All-Time NBA Roster with $15

[MU82]

If you want to take this to the existential, I don't think you would want to put Jordan and James on the same team... sure, you might have the two greatest individual players of all time, but would they play well with each other?  Who gets to take the winning shot in Game 7?  Who gets front billing on the team poster?  Whose shoes does the team wear?  Who gets to drive the golf cart?  How's MJ going to feel about his teammate flopping like a flounder on the floor?

Too much risk, IMO, to put those egos together on the same floor.  I think you're better off with either MJ-Bird or LBJ-Kobe than MJ-LBJ... you're going to want a combination where there isn't going to be pressure on one-upping your teammate.

James would defer to Jordan without a problem. Hell, James often defers to Bosh, Wade and even Allen in clutch situations. James obviously can take over games, but he often is quite content being a Magic or Pippen type who makes others around him better. Jordan wants and needs the ball. They'd play together fine. They certainly would play every bit as well together as Kobe and LeBron. Kobe is the exact same player as Jordan ... except not quite as good.

[wadesworld]

mmmm.....Seroogy's

Yes.

[reinko]

1: Magic $5
2: Jordan $5
3: Durant $2
4: Nowitzki $2
5: Hakeem $1

It has recently been made clear to me that it is a guards' game. Spend your money there.

I knew I always liked you, great minds chief.

[NavinRJohnson]

LeBron $5
Magic $5
Duncan $3
Wade $1
Hakeem $1

[mugrad2006]

I know it's not the most sexy, but this team would be ridiculous on the defensive end.

Stockton $2
Jordan $5
Lebron $5
KG $1
Hakeem $1

It has enough scoring, but probably not enough jump shooting to spread the floor.

That's my list as well. There's a dollar left, so I add Scottie off the bench

[Silkk the Shaka]

I spent way more time than I should have, but I took the full-career WS48 for each player and then made a quick optimization model.

The best team possible regardless of salary is:
C   Chamberlain
PF   Barkley
PG   Magic
SF   Lebron
SG   Jordan
The total salary is $22. The team would have a combined WS48 of 1.182 (which is as impossible as assembling this team).

The best team I could find with the salary constraints is:
C   Chamberlain   $3   0.248
PF   Duncan   $3   0.211
PG   Stockton   $2   0.209
SF   Durant   $2   0.205
SG   Jordan   $5   0.25
The team would have a combined WS48 of 1.123.

Runner up is:
C   Chamberlain   $3   0.248
PF   Nowitzki   $2   0.208
PG   Stockton   $2   0.209
SF   Lebron   $5   0.243
SG   West   $3   0.213
With a combined WS48 of 1.121

Hank, not sure if you still have the model set up, just wondering what the optimizer spits out if you enter in each player's single best WS48 season, or best three year average, or whatever metric would be a good proxy for "peak" level performance. Would be interesting to see if it changes at all when instead of career numbers you take guys all in the hypothetical prime of their careers.