Era of the Big Man?

[Lipoli390]

Max Kellerman suggested recently, that this may be the era of the big man in the NBA. He has a point. The Finals MVP this year was a big, Giannis. The League's MVP this year was another big, Jokic, and the runner-up was another big named Joel Embiid. LeBron was last year's finals MVP, but AD was arguably just as deserving. And actually, LeBron is a 260 pound PF at this point in his career. Booker and Chris Paul were obviously the key pieces that propelled the Suns into the Finals this year, but Ayton was a huge part of their success and was a key to getting past the Clippers. Trae Young is Atlanta's superstar, but they leaned heavily on Collins and Capela for their regular season and playoff success this year. The Nets' best player by far this season was Durant. Yes, he's a SF, but he's also around 7'0" tall.

There's no doubt that 3-point shooting is still a major ingredient for success in the modern NBA. And high-level guard play remains tremendously important. But I think the importance of bigs or size for NBA success has been prematurely dismissed by pundits and fans. There's no substitute bigs who can skew possessions in their team's favor through rebounding and overpower defenders for points in the paint.

Thinking about the Wolves in this context, reminds me that some of us probably focus too much on KAT's elite 3-point shooting when we consider his value. Fact is, he's an elite low-post scorer who can dominate offensively in the paint. And he's also an elite rebounder who makes a difference in the balance of possessions. His 3-point shooting prowess and overall high skill level give the Wolves the luxury of adding another big who can effectively defend the paint and score around the basket even if that big is a poor perimeter shooter. KAT can post up when surrounded by perimeter shooters like DLO, Beasley and Ant. Or KAT can come out to the arc, drawing the opponent's center outside the paint, while another Wolves big posts up. All of this leads me to two conclusions:

First, the Wolves should absolutely add another quality big to the roster this summer.

Second, the KAT's versatility allows the Wolves to expand their poor of target bigs to include more traditional big men whose shooting ability doesn't extend far beyond the paint. This leads me back to Steven Adams.

If you agree with Kellerman, as I now do, that the NBA has entered the era of bigs, then the Wolves are especially fortunate to have KAT as a franchise centerpiece. But it also means that the Wolves need to add another big who can provide the Wolves with more size and power inside on both sides of the ball. I don't know where Simmons, Beal and Lillard will end up by the start of next season. I suspect that at least two of them will be on different teams, but it's time to stop thinking about whether any of them will end up wearing a Timberwolves uniform because they won't! Rosas needs to re-sign Vanderbilt. At the same time, Rosas needs to focus intently on adding the best big he can acquire at a reasonable cost - which means not giving up elite talent like Ant or McDaniels or giving up our only elite 3-point shooter, Beasley. Importantly, Rosas should focus on bigs with size and strength who can toughen up the Wolves interior both offensively and defensively.

[Monster]

It's an era of bigs but other than Bam they aren't on team USA...

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Bigs are still very important, especially skilled bigs like the ones you mentioned. At the end of the day, being a great basketball player matters more than position or size. Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, and KAT are all very skilled players.

But I disagree with the premise that we are in a new era of the big man. If that were the case, teams would be fielding more traditional two-big lineups. But they don't. Time and again, they go with a smaller lineup to close out games with at most one big in the lineup. Guards and wings still rule the day.

I generally agree that we could probably add some muscle/bulk like Steven Adams. But that is less about trying to overpower other teams in the paint and more about protecting KAT from early foul trouble and having to battle stronger behemoths in the paint (Embiid, Jokic, JoVal, etc.). He's proven that unlike Embiid, he doesn't have the strength or instincts to anchor the paint defensively.