I decided to cook up the best starting 5 (current players) per letter of the alphabet, according to my exceptionally mid opinion. These are mostly assuming good health, although I do mention health at times when discussing them.

THE TEAMS:

A - Team:

PG - Jose Alvarado
SG - Nickeil Alexander-Walker
SF - OG Anunoby
PF - Giannis Antetokounmpo
C - Bam Adebayo

I considered moving OG to the 2 slot and having Avdija at the 4, but I really like the absolute defensive monstrosity this team turned into.

B - Team:

PG - Jalen Brunson
SG - Devin Booker
SF - Jaylen Brown
PF - Scottie Barnes
C - Bismack Biyombo

This was a weird one. Lot’s of good smalls to pick from, I really thought about adding Lamelo, or having Bridges join his teammate, but I think that booker is still a really good fit next to brunson and the best player to put at the 2 slot. There are no good centers with that initial unfortunately, and Banchero would not be the move.

C - Team:

PG - Cade Cunningham
SG - Steph Curry
SF - Julian Champagnie
PF - Toumani Camara
C - Donovan Clingan

Back court loaded kind of team. Really wanted to fit castle in but I felt that Champagnie was thee better fit. This team will light you up from beyond the arch, and while the defense isn’t going to be amazing, they’re certainly no slouches.

D - Team:

PG - Luka Doncic
SG - Dyson Daniels
SF - Lu Dort
PF - Kevin Durant
C - Anthony Davis

If you asked me to construct the perfect team around Luka, it might end up looking something like this. The shooting will be a little questionable, but Daniels can’t get much worse at shooting 3’s and Dort has shown he can be a knock down 3 and D guy. Durant obviously helps space the floor more and Davis, assuming good health (I know, a bold assumption) is the ideal center for Luka.

E - Team:

PG - Anthony Edwards
SG - VJ Edgecombe
SF - Tari Eason
PF - Joel Embiid
C - Zach Edey

Not a ton of E names to choose from, but all things considered this is a pretty decent crew - sure, there’s no real PG and you’re running a twin-towers situation, but Embiid ran with another center a lot in Philly last season and I liked the fit

F - Team:

PG - D’Aaron Fox
SG - Jeremiah Fears
SF - Dorian Finney-Smith
PF - Cooper Flagg
C - Kyle Flipowski

I mean, they can’t all be winners.

G - Team:

PG - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
SG - Darius Garland
SF - Aaron Gordon
PF - Draymond Green
C - Rudy Gobert

We can quibble about who should be the point guard between shai and Garland, but I stand 100% by the team. SGA alone would make them good but pair him with another strong shooter and creator and 3 of the greatest defenders in the league and you’ve officially got the Thunder at home.

H - Team:

PG - Tyrese Haliburton
SG - James Harden
SF - Rui Hachimura
PF - Chet Holmgren
C - Isaiah Hartenstein

Really went back and forth on Harden here. I thought about Hart for the rebounding, Thought about Herro for the shooting. Strongly considered Dylan Harper off the heels of his playoff greatness, but I really wanted the extra creation with Hali and Harden fits the bill

I - Team:

PG - Kyrie Irving
SG - Harrison Ingram
SF - Brandon Ingram
PF - Oso Ighodaro
C - Jonathan Isaac

The only other player in the league with a last name starting with “I” is Mavs summer league prospect Vsevolod Ischenko, who likely doesn’t play an NBA game this upcoming season. So all things considered, could be worse!

J - Team:

PG - LeBron James
SG - Isaiah Joe
SF - Jalen Johnson
PF - Jaren Jackson Jr.
C - Nikola Jokic

Some of the choices here were dead simple, but I had a hard time figuring out who to play at the two. I thought about Keldon Johnson, but I really wanted to get the team a real, volume knockdown shooter. I ultimately went with Joe over Ty Jerome (my second choice) just off of having more time to show consistency, and for his better athleticism.

