The All-Exes Team for each NBA franchise
Breakups are always difficult.
That fact even extends to the sports world, as watching your team’s best player leave the franchise you are a fan of is a very difficult feeling, one that even often leads to some ill will.
Just ask Cleveland Cavaliers fans who had to watch LeBron James leave twice or Oklahoma City Thunder fans who saw Kevin Durant opt to sign with a rival in the Golden State Warriors back in the summer of 2016.
Regardless, as a fun exercise, we decided to create an All-Ex team for each NBA team, made up entirely of active players that used to play for each franchise.
Spoiler alert: The Thunder’s All-Exes team is absolutely loaded and would beat the team’s current rendition by at least 30 points.
Atlanta Hawks
ALL-EX TEAM
Dennis Schroeder (LA Lakers)
Kevin Hurter (Atlanta)
Tim Hardaway Jr. (Dallas)
Al Horford (Boston)
Mike Muscala (Oklahoma City)
Seeing Kevin Huerter playing so well in Sacramento stings a bit, but all in all, the Hawks’ current starters are better than the ex-Hawks team. Trae Young and Dejounte Murray outclass Huerter and Dennis Schroeder by a large margin, De’Andre Hunter and Tim Hardaway Jr. are somewhat of a wash, John Collins and Al Horford are probably about even – with the former younger and more athletic and the latter wiser and a far better defender – while Clint Capela is an above-average starter in comparison to Mike Muscala, a fringe rotation player.
Advantage: current Hawks.
Check out the Hawks’ current starting five and backups here.
Boston Celtics
Terry Rozier (Charlotte)
Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn)
Jae Crowder (Phoenix)
Marcus Morris (LA Clippers)
Kelly Olynyk (Utah)
All of the Boston Celtics’ exes have had some level of success since after leaving Boston, but Boston’s front office and fans love what they have going on right now. Plus, no one in Boston can be missing the Kyrie Irving experience. With the Celtics boasting statistically the best team in the NBA behind the elite tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the advantage here goes to current Boston, which has a starting five that also features Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Robert Williams.
The current Celtics are loaded.
Check out the Celtics’ current starting five and backups here.
Brooklyn Nets
Spencer Dinwiddie (Dallas)
D’Angelo Russell (Minnesota)
James Harden (Brooklyn)
Bojan Bogdanovic (Detroit)
Jarrett Allen (Cleveland)
The Nets are currently stacked with talent, but look at how much talent has gone through Brooklyn in the past few years – enough to keep a game between their 2022-23 starters and their past ones competitive. We would probably still give the edge to the current Nets thanks to Kevin Durant and Irving, to go with Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton and Joe Harris, but this matchup at least gives us some pause.
Check out the Nets’ current starting five and backups here.
Charlotte Hornets
Kemba Walker (Dallas)
Malik Monk (Sacramento)
Caleb Martin (Miami)
Christian Wood (Dallas)
Montrezl Harrell (Philadelphia)
It’s a sad state of affairs right now for the Hornets, and it’s not like they even have a bunch of high-quality exes to reminisce about, with their two best exes probably Caleb Martin or Christian Wood, two decent starters in Miami and Dallas, respectively. With a healthy LaMelo Ball, we’d probably give the edge here to the current Hornets, but neither side boasts a very strong team.
Check out the Hornets’ current starting five and backups here.
Chicago Bulls
Derrick Rose (New York)
Jimmy Butler (Miami)
Lauri Markkanen (Utah)
Bobby Portis (Milwaukee)
Wendell Carter Jr. (Orlando)
Impatience by a new regime led to the Bulls giving up too early on Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr., with the two young big men now thriving in their new situations. The Jimmy Butler situation is different but even he remains one of the top players in the league, a two-way force Chicago hasn’t replaced to this day. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine make this a tough choice, as does Nikola Vucevic, but with how the Bulls have struggled this season, we might go with the exes being the stronger five. It would be an even easier choice if Derrick Rose wasn’t on his last legs as an NBA player.
