A loaded bench in the NBA sets the best teams apart from those chasing them. In last year’s NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors emerged victorious in large part due to their bench dominance over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Finals MVP was Andre Iguodala, a player who spent almost the entire year (and playoffs) coming off the bench. The western conference is home to some of the best bench players in the league: Manu Ginobili, Jamal Crawford, Louis Williams, and Iguodala are only a few. The west is so saturated with talent that these guys are confined to a bench role, and they still find ways to thrive. With that said, let’s take a look at the best benches in the Western Conference for the 2015-16 NBA season:
1. Memphis Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies take the top spot after adding several key pieces to their bench this summer. New to the corps are Matt Barnes and Brandan Wright, both upgrades over last year’s incumbents. The Grizzlies also brought back Jeff Green to bolster their bench, and are solid at all positions. For a team like Memphis who likes to grind and play hard-nosed basketball a deep bench is huge, and theirs is now one of the deepest.
2. Los Angeles Clippers
Last season the Clippers had one of the worst benches in the NBA. It cost them their playoff series against the Rockets and was a laughingstock for much of the season. This year, that won’t be the case. New additions Lance Stephenson, Josh Smith, Paul Pierce, and Wes Johnson make a once-shallow team extremely deep across the board. Pablo Prigioni is a veteran backup point guard and will help as well, and now Chris Paul and Blake Griffin don’t have to play 40+ minutes per game. That makes a dangerous team even more dangerous come playoff time.
3. San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio’s strength over the years has been its bench, headlined by Manu Ginobili and bolstered with recent additions. This year’s crop includes David West, who took a massive pay cut to play for a title. Patty Mills is a very capable backup point guard, and he grows into a larger role behind Tony Parker. The one potential weak spot is depth at the wing, but this team is built to last once again. The Spurs always seem to get the most out of their bench, and this season will be no different.
4. Golden State Warriors
It could be argued that the Warriors won last season’s NBA Finals because of the contributions of their bench. While that enthusiasm is misguided, there is merit in how good the bench was all year. Led by Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, this year’s bench may be even better. Marreese Speights and Festus Ezeli are a year improved, and new addition Jason Thompson provides a veteran presence. The champs certainly didn’t sit back on their laurels, and the benefits of that mindset could lead them back to the promised land once again.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder
Last year, the Thunder were decimated by injuries in the first couple months, and almost didn’t have enough players to fill out their roster. Throughout the season, OKC took many measures to ensure that doesn’t happen again. The Thunder now have a bench stocked with capable backups and growing young players. D.J. Augustin is better suited as a backup, and newcomer Cameron Payne will grow behind him. The real strength is the forward and center spots, where Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and Nick Collison will battle it out for playing time, and that only bodes well for a team hungry to make it back to the postseason.
6. Houston Rockets
Houston’s bench takes a slight hit from last season, but by no means is this roster thinned out. Corey Brewer and Patrick Beverley re-signed, and now Beverley bolsters the bench behind newcomer Ty Lawson. Last year, Houston didn’t have a truly capable backup point guard, but Beverley should fit that role nicely. Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones are both adequate power forwards, and Clint Capela showed massive improvements at the end of the year, and all signs point to Houston’s bench being a strength yet again.
7. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers might be a surprise this high on the list, but the reality is that L.A. improved their bench markedly in free agency. The biggest addition is Lou Williams, the reigning sixth man of the year. Either Jordan Clarkson or D’Angelo Russell will join him as a strong bench backcourt, and they join Brandon Bass and potentially Nick Young to make the bench a real strength. The center spot could be improved behind Roy Hibbert, but overall this bench is much stronger than it was last year, and should help Los Angeles be relevant again.
8. Sacramento Kings
Many of Sacramento’s moves were questioned thoroughly this offseason, and some rightfully so, but there is no question the Kings’ bench has improved. Darren Collison will thrive behind Rajon Rondo, and Marco Belinelli can play off him to provide a deep shooting presence. Omri Casspi returned and Caron Butler is a veteran wing who will bring leadership to a team that needs it desperately.
9. New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans comes in this low on the list because of the impending status of backup point guard Norris Cole. Cole is a RFA, and if he re-signs then the Pelicans would get a bump. But the real strength in NO’s bench is their frontcourt. Ryan Anderson was once a starter, and now comes off the bench to join the rising young center Alexis Ajinca. There are concerns at the wing, but New Orleans has enough pieces to play around that weakness.
10. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are not long in the tooth, but they do have a few key bench players that provide veteran experience and leadership. Kevin Garnett and Andre Miller are two of the most experienced and respected veterans in the league, and now the bevy of young players in Minnesota get to soak up their combined 36 years of NBA service. Zach LaVine improved throughout his rookie year, and Gorgui Dieng and Nikola Pekovic are a solid backup frontcourt, provided they both stay healthy. This team is growing for the future, and this year’s bench should provide a glimpse into that future.
11. Utah Jazz
Utah is another young team looking to grow for the future, but they could be closer to the playoffs than many realize. The strength of this team, however, is not their bench. Rodney Hood should continue to grow, and Trevor Booker and Trey Burke are developing into talented players as well. There are many players backing up their starters, but a majority of them are unproven and there is a dearth of talent behind Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward. This team’s bench won’t win them many games, but it is still building for the future.
12. Portland Trail Blazers
Portland continued its free fall from the top of the western conference as they unloaded several key players from last year’s squad and replaced them with a team looking to transition into the future. C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard highlight a bench that now centers around youth, as it added Noah Vonleh, Pat Connaughton, and Moe Harkless. Look to see much of the bench this season as they struggle through a powerhouse conference without four out of the five last year’s starters.
13. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets have a lot to prove this season, and one of the biggest challenges will proving that their bench has effective NBA players. Jameer Nelson is a veteran NBA point guard, but is approaching the end of his career. Danilo Gallinari should be a spark behind Wilson Chandler, and Darrell Arthur is a solid power forward to boot. Behind them, however, there are many question marks, and those question marks will determine how their season goes. It doesn’t look good, but for a rebuilding team, that’s not necessarily that important.
14. Dallas Mavericks
Dallas’ depth took a major hit this offseason, and they did not do a ton to replace it. Other than J.J. Barea and Devin Harris, the Mavericks don’t boast any depth of promise. Rookie Justin Anderson is the only true small forward behind Chandler Parsons, and the frontline depth is laughable at best. The Mavericks are going to have a rough time this season unless many of these bench pieces step up. Given their histories in the NBA, however, that doesn’t seem likely.
15. Phoenix Suns
Bringing up the rear of this list is the Phoenix Suns, who fall mightily from having their bench as a strength last season. A variety of in-season, offseason, and draft day trades and free agency departures has left the Suns with a serious dearth of talent behind the starters. Only Alex Len and Archie Goodwin saw major minutes last season, and both are still young and largely unproven. Mirza Teletovic comes in to help, but he is coming off a season where he missed a major chunk as well. This bench will be young and inexperienced, and could be a major problem for the Suns this season, a far cry from where this team left it at the end of 2015.