Building around a big man scorer

[kekgeek]

I want to say first in no way would I trade KAT in almost any circumstance but I was just thinking about how the NBA is today.

Look at the 8 teams starting centers.

Warriors: Pachulia
Jazz: Gobert
Spurs: Dedmon
Rockets: Capella
Celtics: horford
Wizards: Gortat
Raptors: valencunes
Cavs: Thompson

All of them are either defensive specialist or at best 3rd scoring options on their respective teams.

Then look at the PGs

Warriors: Curry
Jazz: Hill
Spurs: Parker
Rockets: Harden (he initiates all offense)
Celtics: Thomas
Wizards: Wall
Raptors: Lowry
Cavs: Irving

All of these teams PG besides the spurs have their PG as a top 2 scoring option (jazz can be debated). So it feels like the wolves are the inverse of this with our big man being the scorer and rubio being the role player/specialist as a PG.

Can you win in today's NBA with a primary option being a big man. Look at some of the best offensive bigs in the NBA, Towns, Davis, Cousins, Jokic, Lopez, Embiid, Porzingis, Whiteside. All players not in the playoffs.

Just think it is interesting to look at

*Once again in zero way do I touch towns at all. So don't come at me saying I want to blow it up or trade towns

[SameOldNudityDrew]

All the more reason Towns needs to play better defense!

Seriously though, good observation. I'd be careful about drawing conclusions too firmly from that, but I'm curious about what other people think.

Another difference between the playoff and non-playoff teams is that all of those playoff teams that you mentioned above are deep with talent, mostly near the prime of their careers. Embiid, Zinger, Jokic, and Towns all look like they'll be great big men for years to come (hopefully if they avoid injury trouble), but they are also all essentially in the first two years of their careers.

Maybe when those bigs get into their prime the discussion about playoff team makeups will look a little different. What won't look different, I bet, is that the playoff teams then will still be deep with talent in the prime of their careers, while the non-playoff teams may have one or two good players, but they will be hurt by thin rosters and by their best players being either a little too young or a little too old.

[Monster]

The best teams have good players at multiple positions. You left out the good players some of those playoff teams have at PF and The Spurs have Pau coming off the bench. There is no hard and fast blueprint to be a contender except have talent and all the other stuff you need to win like some good culture and good coaching.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I have never been a believer in there being specific formulas for building a contending team (e.g. you MUST have a rim-protecting Center or you MUST have a high-scoring PG), other than you have to be able to score and you have to be able to defend. Period.

If anything, I see KAT as a strategic advantage. If we can pair KAT up with a PF that can also stretch the floor, what does that do to the Goberts, Jordans, and Embiids of the world? It brings them out of the paint. Right now these guys mostly guard Gorgui Dieng, who only reluctantly spaces out beyond the arc, but otherwise hangs out in space that allows his man to get into the paint to cut off driving lanes.

As for the plethora of scoring PGs, let's remember that a lot of that is driven by simple math. How many humans are over 6'4 or 6'5? The pool of talent available at the PG height range is much larger than the pool of talent available at other positions. Thus, it makes sense that many of your most skilled players come from this group. They had to beat out literally millions of other people to make it to the NBA, whereas a 7-footer is only having to beat out a few thousand.

[Coolbreeze44]

I think it can be an advantage to be built differently. Maybe some day the make up of our team will be the one others try to copy.

[TheFuture]

4 decent 3 pt threats, with one of them a player who can create offense. That's how we build around KAT. In my opinion we have 2.5/5.5 (.5 being the creator) in Wiggins and LaVine. It remains to be seen if the Rubio with an average shot is a fluke or not.

Maybe he never becomes an elite rim defender like Howard was in Orlando, but he can control the boards and unlike Howard, KAT is a huge offensive threat who can nearly guarantee us two points when we need them. Create as much space as possible for him and enjoy.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The best teams have good players at multiple positions. You left out the good players some of those playoff teams have at PF and The Spurs have Pau coming off the bench. There is no hard and fast blueprint to be a contender except have talent and all the other stuff you need to win like some good culture and good coaching.

The Spurs are such an anomaly in so many ways. It's a testament to the culture that Pop and Co. have created.

David Lee and Dwayne Dedmon have started in the playoffs. Many might remember that Lee was an afterthought in GSW after being replaced with Draymond Green... and then resurfacing from the deep recesses of the bench to play a pivotal bench role in the 2015 Finals. Anybody remember where he was last season? I certainly didn't...

He split time coming off the bench (or staying on it) in Dallas and Boston. He's known as a horrific defender. He signed a $1.6M deal with the Spurs. Dedmon was a part-time starter for the woeful Magic. He signed a $2.9M deal with the Spurs.

The Spurs also have Jonathon Simmons from the D League making $875k. 30th pick Kyle Anderson. And D Leaguer Davis Bertans making $543k. All have started this season and are playing in the playoff rotation.

Meanwhile, Minnesota has only Bjelica in the rotation who wasn't drafted in the 1st round. He went 35th way back in 2010. The other part of the NBA (after finding your stars) is finding guys who can fit in to a culture/team/system for cheap... and who offer unexpected value.

Minnesota has failed regularly with this. Who was the last surprise guy to make a real difference and offer incredible value?

Pekovic?

[slimcalhoun27 [enjin:6640095]]

Really wish we had gotten Nurkic before Portland stole him from Denver. His size, touch around the rim and ability to step back and fascilitate a pass to open players is incredible. What a trade by Portland on him.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Really wish we had gotten Nurkic before Portland stole him from Denver. His size, touch around the rim and ability to step back and fascilitate a pass to open players is incredible. What a trade by Portland on him.

What a dumb trade by Denver. They literally dug their own grave on that trade. It's one of the few things I agree with Khansy on. Their GM should have been fired for that deal. And as usual, it's another team in the West that benefits from it......

[AbeVigodaLive]

Really wish we had gotten Nurkic before Portland stole him from Denver. His size, touch around the rim and ability to step back and fascilitate a pass to open players is incredible. What a trade by Portland on him.

What a dumb trade by Denver. They literally dug their own grave on that trade. It's one of the few things I agree with Khansy on. Their GM should have been fired for that deal. And as usual, it's another team in the West that benefits from it......

By most reports, he needed to go. They chose Jokic. Nurkic pouted.

To send him to a WC team that ended up knocking them out of the playoffs though?

Ouch.