Check out the Bulls’ current starting five and backups here.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn)
Jordan Clarkson (Utah)
LeBron James (LA Lakers)
Lauri Markkanen (Utah)
Isaiah Hartenstein (New York)
Second-time appearances on this list, Irving and Markkanen, form a strong point guard-power forward tandem, and the all-time great, James, checks in at the three for the Cavs’ exes. The team also has a very solid option at the 2-guard spot in Jordan Clarkson, though probably a replacement-level big man, Isaiah Hartenstein, rounding out the five. Now, Cleveland currently also boasts a very strong team, built around Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland and two defensive-minded big men, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. The biggest disparity here is on the wing, as Cleveland has no one who can come close to matching James.
Still, this is a pretty even matchup.
Check out the Cavaliers’ current starting five and backups here.
Dallas Mavericks
Jalen Brunson (New York)
Seth Curry (Brooklyn)
Jae Crowder (Phoenix)
Harrison Barnes (Sacramento)
Kristaps Porzingis (Washington)
What stings here for the Mavericks is that Kristaps Porzingis just left this past trade deadline and is already playing like his old New York self, filling up the stat sheet, securing double-doubles, spacing the floor and blocking shots. He just couldn’t acclimate to playing with the ball-dominant Luka Doncic. The loss of Jalen Brunson might sting just as much, and it remains unclear if Dallas tried hard enough to keep the point guard or if he was set on joining the Knicks. Doncic’s mere presence probably gives the edge to Dallas here, but the lack of help around him could make this a tight matchup.
Check out the Mavericks’ current starting five and backups here.
Denver Nuggets
Monte Morris (Washington)
Malik Beasley (Minnesota)
Jerami Grant (Portland)
Bol Bol (Orlando)
Jusuf Nurkic (Portland)
Without Jusuf Nurkic’s departure, it would have taken Nikola Jokic longer to reach his current MVP-level self, so that trade-off Nuggets fans have to be all right with. Additionally, Jerami Grant was very solid as a Nugget, but he wanted a bigger role (and probably more money than Denver was offering), so him leaving for the Pistons makes sense, too. With a healthy Jamal Murray returning to form, along with Michael Porter and Aaron Gordon to go with Jokic, the current Nuggets are probably a level above their exes. The only loss that might hurt is that of Bol Bol, but he had years in Denver to break out and it just wasn’t happening, so hard to fault Nuggets brass here.
Check out the Nuggets’ current starting five and backups here.
Detroit Pistons
Spencer Dinwiddie (Dallas)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Washington)
Jerami Grant (Portland)
Tobias Harris (Philadelphia)
Christian Wood (Dallas)
With the Pistons fully rebuilding and their most talented young piece, Cade Cunningham, injured for the year, this would be a blowout in the exes’ favor. The only real difference-maker Detroit has right now is Bojan Bogdanovic and he might not even be on the team after the trade deadline. The ex-Pistons don’t even boast a current All-Star and they would still blow out the current Detroit squad.
Check out the Pistons’ current starting five and backups here.
Golden State Warriors
D’Angelo Russell (Minnesota)
Alec Burks (Detroit)
Kelly Oubre (Charlotte)
Kevin Durant (Brooklyn)
Chris Boucher (Toronto)
Besides the obvious Durant departure, the one that might sting most here for the Warriors is Chris Boucher, who spent the early portion of his career in Golden State before developing into a shot-blocking, three-point threat in the frontcourt in Toronto. His presence for the size-lacking Warriors could have been huge, though we can’t say they haven’t enjoyed plenty of success without him. Advantage here clearly goes to the current Warriors, reigning champions and all.
Check out the Warriors’ current starting five and backups here.
Houston Rockets
Chris Paul (Phoenix)
Russell Westbrook (LA Lakers)
James Harden (Brooklyn)
Kelly Olynyk (Utah)
Christian Wood (Dallas)
Although a bit lacking in the frontcourt, at least with regards to size, defense and rebounding, the Rockets’ All-Exes team is one of the nastiest on this list behind the three-headed monster of Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, three still extremely productive guards. The Rockets’ exes give up athleticism and upside to the current Houston squad, but in an actual game, they would likely blow out their younger, current counterparts.
Check out the Rockets’ current starting five and backups here.
