The NBA has undergone some drastic changes in the past decade, to the point that the game is almost unrecognizable compared to the way it used to be. Defenses are more complex than ever, while offenses have evolved by relying much more heavily on the 3-pointer.
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Roster construction is also much different than it used to be. The Oklahoma City Thunder just proved that by winning the title with the youngest and deepest roster in the league, and with their cache of draft capital, Sam Presti has set OKC up to become a new kind of dynasty.
If OKC is able to string together multiple championships, it would go against the grain of what the league has become. The NBA has had seven different champs in the past seven years, an unprecedented period of parity. The salary cap and first and second apron rules are largely responsible for this, as is the fact that the overall talent level, even in the mid- and lower-tier teams, has never been higher.
LeBron James and Steve Nash did a live version of their Mind the Game podcast last month at Fanatics Fest, and they spoke about what they learned this past season about the way the game has changed. “We went through an era where we were trying to find three stars,” Nash said.
That model no longer works, as Nash explained. “You’re at risk for injuries derailing your team, but two, the game is played so fast and so physically nowadays, that three stars have a hard time keeping that level at both ends of the floor, and it kind of falls apart on both ends.”
LeBron and Nash are the perfect people to be talking about this shift in philosophy. LeBron was at the epicenter of the “Big 3” movement when he took his talents to South Beach to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2010. The rest of that Heat team was mostly comprised of minimum-salary role players, but they were still able to dominate to the tune of four straight Finals and two titles.
Nash’s former team, the Suns, are a perfect example of why having a Big 3 no longer works. Phoenix brought together Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal in the hopes that they would be able to deliver the franchise’s first title, but the Suns have been one of the most disappointing teams in the league. Durant was traded last month to put an end to that experiment.
LeBron went through the last two teams standing, the Pacers and Thunder, to prove how important depth is these days. He mentioned Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso as guys who are thriving on new teams. “All these complementary guys, it’s what builds teams, it’s what builds programs and winning franchises.”
Both Indiana and OKC are small market teams, a fact which gives hope to the rest of the league that you can win even if you’re not in a desirable free agent destination like Los Angeles or Miami. Other teams are sure to follow this blueprint in order to compete.
LeBron is hoping that his Lakers are able to get deeper, because that’s one of the biggest reasons they were eliminated so quickly from this past postseason. LeBron and Luka Doncic are two of the top 10 players in the league, but with subpar talent around them, that’s no longer enough.
