Over the last couple of weeks, there’s been a real rush by NBA contenders to give their bench a boost. With Josh Smith being waived and Jermaine O’Neal still evaluating his options, contenders have been putting on a full-court press to try and get that final piece.
Although the Houston Rockets won the Smith sweepstakes, the general conversation got us thinking about the best benches in the NBA. Here’s a look at the teams with the best depth
Chicago Bulls
Although they have to rely on the bench to fill in for starters so much, when this team is healthy, they have what is arguably the best bench in the NBA. The Bulls second unit is absolutely loaded with Aaron Brooks, Taj Gibson, Kirk Hinrich, Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott, and they each bring something different to the table. Brooks does scoring, Gibson is muscle on the inside, Mirotic and McDermott are shooting specialists while Hinrich can run the offense and manage the game.
Although they’ve been relied upon to fill in so much, this unit is as good as it gets when the Bulls starting lineup is intact.
Toronto Raptors
The Raptors have emerged as a real contender in the East, and it is due to a bench that can hold their own with some starting-five units. Louis Williams averages 14.6 points and when he gets hot, he can carry the Raptors. And with DeMar DeRozan on the injured list, the Raps have leaned on him even more for his scoring touch. Greivis Vasquez, James Johnson and Patrick Patterson all add something on both ends of the floor for the Raptors. Although there are no stars here, all of the bench players know their role and embrace it, which bodes well for their playoff chances.
San Antonio Spurs
The defending NBA champions use their bench differently than the rest of this list as they aim to give veterans like Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili as much rest as possible, and that has served them well for a couple reasons. One, those veterans are ready come playoff time and two, so are the younger players that get some serious experience just in case they are called on in a huge game. All you have to do is look at players like Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, who have moved up from the bench to the starting five. Ginobili will bolster any bench’s numbers, while Marco Belinelli and Cory Joseph put up numbers as well. Up front, Boris Diaw and Tiago Splitter offer versatility when it’s required.
On the season, the Spurs bench is producing 44.3 points per game, which is the best in the NBA.
Memphis Grizzlies
One of the areas where the Memphis Grizzlies have really improved is with their bench play. We’ve watched them go head-to-head with a number of big boys in the Western Conference playoffs over the last couple of seasons and it was clear that when the second units got on the floor, the Grizzlies just didn’t match up well. However, that’s changed quite a bit this season.
The Grizzlies now bring guys like Vince Carter and Beno Udrih off the bench, which gives them a bit of pop in the back court. And when they need to spell the big men, Kosta Koufos and Jon Leuer have come in and held their own. Both have PER’s of 13.2 or better, and combined, they’re averaging 10.6 points per game while playing less than 17 minutes.
Houston Rockets
With the recent additions the Rockets have made, they have now earned a spot on this list. Smith will start at power forward for the Rockets, which pushes Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas to the second unit. That tandem is combining for 24.6 points per game along with 13.7 rebounds.That’ll be nice to have in their second wave of players.
The Rockets also recently traded for Corey Brewer, who plays solid defense and can score. He chipped in 12 points in his Rockets debut. Throw in Jason Terry, Kostas Papanikolaou and Isaiah Canaan, and the Rockets now have one of the best benches in the entire league.