Indiana Pacers
Malcolm Brogdon (Boston)
Caris LeVert (Cleveland)
Paul George (LA Clippers)
Bojan Bogdanovic (Detroit)
Domantas Sabonis (Indiana)
Another case of a former conference contender that underwent a rebuild, the former Pacer starting five is loaded with talent – and some top-end talent at that. At the same time, Indiana is playing great basketball at the moment and has some very promising, talented pieces in Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Bennedict Mathurin. We would still give the edge to their All-Exes team but the current Pacer squad is no joke, either. Kudos to Indiana for being able to rebuild so well on the fly.
Check out the Pacers’ current starting five and backups here.
Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul (Phoenix)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City)
Tobias Harris (Philadelphia)
Jeff Green (Denver)
Isaiah Hartenstein (New York)
It remains to be seen just how much the Clippers will rue trading Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for Paul George. If the latter star can help bring the franchise its first title, then it might not be so much. But if the Clippers continue to fall short and Gilgeous-Alexander continues on this superstar course, it could be a lot. L.A.’s All-Exes team also features Paul, the player to bring them relevance in the early 2010s. The Clippers’ current team is better but their two exes in the backcourt remain two of the best guards in the league.
Check out the Clippers’ current starting five and backups here.
Los Angeles Lakers
D’Angelo Russell (Minnesota)
Jordan Clarkson (Utah)
Brandon Ingram (New Orleans)
Julius Randle (New York)
Brook Lopez (Milwaukee)
The Lakers’ All-Exes team shows how well they drafted in the post-Kobe Bryant era, landing the likes of D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle – all at least one-time All-Stars – with high picks and Clarkson with a mid-second-round pick. Logic would tell us the team with Westbrook, James and Anthony Davis is still the stronger five but how the Lakers have disappointed yet again this season, we’re not sure that their young exes might not be able to steal a game from them, too, if they matched up.
Check out the Lakers’ current starting five and backups here.
Memphis Grizzlies
Mike Conley (Utah)
De’Anthony Melton (Philadelphia)
Grayson Allen (Milwaukee)
Jae Crowder (Phoenix)
Jonas Valanciunas (New Orleans)
The Grizzlies’ All-Exes team, depending on depth, probably has the ceiling of a play-in team but there are some very solid role players in the group, particularly in Jonas Valanciunas (he’s likely a level above role player), De’Anthony Melton and Jae Crowder. The franchise’s all-time GOAT, Mike Conley, deserves to be mentioned, too, as he’s still a solid starting point guard for Utah. Still, the current Grizzlies group, although young, is nasty, led by an All-NBAer in Ja Morant, to go with his always-improving backcourt mate, Desmond Bane, and defensive dynamo, Jaren Jackson Jr. Easy advantage here goes to the current Grizzlies squad.
Check out the Grizzlies’ current starting five and backups here.
Miami Heat
Goran Dragic (Chicago)
Jae Crowder (Phoenix)
Justise Winslow (Portland)
LeBron James (LA Lakers)
Kelly Olynyk (Utah)
A solid group with an all-time great at the helm in James, the Heat’s All-Exes squad is respectable, though maybe lacking in the star power of some of the other groups on this list. Could we see a reunion here between Miami and one of its exes, Crowder? The Heat need frontcourt depth and their former starting power forward from their 2020 Finals run is available on the trade market. Regardless, even with Miami struggling this season, we have to go with its current starters as being the stronger group than its exes.
Check out the Heat’s current starting five and backups here.
Milwaukee Bucks
Malcolm Brogdon (Boston)
Donte DiVincenzo (Golden State)
Torrey Craig (Phoenix)
Tobias Harris (Philadelphia)
Christian Wood (Dallas)
The biggest loss here was Malcolm Brogdon but that happened years ago and the Bucks are certainly over it by now. How could they not be? Brogdon left for a bigger role and the Bucks replaced him with Jrue Holiday and won a championship after he left. Tobias Harris is another solid starter but in Bobby Portis, Milwaukee gets similar production at a fraction of the cost. Behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and Holiday, along with Khris Middleton, the Bucks have a far stronger team now than the one made up of their exes.
