I don’t think LBJ is best in slot at any position, but he might be close at PG.
I’ve kind of been interested in trying to reverse engineer the scoring function they use. Wouldn’t be that hard if it’s a linear combination of the inputs, but the site also claims they do era weighting, so probably not super easy.
Anecdotally it feels like pts and rebounds matter the most, PGs like Stockton or Nash that were more playmakers than scorers suffer a lot.
Yeah, there’s something non-intuitive about it.
For instance, 90s Larry Bird was on 82-0 tea–not 80s Larry Bird. He retired after the 91-92 season, so I was expecting a pretty significant stat hit. However, his 90s stats in the simulator were probably, I don’t know, 90-95% as good as his prime 80s run. Something like that.
I deduced that the simulator must include the 89-90 season in with the 1990s. Bird’s 89-90 was not his prime, but still quite strong. His last two NBA seasons, his stats slipped but not precipitously. I had thought that maybe the simulator averages the best three seasons, or maybe even the best two. In the end, Bird 1990s was good enough to be part of an 82-0 team.
Another clue that the stats are averaged somehow: in the simulator, Wilt Chamberlain’s 1960s stats with the Warriors (he also has 60s availability with the 76ers and Lakers) are something like 47 points and 25 rebounds, which looks something like averaging his 61-62 and 62-63 stats.
So far, it looks like a team can have low-ish assist numbers and still get north of 70 wins. But get stuck with two sub-20ppg guys on your squad–even with elite team stats otherwise–and your team will struggle to break 60 wins.
EDIT: My 82-0 team had Chris Paul I think at 19-point-some-odd PPG. Paul’s elite assist and steals numbers – plus Wilt’s 47 PPG – helped make up for it.
EDIT2: Another weird thing from my 82-0 team – I didn’t recall Adrian Dantley ever playing for the Pacers. But he did. Going into his second season, the Buffalo Braves traded (?) Rookie-of-the-Year Dantley to Indiana**. Dantley started off his Indiana stint like a house afire, putting up big stats across the board for 23 games. Then he was traded to the Lakers.
Anyway … the simulation used Dantley’s Indiana stats over those 23 games. Very much a cheat code, IMHO.
** Why? I can only assume the Braves were bleeding cash at that point, only a season before their move cross-country to become the San Diego Clippers.
82-0
PG - Oscar Robertson - '60s
SG - Paul Pierce - 2000s
SF - LeBron James - 2010s
PF - Gerald Wallace - 2000s
C - Wilt - '60s
Still trying for 0-82.
I managed a 4 win team. You really want recent rosters because they’re big enough you’ll have someone that played 5 minutes and is 0s across the board.
Gerald Wallace was a very good real-life player, especially on defense. He toiled for most of that 2000s decade on some execrable Charlotte Bobcats teams. I wasn’t sure if the 82-0 sim would reward a player like Wallace, but it’s clear they do – so long as Wilt can make up for Wallace’s relative scoring deficit.
There’s a far more intricate simulation NBA game on WhatIfSports.com. It’s not free**, but it allows a lot of control over your 12-man squad and runs simulations through an entire 82-game season plus playoffs over the course of about three months (three games per day, and you can tweak your team whenever you like).
Anyway – in WhatIfSports’ NBA simulation, Gerald Wallace is one of many “cheat-code” players. Way more helpful in the simulation than his real-life reputation.
** EDIT: Actually, you can play a 10-game trial season for free. I don’t know if you can keep playing trial seasons over and over … but maybe?
It just takes his stats for those years, even if it was for a single game.
Fun game! Made it 81-1 with this team
PG - 60s Oscar Robertson
SG - 80s Jordan
SF: 2010s Lebron
PF: 2010s Durant
C - 2020s Wemby
Next time, I’ll have basketballreference.com open while I run sims, and check stats as I go. What you say explains Adrian Dantley’s 70s numbers with the Pacers (see above).
a fun “anti” way to play it is see if you can make a team that goes 0-82. I went 4-78 with this blockbuster team
PG Jermaine Jackson MIL · 2000s
1.2PPG
0.9RPG
0.8APG
0.1SPG
0.0BPG
SG Gus Bailey WAS · 1980s
1.9PPG
1.4RPG
1.3APG
0.4SPG
0.2BPG
SF Jahmyl Telfort LAC · 2020s
0.1PPG
0.4RPG
0.1APG
0.1SPG
0.0BPG
PF Ryan Bowen HOU · 2000s
1.5PPG
1.3RPG
0.3APG
0.3SPG
0.1BPG
C Viacheslav Kravtsov PHX · 2010s
1.0PPG
0.9RPG
0.1APG
0.0SPG
0.1BPG
I guess I should have asked - are you guys playing in “Classic Mode” or “Hoops IQ” mode?
I think I’ll see what I can do in IQ mode.
In Classic Mode, I just got a 76-6 team.
79-3.
Wilt, McAdoo, and Rudy Gay in the front court. Butler and LeBron in the back.
I just drew 1980’s Miami Heat, who didn’t start play until 1988. There were slim pickings on that team.
Classic simply because it puts the good players up top instead of alphabetically like hoops IQ. Frankly that is literally the only difference since so far I know what player to pick from any team in any era and the minutiae of their actual stats is not terribly important. Although it does help with statistical situations like 80s Jordan being better than 90s Jordan and Lakers Luka being better than Dallas Luka.
You roll 1970s LA Clippers, and you go "Aw, man! 
"
But then you see the Clips were formerly the Buffalo Braves, and you’ve actually rolled Bob McAdoo’s 1974-75 MVP season 
Yeah, only Classic Mode so far, like DigitalC.
I just got my first 82-0 team.
Kareem from the '70s Lakers.
Pascal from the '20s Raptors.
LeBron from the '10s Cavs.
SGA from the '20s Thunder.
Westbrook from the '20s Wizards.
79-3:
SGA, Thunder
Michael Jordan, Bulls
Rick Barry, Warriors
Elvin Hayes, Rockets
Patrick Ewing, Knicks
4 wins is the lowest I’ve been able to do as well. Multiple times, but never gotten lower than that.
Set a new personal PPG record with this 82-0 lineup:
GSW Wilt - C
OKC KD - PF
Elgin Baylor - SF
George Gervin - SG (odd man out on this team)
Laker’s Luka - PG
That team had 157 PPG and almost 60 RPG - that’s going to be hard to top.