NBA Supercoach | Team Building Strategy Talk

Guns and cheapies or a team built on balance? I know where I stand.

Last season my team climbed into the top 500 on a 2-guns and midrange strategy, and I’m doubling down for 2026-27.

And what an offseason to do it in. Giannis is in Miami. Kawhi is in Toronto. Ja is in Portland, LaMelo is in Minnesota, and LeBron James is… a Sixer? Alongside Jaylen Brown. Yep.

That much movement means roles and usage are up for grabs right across the league. That’s where SuperCoach is won in the first month. The plan is simple:

• 2 or 3 guns max
• Midrange players set for a jump in production due to role or injury
• Avoid teams with too many mouths to feed
• Max games, every week

The season tips off Wednesday 21 October, our time. Time to rip in.

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Why Midrangers Over Guns?

Most teams I’m seeing are built around 4 or 5 guns and a stack of bottom-dollar cheapies. It works, but it leaves no room in the middle where the real cash gets made.

Think about it. A gun is priced at his ceiling. He scores big, but his price barely moves, so he makes you no money.

A midrange player is priced on last season’s role. If that role grows, the points go up, the price goes up, and suddenly you have the cash to go straight to a gun.

That’s exactly how it played out for me last season. I didn’t own SGA, Giannis, or the Joker for the first few weeks and still surged up the rankings. Pick the right mids early, and the guns come to you.

So my build is 2, maybe 3 guns. The rest of the squad is midrange players who I believe are in for a significant jump in production, plus the relevant cheapies. That jump comes from one of two places:

• Role: a star has been traded out, and his usage has to go somewhere
• Injury: a teammate misses the start of the season, and someone inherits the ball

This offseason has given us plenty of both.

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Midrange Targets

These are the players I believe are in line for a big uptick in production. All have a clear path to more ball.

Brandon Miller CHA

Has been in and out of my team more times than I can count. Not this year. LaMelo and Miles Bridges are gone, and Kon Knueppel will miss the start of the season with a strained hamstring.

Miller averaged 20.2 points last season as the second option. Now he’s the first, second, and third option. A 25/7/5 start isn’t a stretch. The one catch is a 2-game Week 5, so plan your exit or your hold.

Strong Buy

Tyler Herro MIL

Where does Giannis’ usage go? Plenty of it lands on Herro, who arrives in Milwaukee as the clear number one scorer on a rebuilding team.

The Bucks have back-to-back-4-game weeks in Weeks 3 and 4, then another 4 in Week 6. The injury history is the only knock, so monitor the injury report.

Strong Buy

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Cedric Coward MEM

Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. are both gone. Coward made the All-Rookie First Team averaging 13.6 points and now steps into a much bigger role next to number 3 pick Cameron Boozer.

Memphis has the best back half of the early schedule with 4 game weeks in Weeks 4, 5, and 6. You can go early or time the run.

Strong Buy

Kel’el Ware MIL

The other piece of the Giannis deal. Averaged 11 and 9 in just 22 minutes in Miami. If he gets to 26+ minutes next to or instead of Myles Turner, the numbers jump fast.

Same great Bucks schedule as Herro at a much lower price.

Buy

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Matas Buzelis CHI

Was a cheapie I moved on last season and now looks like a mistake. Averaged 19/7 with 2.5 stocks across the final 2 months in 31.5 minutes, and a new coach is tipped to push that past 32. Chicago’s schedule is flat until a 4-game Week 5.

Buy

Darius Garland LAC

The Clippers are unrecognisable. Kawhi, Harden and Zubac are gone, and Brandon Ingram will miss the start of the season with a partially torn Achilles.

That leaves Garland with the keys. The concern is his own injury history. Not a must, but there is real value here.

Buy/Watch

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Derrick White BOS

My Boston Boys are back. Jaylen Brown’s usage has to go somewhere, but Tatum’s return and Paul George’s arrival will take a big chunk of it.

White’s 3-point shooting fell to 32.7% last season, and that has to come back up. A 2-game Week 1, then back-to-back-4-game weeks says wait a week.

Buy Week 2

Payton Pritchard BOS

Same logic as White but with Mike Conley added to the backcourt; I’m less certain on his minutes. One to keep an eye on in preseason.

Watch

Honourable Mentions

• Naz Reid CHA
• Day’Ron Sharpe BKN
• Collin Murray-Boyles TOR
• Ty Jerome MEM

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Too Many Mouths to Feed

The flipside of chasing usage is avoiding teams where there isn’t enough of it to go around. Early in the season, when rotations are still being sorted, these are the teams I’m staying away from.