Check out the Bucks’ current starting five and backups here.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Ricky Rubio (Cleveland)
Zach LaVine (Chicago)
Jimmy Butler (Miami)
Andrew Wiggins (Golden State)
Kevin Love (Cleveland)
The current Timberwolves have been one of the league’s big disappointments this season, and that was before Karl-Anthony Towns went out with injury. And if their All-Exes team were healthier (in Ricky Rubio’s case) and younger (Kevin Love), we might go with the exes as the better group, especially factoring in the level Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins have been at over the past 12 months, and the All-Star campaign Zach LaVine just had in 2021-22. But the fact that Rubio and Love aren’t the players they once were gives us some pause in saying outright the exes are better than the current product.
Check out the Timberwolves’ current starting five and backups here.
New Orleans Pelicans
Chris Paul (Phoenix)
Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee)
Julius Randle (New York)
Anthony Davis (New Orleans)
Christian Wood (Dallas)
This is one of the nastiest 5s made up entirely of a team’s exes, as a team with Paul, Holiday, Randle and Davis would be an absolute force, a likely Top 4 seed in the West, even with a weak bench. If we could nitpick, we’d swap Wood for a more natural wing but still, this group is filthy good. However, a reason why the Pelicans are still so good even with those losses is that not only have they drafted well, but they have also traded well when they lost some of those big names, particularly Davis. A game between the current Pelicans and their All-Exes team would be a great contest, one that might be too close to call, especially with how Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram have looked this season.
Check out the Pelicans’ current starting five and backups here.
New York Knicks
Dennis Smith (Charlotte)
Alec Burks (Detroit)
Marcus Morris (LA Clippers)
Bobby Portis (Milwaukee)
Kristaps Porzingis (Washington)
What does it say about the Knicks that their All-Exes team is this weak while their current roster is only marginally better? Maybe that’s unfair, as at least they do have an All-Star in Randle leading the way, to go with the promising RJ Barrett and a very steady, productive point guard now in Jalen Brunson. But New York should be a team filled with stars and that hasn’t been the case for a long while now.
Check out the Knicks’ current starting five and backups here.
Oklahoma City Thunder
James Harden (Philadelphia)
Paul George (LA Clippers)
Kevin Durant (Brooklyn)
Jerami Grant (Portland)
Domantas Sabonis (Sacramento)
The runaway champion in this exercise – and it’s not all that close. The Thunder’s All-Exes team boasts four All-Star-caliber players and a high-end starter (Grant). Two of those All-Stars, Harden and Durant, have won league MVP and are still top-level stars for their current teams. Meanwhile, George is still a borderline superstar and Domantas Sabonis is an extremely productive double-double machine. This team is so loaded we couldn’t even make room for Westbrook, one of the franchise’s all-timers. No question, though the future is bright for the Thunder thanks to Gilgeous-Alexander and their treasure trove of draft picks, Oklahoma City’s exes would obliterate its current team in a game.
Check out the Thunder’s current starting five and backups here.
Orlando Magic
Victor Oladipo (Miami)
Evan Fournier (Orlando)
Aaron Gordon (Denver)
Tobias Harris (Philadelphia)
Nikola Vucevic (Chicago)
Most of the Magic’s All-Exes team played together in Orlando, though their lack of success partly explains why they all play for different teams now. Now that the Magic fully embraced their rebuild, their future looks very promising, mostly thanks to Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Plus, it’s not like their All-Exes team is littered with superstars, so Orlando did well to rebuild in the way it has.
Check out the Magic’s current starting five and backups here.
Philadelphia 76ers
Ben Simmons (Brooklyn)
Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee)
Jimmy Butler (Miami)
Jerami Grant (Portland)
Nikola Vucevic (Chicago)
Purely from a 1-5 basketball sense, the 76ers’ All-Exes team is well-balanced, has good star power at the top and features four players who excel on both ends of the floor, led by a star in Butler and excellent players around him in Simmons, Holiday and Grant. Even Vucevic would fit well on this team, providing them with needed floor-spacing as Butler and Simmons aren’t exactly sharpshooters from the outside. We think Philadelphia’s All-Exes team would give its current team some trouble, but it’s hard to bet against Joel Embiid, Harden and Tyrese Maxey. This would be a great matchup, though.
Check out the 76ers’ current starting five and backups here.
