Now that the startup auction is over — in only ten days, which is frankly quite shocking! — we can run some numbers. First up, let’s look at how many players were paid at roughly each tier of ten dollars. I think the distribution won’t surprise anyone but we’ll try to tease some insights out of these numbers just the same. In related news: I failed statistics twice in college, so…take these all with a huge grain of salt.
Buying Stars
• The top fifteen players encompassed anyone that was bought at $90 or more. That list starts with Giannis Antetokounmpo and ends with Paul George. Those fifteen represent 3.85% of all players drafted.
• Move down another tier to the $80+ guys and we get another 3.33% of the league, aka thirteen players, from Kawhi Leonard to De’Aaron Fox at the bottom end of eighty dollars. That's about the bottom end of current level All-NBA type guys. See: "Where Are the Superstars?"
• Anyone over $70+ could be considered in the top ten percent of players. That’s barely touching the top forty players though, as Marvin Bagley and Buddy Hield were both bought at that number and were the 37th and 38th highest priced players, respectively.
• If you paid for anyone over $40+, you can congratulate yourself on getting one of the top twenty percent of players around, which roughly translate to the top seventy-five. Of course, the names down here are not that outstanding, as we’re looking at Lonzo Ball, Hassan Whiteside, and Derrick Favors at the bottom range.
• To get someone on the All-Star or potential All-Star level though, you had to pay $60+ and get into D’Angelo Russell, Zach LaVine, and Jayson Tatum territory. Dropping down to $50 becomes more a mixed bag but was roughly the same $50 to $60. That range was thirty-one players, or roughly eight-percent of the league.
The Top Fifty Percent
• Interestingly, the top half of all players draft — 195 out of 390 players — came in at exactly at the cut off for $10. That meant if you paid double digits for someone, they were about a top two-hundred selection and better than half the other guys around. Zhaire Smith, Derrick Rose, Tim Hardaway Jr., congrats!
• That top half of the league got $8,277 of the total $9,000 available league wide, or a whopping ninety-two percent. Dialing even further down, the top ten percent of players — the top forty players drafted — took home $3,526, or about forty percent of the money. Income disparity is tough isn’t it?
The Bottom Half
• Dropping down to the $5 to $9 range, there were about sixty players drafted. $9 would net a maybe starter such as Tyus Jones, Harry Giles, Josh Jackson, or Reggie Bullock, but would mostly leave you looking at a bench guy. At five dollars we’re looking at wild shots like Alen Smailagic, Stanley Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, and um, DeMarcus Cousins.
• How many $1 players were there? Sixty-two of them, making up 15% of our league. Anyone from Marcos Louzada Silva to Mr. Irrelevant, Duncan Robinson. For a dollar more, you could have upgraded to a Pat Connaughton or Trevor Ariza. $3 or $4 could net you Jeff Green or Allonzo Trier.
Equal But Not Real
• Theoretically, the top one hundred and fifty players should have been enough to fill out the starting five on each of our thirty RDA teams. At a price of exactly $20 per player, that would field a team of (pick five): Andrew Wiggins, Joe Ingles, Jeff Teague, Bruno Fernando, Taurean Prince, Kevin Knox, Dario Saric, or Thaddeus Young.
• And if you wanted to spend an entirely even amount of the total $300 throughout your entire roster — $23 per player — that would have one way to go. That thirteen deep roster would have been Dennis Schroder, Justise Winslow, Josh Okogie, Dennis Smith Jr., Jeremy Lamb, Tyler Herro, Robert Williams, Dwight Powell, Malik Monk, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and then Wiggins, Ingles, Teague. Is that a championship contender?
What we’re suggesting here then is this:
LAL is made up of a near All-Star in $70 worth of Bam Adebayo, one starter but mostly role player in $47 Jonathan Isaac, two $30+ fourth options in Spencer Dinwiddie and rookie De’Andre Hunter, and then four mostly NBA reserves in Tomas Satoransky, Alex Len, Robert Williams, and Jeff Teague. LAL also goes nine deep with $10+ guys, which equates to some nice depth for Son.
Another example: NOP, who has $88 invested in someone who is right around superstar status -- Kawhi Leonard is obviously worth more but he will be forever load managed -- plus a low end All-Star in $61 D’Angelo Russell. Eric Bledsoe is the $50 third cog for NOP and he serves as a great starter but probably won't reach All-Star status. Danny Green is the $31 fourth option on the Lakers, and Taurean Prince and his $20 was bought as a likely starter but role player while Kelly Olynyk at $10 means he's just paid as a solid reserve. Bill's team also boasts five players in the $5-9 range, which gives NOP some variable but undependable depth.
Last one: ORL is paying Andre Drummond as their cornerstone at $89, with Clint Capela and Montrezl Harrell as high end starters and almost All-Stars with their $50+ each. At $33, Miles Bridges is a surefire starter but third or fourth option on his NBA team. Kyle Anderson and Jaylen Brown were bought in the mid-$20s for their NBA starter quality contributions but they could swing into a bench role too. Jim's team then goes a total of eight deep on likely useable pieces, ending with Norman Powell at $4.
Note: Oh yeah, ORL has $196 invested in three centers, for an average of $65 per center. That even beats out MEM’s average of $52 for their five. If you need a lower end All-Star type pivot, you know which two teams to call...
Buying Stars
• The top fifteen players encompassed anyone that was bought at $90 or more. That list starts with Giannis Antetokounmpo and ends with Paul George. Those fifteen represent 3.85% of all players drafted.
