Best Playmaking Badges for Every Position

The playmaking requirements differ for each position, and this guide breaks down the best playmaking badges for each position based on the different tiers:

Jump to: Guards | Swings | Bigs

Guards

Guards are usually required to dribble and pass the most, and generally handle the majority of the playmaking. The following badges maximize these abilites:

Tier 3

• Killer Combos: This badge improves a ball handler’s effectiveness on size-up moves. It’s a great badge in that you get some crazy animations that help break down defenders.
• Handles for Days: With dribbling getting a huge revamp this year, stamina is more important than ever. This badge allows you to dribble more without losing more stamina.
• Clamp Breaker: Chances are, you are going to have a ton of defenders trying to bump you. This badge will help you win more of these situations and keep your dribble.

Tier 2

• Quick First Step: It’s crazy that this is Tier 2 badge, but Quick First Step is a required badge for all ball handlers. It helps you get better speed boosts out of a size-up.
• Hyperdrive: Another dribbling badge that helps you dribble quicker. This will help you break down your defender and get past them for easy buckets.

Tier 1

• Dimer: When you’re dishing to teammates, this badge will give your teammates a bit of a shooting boost. It’s a cheap badge and works well, so there’s no point in not having it at some level.
• Needle Threader: Another effective passing badge that is going to be cheap. Helps more of your passes reach the intended target without getting stolen.

Swings

6’6″ to 6’9″ players typically do a bit of dribbling and passing, although few playmaking opportunities fall on their lap. Nonetheless, these badges will help them in the playmaking department:

Tier 3

• Clamp Breaker: You’ll get bumped a ton, but this badge is going to help you win more of those bumps and keep dribbling.
• Handles for Days: You won’t dribble a ton, but this badge will ensure that you can at least dribble a bit when needed, without losing a ton of stamina.
• Killer Combos: Another dribbling badge that you might not use a lot, but works well when needed.

Tier 2

• Quick First Step: You won’t do a ton of lateral dribbling, but this badge will help you dribble downhill. You’ll get past more defenders with this badge, and there’s no reason your player shouldn’t have it.
• Needle Threader: You’ll likely be swinging the ball a lot, and this badge will ensure that you don’t throw careless turnovers.

Tier 1

• Dimer: Another passing badge that will give your teammates a boost when you pass it to them.
• Special Delivery: I don’t expect you to throw many alley-oops, but this tier is quite dry for swings. In the odd chance that you throw an oop, this badge will be very useful.

Big Men

Big men do very little playmaking, with the majority of their focus towards passing the ball when they’re not open. Nonetheless, these are the best badges in this category for centers:

Tier 3

• Break Starter: When you’re throwing outlet passes, this badge will make sure few of them are errant. It’s not super necessary, though it does help a lot.
• Needle Threader: Another passing badge that will help you avoid turnovers.

Tier 2

• Vice Grip: One of the more necessary playmaking badges for big men, as it limits the amount of times defenders strip you after getting a rebound. It doesn’t work great, but any boost is better than none.
• Bail Out: When you find yourself taking a bad shot and want to pass out of the shot, this badge will help you throw a more accurate pass. Extremely useful.

Tier 1

• Floor General: Tier 1 is extremely thin for big men, but Floor General is probably the most useful. It gives a rating boost to any teammates on the floor with you.