Phoenix Suns
Ricky Rubio (Cleveland)
De’Anthony Melton (Philadelphia)
Kelly Oubre (Charlotte)
Marcus Morris (LA Clippers)
Montrezl Harrell (Sacramento)
Some solid role players here though nothing to rave – or to criticize the Suns – about. Their current squad, featuring Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton, would smoke a team made up of the team’s former players.
Check out the Suns’ current starting five and backups here.
Portland Trail Blazers
CJ McCollum (Portland)
Gary Trent Jr. (Toronto)
Norm Powell (LA Clippers)
Larry Nance Jr. (New Orleans)
Mason Plumlee (Charlotte)
Lacking in star power but deep in serviceable to good players, the Blazers’ exes – outside of CJ McCollum – probably don’t have Portland missing them too much. Their current team behind Grant, Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons has performed well this season and features promising players for the future.
Check out the Blazers’ current starting five and backups here.
Sacramento Kings
Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana)
Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta)
Buddy Hield (Indiana)
Rudy Gay (Utah)
Marvin Bagley (Detroit)
The debate will likely go on for years, if not their entire careers, but it can be argued that both the Kings and Pacers came out winners in the Sabonis for Tyrese Haliburton swap, with the former an All-Star, very productive big man and the latter the current league leader in nightly assists, a wizardly playmaker with scoring ability from the floater area as well as an accurate three-point shot. Still, if there’s one ex from that group that the Kings might be missing, it’s Haliburton. Outside of that, there are some good players that used to play for Sacramento but no one that’ll have Kings fans crying themselves to sleep every night. With Sacramento doing well this season behind De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis, we can say their current team is stronger than a group made up of their exes.
Check out the Kings’ current starting five and backups here.
San Antonio Spurs
Dejounte Murray (Atlanta)
Derrick White (Boston)
DeMar DeRozan (Chicago)
Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)
Dewayne Dedmon (Miami)
One superstar and two more All-Star-level players make up the group of San Antonio’s exes, specifically in Kawhi Leonard, Murray and DeMar DeRozan. Derrick White is also a solid borderline starter while Dewayne Dedmon is a serviceable backup. With the Spurs still in the thick of a rebuild and boasting just a couple of potential building blocks (Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell), it’s clear a team made up of their exes is stronger than their current product.
Check out the Spurs’ current starting five and backups here.
Toronto Raptors
Kyle Lowry (Miami)
Norman Powell (LA Clippers)
DeMar DeRozan (Chicago)
Kawhi Leonard (LA Clippers)
Jonas Valanciunas (New Orleans)
A group coincidentally similar to that of the Spurs’ thanks to the inclusion of Leonard and DeRozan, this is another pretty loaded group of exes that the Raptors boast, one that would give their current squad, led by Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Fred VanVleet some trouble. We might even go so far as to say a group of former Raptors would beat their current team, especially with how Toronto has struggled this campaign.
Check out the Raptors’ current starting five and backups here.
Utah Jazz
Ricky Rubio (Cleveland)
Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland)
Gordon Hayward (Charlotte)
Bojan Bogdanovic (Detroit)
Rudy Gobert (Utah)
If not for injuries, this group of exes would be even stronger, as Rubio has yet to play this season as he recovers from an ACL injury while Hayward has likewise played sparingly, in his case because of a shoulder injury. If they were healthy and could theoretically play alongside a group including Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Bogdanovic, we’d probably side with their exes as having the stronger team. Still, Utah has outperformed expectations to a great extent this season, in part thanks to Markkanen’s breakout year.
Check out the Jazz’s current starting five and backups here.
Washington Wizards
Spencer Dinwiddie (Dallas)
Russell Westbrook (LA Lakers)
Kelly Oubre (Charlotte)
Bojan Bogdanovic (Detroit)
Bobby Portis (Milwaukee)
A team of Washington exes would actually be pretty well-balanced, with natural guards, wings and a steady, modern big man all in the fold. There would be nights that Westbrook, Spencer Dinwiddie and Kelly Oubre shoot them out of games but overall, it wouldn’t be the worst team on this list. We’d probably give the current Wizards the nod as being the stronger side, but it’s definitely close, as Bradley Beal hasn’t really taken any sort of leap since reaching his All-Star level.
Check out the Wizards’ current starting five and backups here.
