Every NBA team begins training camp this week, so we know where rosters stand for the most part. Now is the time to assess the five traditional positions and where each team ranks at those spots.

I’ve been pushing for more use of the term “positional versatility” over the years as opposed to the game being “positionless.” Players, coaches and personnel executives have a more open mind about where players fit on rosters and among other players and how they can be used. The “tweeners” of yesterday are now more likely to be seen as assets today. Players shouldn’t be put in a one-position-at-all-times box, if you will. Some of the best stars transcend position, while players fighting for rotation spots help themselves when they can play multiple positions.

You have to start somewhere, though. Every team that made the playoffs last season had a lineup that played at least 14 games and 9.8 minutes per game. The defending champion Boston Celtics had two guards (Jrue Holiday and Derrick White), two forwards (Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum) and a big (Kristaps Porziņģis) that played 37 games together for 16.8 minutes per game. There’s a consistency that comes with a starting five, a group of players that will spend a significant part of a game at set positions.

Teams will have different approaches to their starting or primary lineups. There’s the LA Clippers, where president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank acknowledges that some teams have bigger power forwards, other teams have glorified small forwards at the four, while his team sticks to “a point, three wings and a big.”

The power forward position is arguably the toughest to define given the players teams roll out there in 2024.

Lawrence Frank points out that for every team that has a big body at that spot, a team will have a glorified SF.

LAC satisfied with personnel, but needs rebounds. pic.twitter.com/n1GbFhRcK9

— Law Murray 💡 (@LawMurrayTheNU) September 25, 2024

Other teams have watched the league get bigger and adjusted accordingly, with the Denver Nuggets winning the 2023 championship with two big forwards next to Nikola Jokić at center, only to be upset this past spring against an even larger Minnesota Timberwolves front line.

 

Post by @lawmurraythenu

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We are not yet at the place where teams are just going to fill their rosters and lineups with exclusively wing-sized players. There will be guards, and there will be bigs. Some of those guards will be smaller and will be best deployed as point guards. Some of those bigs will be better as middle-of-the-floor centers, while others will be able to play alongside those centers as power forwards. Not every wing should be considered a guard because of their lack of skill, but they can be helpful defensively as small forwards next to multiple skilled guards. The average sizes of starters from last season still goes up along the traditional positional spectrum:

For the most part, I look at the traditional positions as roles that teams need to have filled. What I look for at each spot:

• Point guard: Primary pick-and-roll ballhandlers, playmakers, passers, pace-setters and caretakers.
• Shooting guard: On- or off-ball players with shooting ability across various levels, especially off the catch from 3.
• Small forward: Primary perimeter defender, fast-break finisher and half-court cutter.
• Power forward: More size than a wing, especially to rebound on both ends, without always having the primary interior responsibilities of a center.
• Center: Rim protection and screening, especially in pick-and-rolls.

Then there are the stars at every position — the players who finish most of their possessions scoring out of ball screens, isolations and post ups. Stars have to be able to play in the midrange, be able to make shots from 3 off the bounce, get to the paint and free-throw line consistently, and be able to find teammates for easy and open shots. Stars also have to do those things at a high level without being too much of a liability defensively or off the ball. The teams with stars will rank higher at their position group.

Being at a position does not dismiss what players are able to do at the four other spots. In fact, it enhances it. Every player, especially a starter, has a role that is most ideal for him and his teammates. These subjective team rankings consider how each team projects to line up with respect to the fact that you could line up players on these rosters in a variety of ways.

What to know about these rankings

I chose to rank the teams based on overall strength at each nominal position, while listing each team’s possible/likely starter as a representative of that position. These are a subjective projection; if a player is listed at one spot, it doesn’t mean you couldn’t list them at another, but I am choosing to evaluate the team from that position. While the starter is the primary source of evaluation (about 75 percent), a team’s reserves are taken into consideration (second unit players account for about 20 percent).

Other criteria for these rankings include:

• Basketball: How do you see a player in terms of non-shooting scoring (baskets inside the paint and generating free throws), rebounding, playmaking, defense and shooting efficiency? In general, players who are consistently good, do a variety of things on either end of the floor, and are capable of high on-ball usage will have their teams rank higher.
• Availability: Injuries exist; there is no “if healthy,” because we know some players won’t play and haven’t played as much as others. Players who are more injury- (or suspension-) prone make their reserves more relevant.
• Depth: This year, I’m listing second-unit players for depth chart projection purposes, with regards to the fact that they are even more likely to contribute across the positional spectrum. Three-hundred names will be in this list.
• Career: I have to consider where players are in their careers. Younger players have upside, but they have to show something too. Players in their 30s are established, but always a cliff threat; this is not a lifetime achievement ranking.
• Morale: Actually wanting to play for the current team — and vice versa — with other teams exploring shaking up the position. Stability is going to upgrade some positional situations and downgrade others.

Emphasis on the word team — these are team positional rankings, meaning that I’m considering all 30 NBA squads. For each table, players highlighted in orange are new veteran additions, while players highlighted in green are 2024 first-round picks. After each table, we’ll highlight some key takeaways about that particular group.

Point guard

• I debated whether to put the Dallas Mavericks or Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of these rankings. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the best scorer out of ball screens in the league, one of the best isolation scorers and defends at a high level. Ultimately, I went with Dallas and Luka Dončić, the NBA’s scoring champion who was also third in assists and just got NBA Finals experience.
• Jalen Brunson’s numbers last season (28.7 points, 6.7 assists) made it clear what kind of force New York has at point guard, and he’s still in his 20s. That those numbers exceeded what the Golden State Warriors got from Stephen Curry, who is entering his 16th NBA season, necessitated a changing of the guard at the top.
• Suspension and injury limited Ja Morant to nine games last season, and the Memphis Grizzlies had no real contingency plan offensively. Morant is good enough to be a top-10 point guard, but the position is stacked and Morant has to show he can stay on the floor and shoot league average from 3; every team ranked above Memphis has a 3-point shooter better than Morant.
• On one hand, CJ McCollum is a perfectly fine starting point guard. He has a decent assist-turnover ratio, and he shoots the ball well. On the other hand, New Orleans already has a surplus of primary ballhandlers, and it just added another in Dejounte Murray in part because of New Orleans’ unreliable offense in clutch time. It makes McCollum’s role, and even his starting spot, relatively shaky.
• The stretch of teams ranked in the low 20s is populated with guards who have had to deal with ceding touches to wings or forwards with more influence on the offense. D’Angelo Russell has to defer to LeBron James. Mike Conley Jr. is off the ball more than ever next to Anthony Edwards. Jalen Suggs was starting at shooting guard before settling in at point guard before the playoffs. Coby White was a secondary option to DeMar DeRozan, and now Zach LaVine is healthy. Terry Rozier has long been used to playing alongside other guards who have the ball in their hands more, and now is with a Miami team that plays through Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.
• All of the teams in the bottom-five either have a bridge point guard who is relatively new to the roster, or are a Utah Jazz team that lacks clear direction at the position. Keyonte George had the lowest assist-turnover ratio (1.77) last season of any player projected to be a starting point guard.