Building a basketball team out of the Buffalo Bills

What would the Buffalo Bills look like as a basketball team?

In the wake of the always wild NBA off-season taking place recently, and the NFL one in its dog days, you may be thinking: “what Buffalo Bills players would be on an NBA team?” Oh, you’re not? Well, tough luck, here is a13-man basketball team built out of solely active Bills football players — because why not?

*Note: I’m a casual NBA fan and sometimes partake in some pickup games, but I’m in no way a basketball expert. However, I did provide some pro comparisons — that popped into my head while giving these players imaginary basketball roles — so you can look up their highlights to get what I see. But feel free to disagree, though.

Starters

Point guard: Cole Beasley

Yes, Cole Beasley is 5-foot-8 and 30 years old, but, boy can he can ball. Despite his lack of size, Beasley can dunk – and I’m not just talking about grazing the rim, he can dunk.

Give me that any day for a starting guard, teams will always be on their toes when he drives to the rim. His hops alone make him as a starter, but I have a feeling he’d be fine taking the ball up the court considering his feisty competitiveness, quickness, and drive. Beasley – formerly undrafted – wants to prove a point; size doesn’t matter, he can play the game.

Pro comp: Nate Robinson

Shooting guard: Josh Allen

The offense is going to run through Josh Allen. A 6-foot-5, 238-pound guard with absurd range, power, and hops, Allen is about as NBA-ready as it gets. The Wyoming product was a star for the Firebaugh High School basketball team, as his three-sport coach Alex Gutierez told the Casper Star Tribute about Allen on the hardwood:

"He would almost pull up from half court and shoot 3-pointers. You’d see it and it’s like 2 feet in front of half court, and he’s shooting 3s. Pretty amazing. He’s making them."

That was just during his first-year starting, by the end of his high school tenure Allen was dominant, according to Gutierez,

"His senior year, he was having too much fun. He was dunking all over the place, him and his brother. It was pretty cool, because in our school, you don’t really see kids who can dunk. He was outrebounding everybody, because he was that tall."

This may sound like a forward, but the coach reaffirmed that he’s a guard;

"But he was a guard. He had the ball in his hand 90 percent of the time. His brother was a post, but he would go over and take the ball away from him. He would never see the ball if it was that way. They were constantly moving around. Those two guys, they made it happen."

Because we have Beasley starting at the point — for obvious reasons — Allen will have to play off-ball a bit. Which he’s well-suited to do, as the coach said, he was essentially a splash brother at Firebaugh that can drive to the rim too. Once screens start to get set and he can get himself into open space, defenses will have to give up — they won’t know to pressure him or back off.

Pro comp: Manu Ginobili that shoots a lot of threes

Small forward: Tremaine Edmunds

Tremaine Edmunds is our ideal small forward. He’s massive, young (21), and uber-athletic. Back at the combine, he measured in at 6-foot-5, 250-pounds, ran a 4.54-second 40-yard-dash, and recorded a 117-inch vertical. He doesn’t have a recorded vertical, but if he did, it would likely be in the high 30s.

At Dan River High School Edmunds played small forward and center and found some success doing so. Despite measuring in shorter then, he averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds in 21 games as a senior, according to MaxPreps. He shot nearly 54% from the field, attempted two threes, and made one. Now that he’s added 60-pounds to his frame since and a few inches, you could bet he’d be a physically imposing player near the rim. If his three is legit, the Bills got themselves a high-quality starter.

Pro comp: Andre Iguodala

Power forward: Tyree Jackson

I’ll be honest; I chose Tyree Jackson to run the power forward solely on his measurables. The rookie stands in at 6-foot-7 (!!!) and 249-pounds and has a nice vertical to boot (34.5-inches). Though he doesn’t have any tape, statistics, or quotes about his game as a basketball play, according to those over at Reddit (NSFW), he does play from time to time.

In terms of fit with the team, Jackson won’t be the first option, but I’m willing to believe he’d be an integral part of the squad. His height offers him the ability to guard opposing forwards while his size will help back down in the post. He’s a passer with a strong arm too, so he should be able to keep the ball moving and occasionally shoot from deep.

Pro comp: Draymond Green

Center: Connor McDermott

Centers are usually the tallest person on a basketball team, so this simply came down to size. Measuring in at 6-foot-8 undrafted rookie Connor McDermott is tied as the tallest person on the Bills. Though veteran Ty Nsekhe is the same height, Nsekhe wins this position because (a) he’s younger (b) he’s considerably lighter (278-pounds to 330).

McDermott likely won’t have the ball in his hands much, but he should be able to make an impact as a screen setter and interior presence. He’s athletic enough to where he could be a rim-runner — as he has 11-inch hands and a 28.5-inch vertical — on offense. On defense, he should bring the nastiness they need. The only question here is conditioning — he’s going to have to run a lot.

Pro comp: Glen “Big Baby” Davis