Philadelphia 76ers

Embiid. Maxey. Jaylen Brown. LeBron James. VJ Edgecombe. Add Anfernee Simons and KCP off the bench. That is five guys who want the ball and one basketball.

Here’s the kicker. Philly has the best early schedule in the league. They’re the only team with 4 games in Week 1 and play 21 games across the first 6 weeks, tied for the most. On paper, it screams buy. I’m still out.

Brown averaged 18.7 isolations per 100 possessions last season, and Nick Nurse wants that number way down. Maxey is expected to play off the ball more. Edgecombe could be the big loser. And Embiid played just 45 of a possible 94 games last season.

Somebody’s SuperCoach output is going to take a hit, and I don’t know who yet. Let them sort it out, then pounce.

Avoid early

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Portland Trail Blazers

Same problem, smaller scale. Ja Morant and Damian Lillard both arrive to share the ball with Deni Avdija, who averaged 24.2 points as Portland’s MVP last season.

Dame is coming off a full year out with an Achilles injury, so expect managed minutes. Ja’s injury history speaks for itself. And Shaedon Sharpe’s torn meniscus takes him out of the picture.

Avdija was a ripper for me last season, but his usage has nowhere to go but down.

Avoid early

One to keep an eye on is Miami. Giannis joining Bam Adebayo should help the Heat, but it’s unlikely to help Bam’s SuperCoach numbers.

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The Joker Decision

The biggest call of the preseason. Jokic plays just 2 games in Week 1, at OKC and home to New Orleans. Then it doesn’t get much better.

Here’s the Nuggets’ SuperCoach games per week for the first 8 weeks: 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3. That’s one 4-game week in the first 8, and it doesn’t arrive until Week 5.

Denver plays 24 games over that stretch, the fewest in the league.

The case for starting him

Before you write him off, here’s the counterpoint. The Joker doesn’t need 4 games to win you a week. Last season he dropped 208 points in a single 4-game week, averaging 52. Even at a more modest 50 a game, a 3-game week is 150 points.

Most mids on a 4-game week are averaging closer to 35, which is 140 points. The Joker on 3 can still beat them, and he gives you a captain option every single week.

There’s also the price. Guns are priced at their ceiling, so the Joker won’t make you money, but he won’t lose you much either. Start with him, and you never have to chase him. If he goes on a tear early, the coaches who faded him will be breaking their teams to get him back, just like we saw last season.

So if you start with him, you’re not wrong. My issue is Week 1. Two games is a big ask at top dollar, when that cash could be in a Miller or a Herro making money from day one.

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The alternative is Wemby. The Spurs go 3, 3, 4, 4 over the first 4 weeks. It’s an easy swap at the top end, and you spread the rest of the cash into the midrange.

My plan is to fade the Joker to start and build team value through the mids. Week 5 is the obvious entry point, but it’s a one-week play with 3 game weeks either side.

The real window opens in Week 9. Denver goes 4, 4, 3, 5 across Weeks 9 to 12, including a rare 5-game week. Bring him in then, and he’s a keeper. If the cash is there early, Week 5 is a luxury, not a necessity.

Fade, target Week 9 (Week 5 if cash allows)

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Schedule Is King

Games per week is king, and it’s the easiest edge in the game. Target players on teams with the max amount of games each week. A mid on 4 games will often outscore a gun on 2.

Plan at least 2 weeks ahead. The best trade-in is a player you can hold through back-to-back-4-game weeks, not someone you have to sell 7 days later.

Looking further ahead, keep an eye out for 5-game weeks: CHI in Week 11, DEN in Week 12, POR in Week 16, and ATL, CHA, DAL, IND, MEM, NYK, and SAS in Week 17.

The Game Plan

• Guns: 2, maybe 3. Wemby over the Joker to start.
• Mids: Miller, Herro, and Coward are my locks. Ware and Buzelis are next in line. White comes in for Week 2.
• Avoid early: Philly and Portland until the roles settle.
• Joker: fade Week 1, target Week 9 when Denver go 4, 4, 3, 5.
• Schedule: load up for Week 3 when 18 teams play 4.

There is more than one way to skin a cat in SuperCoach. If you’re loading up on guns, great. But if you want to build value through the middle and let the guns come to you, this is the season to do it.

Good luck all, and remember, stay patient.