The NBA is all about championships, and the best way to win a championship is to have the best five-man lineup in the league. Employing the best player in the world gives you a tremendous margin for error, but even the best players in the world need four guys they can count on.
Instead of diving straight into the top five five-man lineups for the 2023-24 season, we'll take a look at four lineups that just missed the cut.
Honorable mentions for best lineup
Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Yuta Wantanabe?, Kevin Durant, Jusuf Nurkic
Any lineup with Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, and Kevin Durant is going to light the world on fire. However, the Suns' supporting talent is a little wanting. Jusuf Nurkic's passing will help their three-headed shot-making monster get cleaner looks, but he is a pitiful finisher around the rim for a center and is a poor defender. The lack of a clear-cut fifth starter is also a concern. Can Yuta Watanabe carry over his career-best 3-point shooting? Does Eric Gordon have anything left in the tank? Can you really have Grayson Allen defend wings? The Suns, assuming some semblance of health, will be awesome, but right now, there are a few too many questions to throw them in the top five.
Los Angeles Lakers: D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Jarred Vanderbilt, Anthony Davis
The Lakers' five-man lineup of D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Anthony Davis only played 77 minutes together last season, but they were a glorious 77 minutes. The unit sported a plus-21.6 net rating, a 126.5 offensive rating, and a 104.9 defensive rating, per pbpstats. So why are they not in the top five? Those 77 glorious minutes came with a heaping helping of luck. The quintet combined to shoot 52.2 percent from 3-point range and held their opponents to 28.6 percent. This might be a great unit, but when regression hits, it won't continue to break basketball.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Rudy Gobert
The four-man lineup of Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, and Rudy Gobert without Mike Conley was dyn-O-mite during the regular season. They posted a plus-10.2 net rating, a 116.2 offensive rating, and a 106.0 defensive rating in 353 minutes. While their net rating (plus-6.8) and defensive rating (115.4) suffered with Conley in the mix, their offensive kicked into another gear (122.1). With an offseason to iron out the kinks, this unit should be absolutely deadly, even if it's absent arguably Minnesota's best player– Karl-Anthony Towns. Which is the main reason it isn't in the top five.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Last season, the quarter of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen shared the floor for 871 minutes and sported a plus-8.91 net rating, 121.8 offensive rating, and 112.9 defensive rating. That level of excellence and sample size all but guarantees this unit will be one of the league's best. Max Strus is an upgrade over last season's small forward rotation, but he's a tad undersized at 6-foot-5 and is just a good 3-point shooter (career 37.1 percent), not a great one.
With the honorable mentions out of the way, let's go take a look at the top five five-man lineups for the 2023-24 season.
Note: All net ratings, offensive ratings, and defensive ratings are via PBPstats, while overall team ranking is via NBA.com. PBPstats and NBA.com have slightly different net ratings, offensive ratings, and defensive ratings.
5. Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Jaren Jackson Jr., Steven Adams
The Memphis Grizzlies will have to wait 25 games to get Ja Morant back in the fold, but once he comes back, they should have one of the most devastating five-man lineups in the league. Last season, with Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Steven Adams on the court, they produced a net rating of plus-10.5, an offensive rating of 117.3, and a defensive rating of 106.7 while shooting 30.6 percent from 3 and 50.3 percent from 2. With less rotten luck from 3-point range and swapping Brooks for Marcus Smart, the Grizzlies' five best will be a bear of a lineup.
Going from Dillon Brooks to Marcus Smart is a substantial upgrade. Smart and Brooks are both excellent perimeter defenders, but Smart is a significantly better offensive option. He brings legitimate value as a playmaker, an area where Brooks struggles, and his shot selection will be a breath of fresh air. Towards the end of Brooks' Memphis tenure, his biggest issue was his willingness to take bad shots in the midrange. Smart hasn't been a better shooter than Brooks throughout his career. He just doesn't take nearly as many shots and instead leans into the things he actually does well.
The only concern for the Grizzlies won't be how effective these five can be but how many minutes can they play together. Morant will miss the first 25 games with a suspension and has sneakily been injury prone, Jackson has been more durable of late but has injury concerns of his own, and Adams missed half of the season and all of playoffs with a knee injury. Having an incredible net rating is great, but how many actual possessions you play is more important. This unit may take a little while to get going but come mid-season, this should be one of the five best lineups in the NBA.
4. Milwaukee Bucks: Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez
The fifth man next to Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez is somewhat irrelevant, but right now, it looks like Malik Beasley will get the nod. The Bucks overhauled their roster in the offseason by flipping Grayson Allen and Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard, and while their defense and depth will take a hit, the offensive jolt should be well worth it.
Last season, with Middleton, Antetokounmpo, Lopez, and the now departed Jrue Holiday on the court, the Bucks posted a net rating of plus-16.29, an offensive rating of 137, and a defensive rating of 120.7 in 149 minutes. While their offensive and defensive ratings are inflated due to incredible 3-point shooting, upgrading from Holiday to Lillard should see lineups built around this core quartet absolutely light up the scoreboard. The Bucks' best offensive rating in franchise history is 117.2, and anything short of that should be a disappointment.
Lillard has routinely led top-five offenses throughout his career by masterfully controlling the pick-and-roll game. In Portland, his main dance partner was Jusuf Nurkic, but in Milwaukee, he'll get to tango with Antetokounmpo and Lopez. However, Lillard is one of the weakest defensive players in the league, and the Bucks' five-season run as an elite defense may be over.
