Playoff bench depth — which teams have the rotation to survive seven games

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The teams best-positioned for deep playoff runs based purely on rotation depth: Boston can go 9 deep with competent players, which is rare. OKC's top 8 is excellent, the 9th and 10th men are liabilities in extended playoff series. Denver's bench has improved dramatically with the addition of the former Toronto guard who defends three positions. The team I'm most concerned about is Milwaukee — their starting five is championship-caliber but their bench players 6-10 have combined to shoot 31% from three this season. In a conference final with big spacing requirements, that drop-off from starter to reserve becomes unmanageable.

The teams best-positioned for deep playoff runs based purely on rotation depth: Boston can go 9 deep with competent players, which is rare. OKC's top 8 is excellent, the 9th and 10th men are liabilities in extended playoff series. Denver's bench has improved dramatically with the addition of the former Toronto guard who defends three positions. The team I'm most concerned about is Milwaukee — their starting five is championship-caliber but their bench players 6-10 have combined to shoot 31% from three this season. In a conference final with big spacing requirements, that drop-off from starter to reserve becomes unmanageable.

Sixth Man of the Year races are always interesting because the best sixth men often contribute less to winning than good starters on less talented teams.

The corner three structural problem is under-discussed. Teams are blamed for the concession but the personnel constraints are real and not fixable through coaching adjustments.

Booker mid-range spacing analysis is correct. The possession-level impact of his mid-range pull-up on floor spacing doesn't appear in any simple shot quality metric.