Who Loses in an NBA without Super Teams?
Injured players and 3-point specialists might take the biggest hits in a league short on guaranteed title contenders.
If the 2019–20 season really is the death of the super team and the revival of whatever catchy thing the media will call duos — tandems? Couples? None are as imposing as “super team” — then the NBA is in for a rude awakening. For the last decade and change, general managers have scrambled to concoct the most harmonious blend of players. Remember the 2008 Celtics? Paul Pierce was the Finals MVP, but they don’t win that series without Rajon Rondo’s tactical insertions, Kendrick Perkins’ immovable mass of flesh and James Posey’s timely appearances.
The same went for the Miami Heat of the early 2010s, the Warriors of six weeks ago, and any other super team you can think of. These organizations were defined as much by the cohabitation of three (or more) brands masquerading as basketball players as they were the guys who showed up to play for 20 minutes every game.
In a league that never grew accustomed to the presence of these behemoths, what might be the fallout in their absence? Parity preachers are the biggest winners. This summer, plenty of max contract players decided to team up, but there’s still a sense of balance league-wide. (Well, as much parity as there can be when two franchises have won 45 percent of all NBA Championships in league history.)
Though it’s ripe for hypotheticals, the champion of 2019–20 season is unpredictable. Few teams have an existing model on which to build their success, and without the threat of super teams, organizations can embrace newfound variables and test out fresh theories. Every team has lost something, which is effectively a net positive for the league at large.
Still the potential fairness that is thought to accompany new the league’s new direction isn’t the only change. Devoid of super teams, the Association will create a new set of values. Max contract players are still going to do max contract things and earn max contract money. But for the rest of the NBA, the absence of a true superpower will open unfamiliar territory.
When DeMarcus Cousins stumbled and tore his left Achilles while playing for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2018, his career immediately took a turn for the worst. Here was Cousins, finding a sort of synergy (and brotherhood) with then-Pelican Anthony Davis, only to have his hope of making a run in the Playoffs stripped away like he was still playing for Sacramento.
His injury was disheartening. The Pelicans had found something of a groove with this weird quadrant of current and former All-Stars. Rajon Rondo was playing like Celtics Rondo (and not like Dallas Mavericks Rondo). Jrue Holiday kept popping up in conversations about being underrated, while AD and Boogie were making a supersized pairing of players work to great effect.
No one knew how Cousins would recover. Achilles injuries are oft cited as the worst an NBA player can endure. They strip players of their athleticism, and when combined with the natural affects of aging, become the impetus for ending careers. Kobe Bryant lasted just three more, shortened seasons after he tore his Achilles at age 34. Cousins was younger but was still met with bleak outlooks for his future.
Cousins suffered first during free agency. In July 2018, he was hoping for a call from the Pelicans. “I was expecting to be back in New Orleans, and I was proud of what we were starting there,” Cousins said in the Players’ Tribune article that announced his signing with the Golden State Warriors.
Cousins recounted that he chose the Warriors because, “I wanted to play on the biggest stage and make the most impact I could.” He would even play for a discount, signing with Golden State for $5 million, $13 million less than he was paid in his final year in New Orleans.
Though he quickly signed with the Los Angeles Lakers this season, Cousins’ willingness to devalue himself to join the Warriors is important to understanding the power of a super team. The NBA branded Boogie a loser. The Kings never made it to the playoffs with him on the roster and his injury was the final leaf falling from the tree of his NBA youth. But Golden State gave him a second chance, which he’s since used to play in the NBA Finals. Cousins was a risk that only the super team Warriors could afford to take.
Boston can bet the farm on a team without Kyrie Irving because of its long, championship caliber history, but few teams have that luxury. Even a season removed from injury, Cousins didn’t sign with an up and coming team like Brooklyn or Dallas. He went where any uncertainty of his future could be mitigated, effectively forming a big two-and-a-half with LeBron James and Davis on the Lakers.
NBA front offices will continue to take leaps of faith, but the depth to which they are willing to plunge scales with the league’s volatility. Super teams offered injured and aging players solace. Greg Oden latched onto the Miami Heat in 2013–14 when no one else would give him a shot. A 35-year-old Richard Jefferson saw a chance to win a title in Cleveland and took it.
But this is the NBA in 2019. Teams that hid out of sight while the Warriors, Heat and Cavs held the spotlight are finally digging themselves out of an unmarked grave. The Atlanta Hawks, for example, are finally seeing positive returns after cleaning house in 2015. Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and John Collins might be a big three of their own someday, led by an innovative, young coach in Lloyd Pierce and a Warriors-product General Manager Travis Schlenk. They, like the current Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and others can only afford calculated risks. The same reason why Cousins signed with the Lakers is why Isaiah Thomas joined the Washington Wizards and Carmelo Anthony is still working out in hopes of a return. Some gambles have too high a buy-in price.
The last decade is also aptly summarized by the mass arrival of 3-point shooters. In 2008–09 the New York Knicks (smirk) led the NBA in 3s attempted per game. Last season, all but four franchises exceeded that mark. A shot that has existed in the NBA for the last 40 years has only been revolutionized in the last 10.
The 3-point arch provided new employment opportunities, which were only heightened by super teams. J.R. Smith’s shooting was a novelty on the Denver Nuggets in 2008, but when he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers six years later, it became a necessity. Especially after Steph Curry and Klay Thompson’s developed into record setting snipers, every team needed a high-volume, high accuracy shooter to compete.
Formerly referred to as lowly “role players,” 3-point specialists became a valued class. Shooting north of 36 percent became reason enough to extend careers of players like Kyle Korver and Vince Carter while inspiring management to acquire as many such players as possible. Squads like the Cavs or Bucks anchored by non-shooters like LeBron and Giannis Antetokounmpo helped revolutionize sets that situated all five players around the horn.
On teams stacked with top players, investing in 3-point shooters is a no-brainer. They’d rarely get called upon to play off the bounce unless they were a hybrid talent like Rashard Lewis or last season’s Eric Gordon. This season, however, could signal a shift in ideology. Teams may call on shooters to be a consistent third option in absence of a bevy of superstars, completely aware of the fact that they’ve never had to carry that burden before. Is it too much to ask JJ Redick to lead a second unit without Lonzo Ball? Will coaches have to ask more of their stars to accompany second-string shooters off the bench?
Leave your preconceptions in Las Vegas alongside Summer League. The NBA will enter the abyss this season as the Association undergoes a collective rebuild without a consolidation of power. Plenty of players found new homes this off season and the path to the Larry O’Brien trophy is as uncharted as ever.
