Study: What NBA teams would look like with local players
The Los Angeles Lakers would be untouchable if NBA teams were only able to sign local talent.
Using 2016-17 stats from Basketball Reference, Search Laboratory Inc. redrafted NBA teams using players exclusively from their home states and predicted how many regular season games each would win.
The Lakers finished 82-0 thanks to a star-studded squad that included James Harden, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, and Kevin Love. The Cleveland Cavaliers finished atop the Eastern Conference after picking up two-time MVP Stephen Curry, while the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets, and Boston Celtics tied for a league-worst 12-70 record.
See the projected starting lineups for the top five Western Conference and Eastern Conference teams below:
Western Conference
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Clippers
Houston Rockets
Golden State Warriors
New Orleans Pelicans
Eastern Conference
Cleveland Cavaliers
Charlotte Hornets
Indiana Pacers
Chicago Bulls
New York Knicks
(Images courtesy: Search Laboratory Inc.)