Want to mix Kelly Tripucka, a prolific scorer for the Detroit Pistons in the early 1980s, and Cade Cunningham?
You can with a new simulation engine, 82-0, which evaluates statistical output of players against a full 82-game schedule.
The objective: get your team to 82-0 by constructing an NBA roster from lineups as early as the 60’s. The challenge: picking your players wisely, as you only have one opportunity to pick each position of your starting lineup.
“The game consists of five rounds — one for each roster position,” reads a how -to-play section of the simulation.
The online engine, developers say, ignores rankings and focuses exclusively on historical performance data from each player’s peak. The simulation evaluates five core metrics including: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
Once you pick your star lineup, the simulation runs your lineup’s stats through a win-projection curve.
To get to 82-0, your roster must maximize its collective output across all five categories, meaning that regardless of how high scoring might be, you still need to construct your roster well to win it all.
Players have to be aware and identify the highest raw statistical producers in each slot and keep eras in mind, as a 30-ppg average in the ’60s is not equivalent to one in the 2020s, the website reads.
Additionally, the simulation is divided into two categories, one with full player stats to which make picks easier, and one without, testing users’ basketball IQ.
Jalen Williams is a trending reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jawilliams1@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New 82-0 simulator lets fans build dream NBA teams featuring Pistons players