The All-Caucasian American NBA Team

My buddy and former co-worker Jeff and I have discussed this topic for several hours: If you formed an NBA team that consisted solely of white American players, would it be the worst team in the league? Yes, these are the types of things that my friends and I discuss. Not like for five minutes. But for hours. At a time.


We've debated the roster on at least three occasions, and for some reason, I got a text from Jeff today about our fictional team. For at least the second time, I sat down and went over every white NBA player to devise my team. For the sake of this argument, I limited the roster to 12 players (like the national teams in the upcoming Olympic Games).

Just to set this up and for background purposes: This isn't an all-time white NBA team. That would be too easy. There are more than 12 white Americans in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. That team would be unbelievable. (As an aside, I'd have to go with the following 12-man team: John Stockton and Bob Cousy at point guard; Pete Maravich and Jerry West at shooting guard; Larry Bird, Rick Barry and Chris Mullin at small forward; Bill Bradley, Kevin McHale and Dave Cowens at power forward; and Bill Walton and George Mikan at center. Championship!)

It also can't include so-called white guys who are foreigners or mixed players who aren't completely Caucasian. Again, talk about a pretty dang good team. Any team that features Dirk, the Gasol brothers, Andrew Bogut and Blake Griffin in the post will be competitive, no matter who the guards are. Throw in a backcourt of Nash, Steph Curry and Rubio, a shooter like Danilo Gallinari, and a couple of role players, and you can compete for an NBA title. But again, none of those guys are eligible.

So, it ain't easy. After much debate and deliberation, I am excited to unveil my 12-man roster for the All-Caucasian American NBA team:

POINT GUARDS
Kirk Hinrich and Luke Ridnour. OK, so we're not starting off all that hot. I actually think Hinrich is an underrated player. He's a nine-year veteran who at 31 years old still has plenty left in the tank. He has good size at 6-4 and isn't a bad defender -- and let's be honest, on a team full of white guys, we're looking for anybody who can defend. He's averaged 12.5 points and 5.4 assists during his career with Chicago, Washington and Atlanta, but he hasn't been a full-time starter in four seasons and hasn't scored more than 11.5 points in five. Ridnour, like Hinrich, is a nine-year veteran who is 31 years old. He's a little smaller at 6-2 and 175 pounds, but he's a crafty player whose career is on the upswing. He's a career 10-point and five-assist per game guy, but he's scored more points each season over the past four and averaged a career 12.1 points last season in Minnesota while sharing point guard duties with Rubio. I could make an argument that he should be this team's starter, though I'd lean toward Hinrich because of his size and defensive abilities. Having two 31-year-old point guards isn't ideal because it means there are no young legs to run with the Russell Westbrooks and Kyrie Irvings of the world, but there aren't weren't many other options. Missing the cut: Steve Nash (I'm still awaiting a ruling on my waiver request for Nash; sure, he's Canadian, but he went to college in California and is basically an American), Jimmer Fredette (The Jimmer would fill the "young legs" quota, but let's be honest -- his defense is even worse than the old guys. A rookie season in which he averaged 7.6 points isn't enough to get him on this team.), Steve Blake (Apparently, the 2003 NBA Draft was good for the white point guard. Hinrich went seventh, Ridnour 14th, and Blake 38th. Blake has been a part-time starter for most of his career, though he did have a good two-year run with Portland from 2007-09 in which he started all but three games and averaged double figures in scoring.). Note: Yes, it's sad there are only four white point guards in the NBA.

SHOOTING GUARDS
J.J. Redick and Kyle Korver. If you were building the ideal dream team, you would want players who strengths complement each other. Unfortunately, there's nothing ideal about this team, and Redick and Korver are essentially the same player. Redick, to his credit, has expanded his game, becoming more than just a spot-up shooter. His scoring average has improved every year, and for the first time in his career last year he started more than 10 games and scored a career-high 11.6 points per game. I honestly believe he's developed into a solid starter in the NBA, maybe not someone who's going to be a game-changer on a title team, but better than I think many people thought he would be. Korver, meanwhile, is an assassin off the bench. He's a career 41 percent 3-point shooter, has good length at 6-7 and adequate skills on defense, and he can make opposing wings work by his ability to move without the basketball. On this team, he'd likely be asked to do the same things he's asked to do on his real team -- play about 20 minutes per game off the bench and knock down threes. Missing the cut: Greivis Vasquez (I filed another waiver for Vasquez, the Venezualan-born shooter who attended high school in North Carolina and played collegiately at Maryland), Matt Carroll (Yes, the pickings are that slim.)

