Ranking the Best Superstar Replacements in the NBA

After a rash of injuries to some of the better players in the NBA—as players like Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo have all been in suits at one point or another during the course of the season—it's interesting to see which teams out there are best equipped to deal with a superstar going down.

The Bulls survived their few games without Rose. The Celtics are faring relatively well without Rondo. And the Grizzlies have broken out of their early-season slump and even thrived without Randolph.

However, not all teams can be as lucky as these guys have been. They have players who are capable enough to step in off the bench and fill the hole enough for their teams to stay afloat.

So, which teams out there have the players to help them stay afloat when one of their star players goes down, and which of these backup players is the best compared to their counterparts?

13. Avery Bradley

Avery Bradley's impressive play over the past three games filling in for Rajon Rondo is no secret at this point, as the Celts have won two of the three games with him at the point, including a blowout win over the Orlando Magic.

Bradley isn't an amazing scoring option (putting up 19 points in those three starts), and he's no Rajon Rondo when he's got the ball in his hands, but he fits in quite well with the Celtics defense.

He's played great defense for the Celtics, and because of that (and a step up in performance from Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett), Boston hasn't fallen apart without Rondo.

12. Enes Kanter

When Al Jefferson is in the game, the Utah Jazz have a player in who can put the ball in the hoop and grab some boards, but he's not exactly the best defender in the land.

However, when Jefferson hits the pine, Enes Kanter comes in and the Jazz have a long, loping center in that refuses to let easy buckets go in.

Kanter still has a ton of room to grow, but when he's on the floor, big men play just a bit differently, which really helps the Jazz.

11. Nate Robinson

Flipped by the Knicks and then the Celtics and then dropped by the Thunder in the span of less than two years, Nate Robinson has every reason to be depressed and relegated into a backup role.

However, with Steph Curry having injury problems, the Warriors had to turn to their scavenged point guard more than they would have expected over the first month of the season.

While Charles Jenkins has earned the starting role for the Warriors in Curry's stead, Robinson has been the real replacement for Curry, playing between 25 and 35 minutes a game with Curry out.

Before Curry came back to the Wizards, Robinson was averaging 13 points and five assists to help the Warriors out.

10. Jordan Farmar

In an unexpected turn of events, Jordan Farmar has come off the bench for the Nets and turned into one of the better backup point guards in the NBA.

Even crazier, his defense hasn't been bad either.

Farmar coming in for Deron Williams isn't going to be seamless, but Farmar has done as well as he can to make it seem that way.

Still averaging the same number of points as last season, Farmar is doing so with two fewer shots a game and is now shooting 48 percent from the floor and 46 percent from downtown.

9. Marreese Speights

I'm torn between two ideas here. One is that Marreese Speights is simply a pretty good player; the other is a bit more intricate.

It seems to me that Marc Gasol is more valuable than we once thought.

With Gasol in the lineup, the rest of Memphis' players are better, just because the defense has to take into account a monstrosity of a player down low, who changes the game on both ends of the floor.

That's what allowed Rudy Gay to get back into the swing of things rather quickly and what allowed him and Zach Randolph to dominate in the playoffs last season.

In other words, he's turned the Grizzlies into the Magic and the Bucks, who have centers so good on both ends of the floor that the rest of the team gets better.

So, with that belief, Memphis could have put damn near anyone down low with Gasol, and they would have done just fine.

I'm kind of thinking it's a mix of the two, so good job to Speights regardless.

8. Josh McRoberts

Sure, Josh McRoberts isn't close to Pau Gasol when it comes to offensive capabilities, or even that good on defense either, but McRoberts brings something off the bench that every team needs.

McRoberts coming off the bench brings energy to the Lakers, and although the team hasn't been great this season, he has been one of the few bright spots coming off the bench.

7. C.J Watson

C.J. Watson already showed that he can step in and help the Bulls play as if they didn't even need Derrick Rose.

Now, some of this is because of Watson himself, while a good portion of it is the ability that the Bulls have to get many players to step up and fill the void.

In three games filling in for Rose, Watson helped the Bulls to three wins (albeit against the Suns, Cavs and Bobcats), averaging 16 points and seven assists in those three games.

Ever since joining the Bulls and playing under Tom Thibodeau, he's played better defense to go along with his great scoring ability off the bench.

Chicago definitely has a great option off the bench with C.J. Watson.

6. Lamar Odom

Sure, Lamar Odom has been terrible this year, averaging just under eight points a game and shooting an atrocious 33 percent from the field, but I can't imagine that he'd stay that way for long.

Odom hasn't averaged below 10 points or six rebound for his entire career, so if he continues on this terrible pace, I would be more shocked than if he has a crazy positive turnaround.

In the past three games that he's had to fill in for Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas has struggled a bit, but it still ended up winning two of the three games.

5. Al Harrington

With Timofey Mozgov starting at center for the Denver Nuggets and Nene now bumped down to the power forward spot, the Nuggets are thriving and have incredibly deep power forward and center spots.

With Nene at power forward, his main backup is the oft-overpaid but suddenly underrated Al Harrington, who has played great this season.

His 15 points, six rebounds and crazy efficient offense this season (shooting 53 percent from the field) have been a boon to the Nuggets' offensive game.

While the Nuggets have started Kosta Koufos in Nene's place, he's usually played just a few minutes with most of the time deferred to Harrington.

4. Evan Turner

With Evan Turner on the bench, he's been backing up both the shooting guard and small forward positions for the 76ers, which makes him the first guy off for either Andre Iguodala or Jodie Meeks.

The superstar in question that he is backing up is, of course, Andre Iguodala.

Evan Turner was a borderline bust a season ago, as he struggled to adapt to the NBA game on both sides of the floor, but he's made a huge improvement since he started off in Philadelphia.

Turner's 10 points, six rebounds and three assists have come on relatively efficient shooting and good defense.

3. Udonis Haslem

Udonis Haslem was supposed to be the great sixth man for the Heat last season, but he ended up in a suit for most of the season before he made his late return and played well.

This season, he had the same expectations, and he's played well, just not as well as we would have thought.

The reason?

It's gotta be that he chopped off the braids.

Still, Haslem has fared okay so far this season, leading the Heat in rebounds and playing well on defense; it's that offensive game that hasn't come around yet.

But as a backup to Chris Bosh, you could do a lot worse.

2. Nicolas Batum

With the Portland Trail Blazers always on the lookout for an injury, what with their history and all, it's good for them to have at least one good backup for one of their star players.

Nicolas Batum has played primarily as the backup small forward, coming in to give Gerald Wallace a breather or move him to power forward, and when he comes in, he's quite effective.

His long frame allows him to play good defense and score quite efficiently, as he's putting up 11 points and four rebounds a game at this point.

1. Mo Williams

Who would have thought that just two years after being one of the goats in the Cleveland Cavaliers' playoff demise that Mo Williams would be repurposed into one of the best backup guards in the NBA?

Williams has settled into his role—even though he seems to be a bit too aggressive at times to overcompensate for coming off the bench—and should be an early candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

While he has been great coming off the bench, Williams has been used mostly as a backup to both guard spots, so he can step in if either Chris Paul or Chauncey Billups happen to go down.

If you are one of those twitterers, you can follow me @JDorsey33.