• Move down another tier to the $80+ guys and we get another 3.33% of the league, aka thirteen players, from Kawhi Leonard to De’Aaron Fox at the bottom end of eighty dollars. That's about the bottom end of current level All-NBA type guys. See: "Where Are the Superstars?"
• Anyone over $70+ could be considered in the top ten percent of players. That’s barely touching the top forty players though, as Marvin Bagley and Buddy Hield were both bought at that number and were the 37th and 38th highest priced players, respectively.
• If you paid for anyone over $40+, you can congratulate yourself on getting one of the top twenty percent of players around, which roughly translate to the top seventy-five. Of course, the names down here are not that outstanding, as we’re looking at Lonzo Ball, Hassan Whiteside, and Derrick Favors at the bottom range.
• To get someone on the All-Star or potential All-Star level though, you had to pay $60+ and get into D’Angelo Russell, Zach LaVine, and Jayson Tatum territory. Dropping down to $50 becomes more a mixed bag but was roughly the same $50 to $60. That range was thirty-one players, or roughly eight-percent of the league.
The Top Fifty Percent
• Interestingly, the top half of all players draft — 195 out of 390 players — came in at exactly at the cut off for $10. That meant if you paid double digits for someone, they were about a top two-hundred selection and better than half the other guys around. Zhaire Smith, Derrick Rose, Tim Hardaway Jr., congrats!
• That top half of the league got $8,277 of the total $9,000 available league wide, or a whopping ninety-two percent. Dialing even further down, the top ten percent of players — the top forty players drafted — took home $3,526, or about forty percent of the money. Income disparity is tough isn’t it?
The Bottom Half
• Dropping down to the $5 to $9 range, there were about sixty players drafted. $9 would net a maybe starter such as Tyus Jones, Harry Giles, Josh Jackson, or Reggie Bullock, but would mostly leave you looking at a bench guy. At five dollars we’re looking at wild shots like Alen Smailagic, Stanley Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, and um, DeMarcus Cousins.
• How many $1 players were there? Sixty-two of them, making up 15% of our league. Anyone from Marcos Louzada Silva to Mr. Irrelevant, Duncan Robinson. For a dollar more, you could have upgraded to a Pat Connaughton or Trevor Ariza. $3 or $4 could net you Jeff Green or Allonzo Trier.
Equal But Not Real
• Theoretically, the top one hundred and fifty players should have been enough to fill out the starting five on each of our thirty RDA teams. At a price of exactly $20 per player, that would field a team of (pick five): Andrew Wiggins, Joe Ingles, Jeff Teague, Bruno Fernando, Taurean Prince, Kevin Knox, Dario Saric, or Thaddeus Young.
• And if you wanted to spend an entirely even amount of the total $300 throughout your entire roster — $23 per player — that would have one way to go. That thirteen deep roster would have been Dennis Schroder, Justise Winslow, Josh Okogie, Dennis Smith Jr., Jeremy Lamb, Tyler Herro, Robert Williams, Dwight Powell, Malik Monk, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and then Wiggins, Ingles, Teague. Is that a championship contender?
- $90+ nets you a superstar, a true franchise cornerstone. (15 players)
- $80+ would be close to a superstar but more of a secondary star type. (13)
- $60 to $70 is about All-Star if not All-NBA level. (18)
- $40 to $50 is high end starter and near All-Stars but not quite. (31)
- $30 is probably the fourth, or possibly third, option on their team. (30)
- $20 is a likely starter, but definitely a role player. (42)
- $10 is looking like a solid reserve. (46)
- $5 to $9 will get you someone who probably gets minutes but could be all over the place in terms of production and potential. (62)
- Any lower than $5 and you’re out of the top two hundred players. (133)
LAL is made up of a near All-Star in $70 worth of Bam Adebayo, one starter but mostly role player in $47 Jonathan Isaac, two $30+ fourth options in Spencer Dinwiddie and rookie De’Andre Hunter, and then four mostly NBA reserves in Tomas Satoransky, Alex Len, Robert Williams, and Jeff Teague. LAL also goes nine deep with $10+ guys, which equates to some nice depth for Son.
Another example: NOP, who has $88 invested in someone who is right around superstar status -- Kawhi Leonard is obviously worth more but he will be forever load managed -- plus a low end All-Star in $61 D’Angelo Russell. Eric Bledsoe is the $50 third cog for NOP and he serves as a great starter but probably won't reach All-Star status. Danny Green is the $31 fourth option on the Lakers, and Taurean Prince and his $20 was bought as a likely starter but role player while Kelly Olynyk at $10 means he's just paid as a solid reserve. Bill's team also boasts five players in the $5-9 range, which gives NOP some variable but undependable depth.
Last one: ORL is paying Andre Drummond as their cornerstone at $89, with Clint Capela and Montrezl Harrell as high end starters and almost All-Stars with their $50+ each. At $33, Miles Bridges is a surefire starter but third or fourth option on his NBA team. Kyle Anderson and Jaylen Brown were bought in the mid-$20s for their NBA starter quality contributions but they could swing into a bench role too. Jim's team then goes a total of eight deep on likely useable pieces, ending with Norman Powell at $4.
Note: Oh yeah, ORL has $196 invested in three centers, for an average of $65 per center. That even beats out MEM’s average of $52 for their five. If you need a lower end All-Star type pivot, you know which two teams to call...