What is the best five man lineup in the NBA right now?

In a lot of ways, basketball is a complicated game. But in a lot of ways, basketball is also a simple game. And part of that simplicity involves the fact that, sometimes, a game/series/season can come down to which team can put together the most effective five man lineup.

For instance, last season, the Denver Nuggets won the NBA title in part because their starting five of Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic was the most complete and balanced five man unit in the association.

With that in mind, which NBA team has the best five man unit this year?

The Best Five

To find a definitive answer, we need to engage in hours of film and statistical research. We don’t have the time for that with this post (check out our other NBA studies for that type of analysis). So, we will lean on statistical indicators like net rating to try and get a sense of which team can put together the best five man group.

The website Cleaning the Glass has lineup data that filters out for garbage time. And based on their database, the team with the best five man unit is the Philadelphia 76ers. Their best five man group consists of Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, Tobias Harris, Nicholas Batum, and Joel Embiid. In 467 non-garbage time minutes, that five man lineup has a net rating of +33.3.

And coincidentally (not really), the 76ers have the fourth-best record in the entire NBA, currently sitting at 18-8.

For the top seven teams in this statistical category, check out this cool visual created by NBA University:

5-man lineups with the best net rating (garbage time filtered)

What stands out? pic.twitter.com/o7mOVmy3L7

— NBA University (@NBA_University) December 20, 2023

Some Crazy Findings

Looking through the top seven, there are some obvious results. It makes sense that teams like the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns, and Los Angeles Clippers rank high in this category, especially considering all the high-end talent on their roster.

The Indiana Pacers lineup being fifth in the NBA also makes sense, as their red-hot offense (quarterbacked by Tyrese Haliburton) makes them a worthy opponent against most teams.

By far, the most interesting team on that list is the Chicago Bulls. And to make things even more shocking, their best five man lineup features neither Zach LaVine nor Alex Caruso.

Their best five includes Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, and Nikola Vucevic. To be fair, their lineup has the second-fewest minutes played (219 minutes) together of any of the lineups on that list, but they still have the fourth-highest net rating (+19.8).

There has been much made about the Bulls potentially being better without LaVine. But seeing Caruso not being present in their best five man lineup is peculiar, to say the least. 

Regardless, it’ll be worth monitoring how these lineups look as the season continues.