
I can also see Baylor starting instead of Pritchard. PP/Hugo/Hauser/Walsh/Robinson should be the bench unit
Maybe in the RS but Mitch probably starts more often than not in the playoffs.
That Bucks lineup 😂
It feels so lazy man. There’s no way Ware isn’t starting, and like 60% of that lineup wasn’t last in the east, let alone the league
Yeah was gonna say, surely Ware takes the starting spot, if not right away pretty quickly
Herro: yall done lost your damn minds
Better not be hearing any Rollins slander. We are winning the championship this year, Nate ament is the next giannis except he can also maybe shoot threes, burries floor is jrue holiday. This is the truth and I will hear nothing else.
Get the fuck out of here dude
The Bulls starting 5 is going to surprise a lot of people. Very solid 5. The bench is going to be why the Bulls aren’t good
yeah they should be fun. powell is going to drop 23ppg. the main concern is can Wilson step right in and be that guy? im guessing no but we’ll see. that essengue pick messed them up
Dawg we gotta let the rockets hype go they’re all mid or worse except for Amen and kd
People still treating Bitchtits Sengun like he’s the next Jokic
Rockets over wolves astounds me
I think people are sleeping on them a lot this season. Their main issues were ball handling and spacing and theyve made moves to address both and they’ll have fvv and steven adams back
Wizards are too low, that is a big starting lineup around Trae.
Sureeee
Ehhhhh. How aren’t the timberwovles higher then say the rockets, hawks or Cavs 😭😭😂😂
Heat should be higher surely
Suns at 20 is fricking hilarious
Fuck it, that’s where they operate the best, let everyone else deal with the higher expectations.
Well said man, they underestimated us and we smashed the over/under. Let them make the same mistake twice and see what happens. I believe in our guys.
LFG, another play in run
Didn’t we beat your asses in the season series, 3-2? You guys aren’t much better off at all lmao.
Don’t bother, they’re too busy trying to bring back segregation over in LA
Lakers at 16 💀💀💀💀
This list is.. awful lmao
Why are the Pacers and Nuggets ahead of the Spurs?
Hawks have to have the most alliterative names in one starting 5 ever with three DD JJ OO
Nuggets are way too high. Jokic looked like he was regressing last year. Pacers are also way too high.
Nuggs are way too high but not because of Jok lmao, they’re too high because the rest of the roster is injury prone and inconsistent, the bench is horrible, and everyone except Cam Johnson (apparently) and Jok looked like they’d rather be anywhere else.
I am NOT looking forward to next season lmfao
I think so too but I would never count out joker. he can single handily make them a contender.
Lol this list is ragebait
1st team point guard and 3rd team center, ages combine to be basically as old as LeBron, plus the best perimeter defender in the league, and they’re the thirteenth best lineup. Aight dawg
Wolves 12?? Lololololol
Bucks at 30 I don’t think they’re that bad
Definitely would agree with that
Lakers behind the jazz is insane
Can’t wait for people to freak out when the sixers aren’t that good
Spurs at 6 is criminal and just wrong.
If Lukas team had any other name on their jersey it would be a top 5 team
Knicks not being number 2 is a little offensive. At least give them the credit after the championship, C’mon. Also Why are the pacers that high?
Giannis and Bam make a top 10 roster regardless. 14 is insane
Jazz above lakers lol
Nuggets, Jazz too high, Wolves, Pistons too low.
I get this is ranking starting 5s, so whatever.
But there’s no way the Milwaukee Bucks are the worst team in the NBA.
It certainly a bottom 3 starting 5
Timberwolves beat the nuggets, they should be top 5. Spurs should be top 5 also.
Nuggs way too high
Cleveland over the raptors is hilarious. They barely beat them in 7 with 2 starters missing and now they have Khawi.
Spurs are too low IMO. Should be around #4. They acquired Tobias Harris and their top 3 players are all college-aged. Dylan Harper especially is going into his second season leap and was the #2 pick in the draft. And of course Wembanyama has no ceiling for improvement.
Why even share this trash list?
Ragebait for the clicks
76ers #1 as in their starting lineup will have the highest net rating in the NBA? Because if that’s the implication I would strongly bet against that
This list belongs on circle jerk lmao. No one has any idea what Hali is going to look like this season.
Spurs under pacers when they were a finals team and the wolves at 12? What crack is he smoking dog?
Lakers at 16 is insane. It must be racism against snowtime or something /s
Bleacher Report really good with their engagement bait. People can’t stop looking and getting upset
Doesn’t matter. They will still be our bitches come playoff time.
Also, how are the Spurs not 4th, at least
Bleacher Report is the Mad Magazine of sports
It’s the biggest piece of dog shit I’ve ever seen
The sixers 5 is going to play 5 games together.
If healthy, it’s hard to not have Thunder, Spurs, and Knicks above 6ers. I get 6ers have the most talent, but the pieces are gonna take time to fit and it’s 4 pretty ball dominant guys
Mavs too low
Very surprised to see people think this Nuggets starting 5 isnt legit. I get their depth isnt great but man this starting 5 is still so good.
Blazers at 17!?! I’ll take it
One of the worst lists I’ve seen from them ever.
Bleacher report hates the suns on these lists. I think they put then on 22 or 20 in the power rankings
Spurs should be either 2 or 3, let’s be real
Pacers at 4? The fuck? I think people will be surprised to see how long it takes them to get back to form
Knicks worse than Sixers? Uh sure lmao
I’m sorry but spurs at 6 and wolves at 12 made this list completely invalid.
Trash ass list. Spurs at 6?! Hawks at 9?! Cavs at 7?! Throw it in the garbage.
Bucks coming for you
Mother of hype… 76ers - 1st, Spurs - 6th….
What even is this clickbait list? Spurs at 6? Wolves at 12? Suns at 20? Nuggets at 5 feels quite a bit too high. 76ers at 1 is really just a clickbait title as well. Embiid has cooked knees and no mobility. Bron is completely cooked. Can’t believe the Pacers and Nuggets are above the Spurs.
Pacers at 4?
I mean, shouldn’t the Knicks and Spurs be automatically 1 and 2?
The Spurs starting 5 was one of the best of any starting five last season.
The Spurs with unanimous DPOY Wemby, Year 3 Castle, and Sophomore Harper is not the 4th best team. They were a couple Fox missed shots from winning the championship this year
Hornets at 25 is ridiculous
Pacers too low
Look I like the Pacers but how tf they 4 and Spurs 6 🤣
Hawks need to move down like 8 spots lol
being a team at the very top can be so bad, it puts so much pressure on the team lol.
Rare moment of the national media being reasonable to the Jazz
Not a single shred of defense in there
Someone really ranked the Pacers at 4 🤡
There’s so much talent in the league. I don’t think any of these teams are truly dogshit
Since this is starting lineups only, a lot makes sense which is what a bunch of people are missing. Ton of teams on top are a sprained ankle away from being screwed due to weak depth.
wild to see 76ers that high LMAO
As much as it hurts me to say this: How you gonna put the Knicks at 3 with the same starting lineup that dog-walked the field last year?
clippers retooled and restocked draft picks and still are not bottom of the barrel. once they acquire Watson this week, I have them around 20. that’s pretty damn good from trading away everyone.