SMALL FORWARDS
Gordon Hayward and Chase Budinger. Finally, we're starting to get a little more athletic. These two young players give us some versatility on the wing and actually could play together and allow us to go big. Hayward, the 6-8, 20-year-old, former Butler star, is an emerging force for the Utah Jazz. He worked his way into the starting lineup during his second year in the league, averaging 11.8 points and showing that he's capable of putting up 20 points any night when he asserts himself. As he continues to get more comfortable and confident, he should emerge as one of the stars of the future for the Jazz. There's a chance he could be the second-best player on our all-Caucasian team. The 6-7 Budinger, who was just traded from Houston to Minnesota, is still trying to live up to his athletic potential and show he's more than just a dunker. He's perhaps the best athlete on this team and will be needed to add energy, defense and scoring off the bench. Missing the cut: Mike Dunleavy (The final cut from the squad. He's a better player than most people realize, averaging double figures for the past nine seasons. He's long and athletic at 6-9 and can shoot the 3, making 40 percent over the past two years. It really pained me not to put him on this team.), Mike Miller (Had this been five years ago, Miller would have been a lock for the starting lineup and probably the second-best player on the team. He was a lethal shooter and a very good player. Now, however, he's on the backside of his career and just doesn't have the talent level to earn a spot.), Robbie Hummel (He's a rookie from Purdue who has no ACLs left after tearing them both during his college career, but the kid has a tremendous work ethic and is going to have a successful career.), Steve Novak (Umm, he can shoot, but that's about it.), Doug McDermott (Jeff and I both agreed that we are eager to use our 2013 first-round pick on McDermott, the smooth scorer sophomore from Creighton. If he'd declared this year, there's no way he's not on this team. At 6-7, 220 pounds, he's a classic small forward who can put the ball in the basket, ranking third in the nation this past year with 23 points per game and being named a first-team All-American.), Adam Morrison (LOL! Sad thing, though, is he'd probably have been on this team had we selected it in six years ago).

POWER FORWARDS
Kevin Love, Ryan Anderson and Kris Humphries. Let's talk about Love, who is our only legitimate franchise-caliber player. He has to basically average a 30-20 every night for us to be competitive, but that's OK because he's used to pulling that kind of duty for a franchise without much talent in Minnesota. It's no exaggeration that Love might be the best U.S. post player, regardless of color, and he'll be a major force during the Olympics. He's slimmed down, gotten in better shape and expanded his game. He's a scoring threat in the post and on the perimeter, and he just eats rebounds for lunch. The two-time All-Star averaged career highs last year with 26 points and 13.3 rebounds, and at just 23 years old, he hasn't even hit his prime yet. Anderson, the 6-10 stretch combo forward who is headed to New Orleans next year, also is coming off a career year in which he averaged 16 points and 7.7 rebounds for Orlando, shooting 39 percent from three and being named the league's Most Improved Player. He can play minutes at both forward positions, again allowing this team to go big and create matchup problems. Humphries, meanwhile, will have one role -- grabbing garbage rebounds, like he has done for the Nets the past two seasons. Believe it or not, power forward is the white man's deepest position, as there is no shortage of stocky, physical guys who are willing to fill a role and collect a paycheck. Missed the cut: Chris "Birdman" Anderson (I thought long and hard about putting Birdman as the 12th man, just to sit on the bench, look weird and hype up his teammates and the crowd. In the end, though, I just didn't think he was suited for what we were trying to do.), Nick Collison (You have to have role players, and Collison is the ultimate one. He's willing to do the dirty work, make his teammates better and isn't at all interested in personal glory. I'm asking Humphries to fill that role and hoping he's up for the task.), Tyler Hansbrough (Every now and then, you need a guy who doesn't mind diving on the floor for loose balls or throwing an "inadvertant" elbow into his opponent's nose. I wish I could clone Hansbrough's work ethic, but his skill level doesn't match up.)

CENTERS
Chris Kaman, David Lee and Spencer Hawes. Kaman might have forfeited his right to play on this team when he acquired dual-citizenship in Germany and played in the 2008 Olympics, but we're just going to pretend that never happened. Although it seems he's been around forever, Kaman is only 30 and still a productive player. He averaged 13.1 points and 7.7 rebounds this past season in New Orleans despite the team trying to trade him. Just two seasons ago, he aveaged 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds for the Clippers, and we're hoping he has something like that left in him. Playing next to Kevin Love will only help. Lee, meanwhile, really is a power forward masquerading as a center, but power forward clearly is our deepest position, and I felt like he could help us out at center. He's only 6-9 and 240 pounds, so bigger centers will give him problems defensively, but he scores and rebounds so well that he's bound to make an impact. Hawes is an emerging big man who brings plenty of size at 7-1. His production dropped off slightly over the past two seasons in Philadelphia, but he can score some in the paint and will play tough, physical defense. Missed the cut: Brad Miller (The former all-star and U.S. national team player is at the end of his career at 36 years old, and he's not even a productive pro anymore. He deserves an honorable mention, though.), Cole Aldrich (The 6-11 big man hasn't played much during his two seasons with Oklahoma City, but scouts are encouraged that he has a productive future ahead of him.), Meyers Leonard, Tyler Zeller, Miles Plumlee (I'll take the three rookies in globo: The future of this team looks bright. Leonard and Zeller are lanky, skilled players who can score and rebound, while if Plumlee's skills ever catch up with his athleticism, watch out.)