K - Team:

PG - Luke Kennard
SG - Kon Knueppel
SF - Kyle Kuzma
PF - Jonathan Kuminga
C - Walker Kessler

Backcourt snipers with no playmaking, a Kuz-Kuminga front court, and the Lakers savior Kessler trying to play a one man defense. Rough.

L - Team:

PG - Damien Lillard
SG - Zach LaVine
SF - Kawhi Leonard
PF - Jake LaRavia
C - Dereck Lively

As much as the laker fan in me wanted to exclude Jake, he’s ultimately the unfortunate best option despite not being big enough to be a real PF.

M - Team:

PG - Tyrese Maxey
SG - Donovan Mitchell
SF - Jaden McDaniels
PF - Lauri Markkanen
C - Evan Mobley

Oops, all shooters! (and mobley). I thought this one would be harder to put together because there’s so many good guards with the “M” last name, but Mitchell and Maxey are still head-and-shoulders above every other option. I briefly considered Brandon Miller for the SF but the team needed to bolster its defense more.

N - Team:

PG - Ryan Nembhard
SG - Andrew Nembhard
SF - Aaron Nesmith
PF - Zeke Nnaji
C - Jusuf Nurkic

I would’ve thought there would be more N names in the league. Oh well, shoutout to the Nembhard’s!

O - Team:

PG - Josh Okogie
SG - Isaac Okoro
SF - Kelly Oubre Jr.
PF - Royce O’Neale
C - Onyeka Okongwu

Zero playmaking, these teams get harder to construct when there’s limited players because I don’t just want to take only the best players, but there isn’t even a decent point guard option for O.

P - Team:

PG - Payton Pritchard
SG - Norm Powell
SF - Michael Porter Jr.
PF - Bobby Portis Jr.
C - Kristaps Porzingis

Actually insane 3 point shooting, but my god this team would get lit up by Ben Simmons with that defense.

Q - Team: Does not qualify - only 4 players in the league have the initial Q in their last name.

R - Team:

PG - Ryan Rollins
SG - Austin Reaves
SF - Julius Randle
PF - Naz Reid
C - Mitchell Robinson

Naz Reid.

S - Team:

PG - Jalen Suggs
SG - Marcus Smart
SF - Pascal Siakam
PF - Jabari Smith Jr.
C - Alperen Sengun

You could definitely make the case for another guard combo or someone over Smart, but I just think that huge defensive identity back court gives this team a little zest, and there’s still a lot of scoring in the front court.

T - Team:

PG - Amen Thompson
SG - Ausar Thompson
SF - Jason Tatum
PF - Karl-Anthony Towns
C - Myles Turner

Has there ever been a front court that was this much better at shooting than the backcourt? Well it’s okay because it’s easily the best backcourt on this list.

U - Team: Does not qualify - only 2 players in the league have the initial U in their last name.

V - Team:

PG - Fred Vanvleet
SG - Gabe Vincent
SF - Devin Vassell
PF - Jarred Vanderbilt
C - Nikola Vucevic

Not exactly the most elite squad, but there wasn’t a vast plethora of V players to pick so it could’ve definitely been worse.

W - Team:

PG - Derrick White
SG - Cason Wallace
SF - Franz Wagner
PF - Jalen Williams
C - Victor Wembenyama

This was easily the hardest one. I thought about guys like Andrew Wiggins, Zion Williamson, PJ Washington, Coby White - lots of good players- and Andrew Wiggins nearly made it just because of his shooting, but ultimately I thought what better way to represent the Wemby team than to have the most stifling group of defenders ever. Wagner is easily the worst defender here, which is a testament to how stacked this team is defensively.

Teams X, Y, and Z: Do not qualify - There are 0 players in the league have the initial X in their last name, 3 with the letter Y initial, and 2 with the letter Z.

I was gonna do some sort of tournament between the teams to see who the best are out of a fear of engaging with my real life out of boredom, but I think this post has gotten long enough.

Let me know who you think the best team is. Any snubs? Teams you think should get altered? Lmk in the classic civil discourse the internet is known for!