The biggest question mark for the Bucks, outside of who that fifth guy will be, is what version of Khris Middleton will they get. Middleton struggled with injuries last season, and his defense has decayed as he has aged. However, having far less offensive responsibility could be exactly what the 32-year-old needs to juice his offensive efficiency and ramp up his defensive intensity. If Middleton bounces back, the Bucks should have a historic offense that makes up for a less stout defense.
3. Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Warriors' lineup of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and Kevon Looney was the best five-man lineup by net rating to play over 100 minutes last season. In 331 minutes, they produced a plus-23.6 net rating,132.1 offensive rating, and 108.5 defensive rating. In most cases, a 46.8 percent 3-point shooting mark is ripe for regression, and it is, but with Curry and Thompson on the court, converting 40 percent of your triples is realistically in play.
As long as the Warriors' championship core remains intact, it gives them a fighting chance in every game. While fans will dream of lineups with Chris Paul instead of Looney, it's unlikely those lineup combinations will be as effective. Paul plays at a methodical pace and needs the ball to be effective, but the Warriors' offense is at its best when it's flying around Curry's non-stop chaos-inducing movement or the ball is in his hands. Paul doesn't accentuate those principles, and the best use of his talents is to help stabilize their bench units. Looney isn't a sexy player, but he does all the dirty little things that make teams tick.
The only reason the Warriors don't rank higher is the reality that time is undefeated. No matter what you're told, Curry, Green, and Thompson are in decline. They're still great players, but they've all shown steady decline from their peaks. Another concern is the Warriors' incredible reliance on Draymond Green to anchor their defense. While Curry's game-breaking offense has been the storytelling focal point of the Warriors' dynasty, their defense has been just as good. If Green starts to slip or simply starts conserving more energy, it'll show up in their defensive rating. The Warriors aren't done yet, but this is probably their last best chance to add title number five with this core.
2. Denver Nuggets: Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
The 2023 NBA Champions were powered by the best five-man lineup in the league (shocker). Their core five of Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic sported a plus-12.95 net rating, 127.4 offensive rating, and 114.4 defensive rating in 706 minutes. In the playoffs, they played 376 of the Nuggets' 965 total minutes and produced a net rating of plus-7.54, an offensive rating of 120.7, and a defensive rating of 113.2. While other units produced better net ratings, the Nuggets' core did it over the long haul.
Nikola Jokic is a one-man net rating machine. He has never had a negative on-court net rating or on-off net rating in his career, and in 2022-23 he took it to new heights with a career-best plus-12.0 on-court net rating and a comimical plus-22.0 on-off net rating. He's the best player in the world, and contrary to popular belief, it was clear he was a special player the moment he set foot in the league.
While Jokic is the hub that makes everything tick, his supporting cast is perfectly calibrated to take advantage of his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. Murray has a perfect understanding of when to shoot and pass off of Jokic, Caldwell-Pope is an elite 3-and-D wing, Michael Porter Jr. has an unblockable knockdown jumper, and Aaron Gordon is an elite versatile defender who punishes mismatches. If there's a lesson to be learned in roster building, outside of getting talent, it's to give your star every chance to shine.
The scary thing for the rest of the league is the Nuggets' core is in no danger of aging out of their dominance anytime soon. Only Caldwell-Pope is over 30, and Jokic and Gordon are still 28. There is a lot of tread still on these tires, and while it's unlikely this core will lead the league in net rating, they are the odds-on favorites to lead it in point differential.
1. Boston Celtics: Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis
"Unseating the defending Champions is never easy, but the Boston Celtics managed to do it by going for it in the offseason," is a line Celtics fans hope to read in July 2024. In the meantime, they'll just have to settle for the most dangerous five-man unit in the entire league.
Last season, the five-man unit of Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford produced the fourth-best net rating of any five-man lineup to play over 300 minutes. Their plus-10.5 net rating, 126.2 offensive rating, and 115.6 defensive rating in 432 minutes was the backbone of their league-best plus-6.5 net rating, and they went out and made it even better.
Marcus Smart may have been the heart and soul of the Celtics, but Jrue Holiday is on a completely different level as a player. His defense is just as good, possibly even better, and he is a massive offensive upgrade. Over the past three seasons, Smart produced a solid plus-2.3 on-off net rating, while Holiday came in at a whopping plus-11.5. Smart is a good player, but Holiday is legitimately great.
Al Horford has reinvented himself in Boston as a stretch five, but Kristaps Porzingis is nicknamed "the Unicorn" for a reason. Porzingis may not have the defensive versatility of Horford, but he became one of the best pure rim protectors in the league last season, and his offensive package is far more deadly. Horford can hit open 3s, but Porzingis demands you guard him beyond the arc. His plus-5.2 on-off net rating in 82 games in Washington suggests Porzingis has finally made good on the hype that engulfed him early in his career in New York.
Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis is lineup construction heaven. Everyone can space the floor and take advantage of that space, and it is a devastating defensive unit. The Celtics won't switch one through five as they have in the past, but putting Porzingis at the rim and switching one through four should make for an even stouter regular-season defense. While I would probably give the edge to Denver and Milwaukee in a playoff series due to sheer star power, the Celtics are the only team that I can reasonably expect to win 60 games, and their five-man death lineup is why.
