It began with Boston's trio of Garnett, Allen, and Pierce. Now the trinity of Wade, Lebron, and Bosh are continuing the tradition in Miami. So I'm wondering how this will affect the rest of the league? 1) The players - singles like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Yao Ming must be feeling quite lonely having the burden of carrying a team. Despite what they may say in pubic, privately each must be burning with the idea that their career may go without a legit shot at a title. Even young stars Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose are going to question their future without another superstar or two to help win a championship. Could we soon see a trend among the remaining top-tier players to plan synchronized moves to create another "super" team? 2) The owners - Dan Gilbert made an ass of himself with his antics but every other owner must feel the pain or at least the thought that someday their coveted franchise player may leave them in similar fashion. With the upcoming CBA problems, this is going to become a focal point among the teams risking to lose a superstar and a big chunk of their income with such moves by players. I could seriously see an interesting scenario develop with Yao next summer if the Rockets are not able to put the pieces to a title run. Same can be said of every other team with a legit superstar with an expiring contract in the next few years. Can you imagine the impact on New Orleans, Denver, and OKC without Paul, Melo and Durant respectively? The consolidation of power and talent has begun in the NBA. This is the league's worst nightmare, 2 to 3 "super" teams and then a bunch of farm systems producing for them. This could fracture the league and break it. There are only a few truly franchise players in the NBA to begin with. If most of them create their own "dream" squad then there is no hope for the rest of the league.
So what Yao + CP3 + 'Melo in some backwater town together? That'd be hilarious to see and expect the board to be forced into lock down with all the inevitable hate posts.
Don't forget the Kobe, Shaq, Malone, Payton super team. In fact, I think that super team far out supers the current Miami super team but they still lost to the Pistons who had superior chemistry and teamwork.
Malone and Payton joined Lakers at the end of their career to compete for the last time for a ring. Lebron and Bosh are only 26.
I'm only 21 but didn't the Lakers and Celtics teams have 2 or 3 all-stars on their teams back in the day? Before my time so I'm not exactly sure.
Don't forget the Olajuwon-Barkley-Drexler or the Olajuwon-Barkley-Pippen super teams. I think the effect will be that other players will look make more super teams in the future to compete with Miami. But, the impact may be damped by 2 things, imo. (1) If the new CBA does something to discourage player collusion or super teams, than future players may not be able to do such a thing. And (2) if Miami doesn't meet with the dominating success people expect, the urgency to join super teams will pass.
It won't affect it one bit unless it works. Boston may have worked - but they were a reasonably deep team that played ludicrous defense. And the last two titles went to a team with one superstar, an efficient second fiddle and then a strong supporting cast of role players - anyone of whom could step up with a big game.
The Heat are built like the Lakers, just a bit more topheavy. They have Lebron/Bosh ~= Kobe/Gasol. Then they have Wade/Miller ~= Odom/Artest/Bynum. The Heat have better talent, the Lakers better length. The rest of the roster is scrubs, but so is the rest of the Laker roster. Yeah, a guy like Fisher will show up for a few big games in the playoffs but expect the Heat to pickup some vet who will play that role suddenly now that there is no pressure on him (eg, the Fox/Posey/House role).
I think Miami's situation is a little different then past teams. 2 of the top 3 players are on the SAME team. Not just 2 all stars teaming up.
What, no. Boston was not a "reasonably deep" team. When the news broke, people were constantly criticizing how they were going to win with Big 3 + random scrubs. But those scrubs eventually emerged as a group of legit players because they had the opportunity to play with people who take so much pressure off them. Wade, Lebron and Bosh are going to make the garbage on Heats' team look great.
I think Stern may have to look at a way to curb some of this. Let's take Mike Miller for instance. I don't think it will be good for the league to allow Top Talent to take 50$ buck to goto Miami while Charging 500 million to play in cleveland I have no idea how to stop this but I know that allowing these super teams will make the league weaker for it. Miami can not stay under the cap while getting top talent for bargain prices Talent that would charge an arm and a leg else where. . . crippling those franchises that just seems wrong to me but again I have no idea how to stop it Rocket River
I'm just comparing talent. In a trade, I'd take Wade+Miller over Artest+Bynum+Odom. Point is, both the Lakers and Heat are top heavy. Last year's championship Lakers had two great players, three good players, and a bunch of scrubs to round out the roster. So far this year the Heat have three great players, one good player, and a bunch of scrubs. The Lakers are a bit more balanced but I like the Heat's big 4 over the Lakers big 5. Besides, we know Bynum isn't a factor come playoff time anyway since he's always injured, so it's basically the Lakers big 4 vs the Heat's big 4.
Exactly, the teams in prior years had All-Star level talent not 2 of 3 the best players on the planet. Put Bosh into the mix and that's 3 of the top 10 in the league. I think this will change the way other superstars evaluate their teams. Guys like Durant, Melo and Paul must be looking at this and wondering how are they going to compete in the long run? I could imagine many feeling frustrated with the odds stacked against them in such a way. Long term Stern has to address the issue of collusion by players otherwise a lot of owners will be pissed at losing their star players. The old Celtics and Lakers dynasties aren't a true comparison to the current situation. Even today there is a unequal divide of talent between the historical franchises and the small teams. That's just the way the game works. Shaq bailed on Orlando to go to Los Angeles but they got lucky when Charlotte agreed to swipe Kobe for chump change. Those are moves made by a team and GMs. What we are seeing today is completely different. Lebron basically played GM, Coach, God in Cleveland for seven years now he gets to do the same Miami. This isn't about the haves and have-nots. Its about players taking over the role of GM, Coach, and Owner. Lebron might as well start "Team Nike" - an expansion franchise and run the shots with his two favorite buddies. And no I'm not arguing of giving more power to the self-absorbed owners and GMs. They deserve the wrath for creating the current breed of superstar prima donnas. Look at the pathetic crap Miami is pulling. Gutting the entire team. Shipping Beasley to the forsaken tundra of Sota. For what? To appease the inflated ego of Lebron who needs to "win now" or else face the scrutiny forever. I just think the state of the NBA is pathetic today.
Well, Boston had a couple of recent first round picks, Rajon Rondo and still had the money to pick up guys like James Posey and Eddie House. You are throwing the word "scrub" around far too lightly. Those players on Boston weren't great - but they had several NBA veterans who'd been a key part of winning teams. Miami has nothing but veteran minimums to give to players - the year before there is going to be a lockout. Now you are truly going to see some scrubs - 10th, 11th, and 12th men - to fill out the roster. And on the subject of Boston - having the Big Three helped - but that team won the title because they played maddening, stifling defense - better defense than just about anyone else has played in recent memory. Then they lost in the playoffs the next year, and the year after that - to a team with one really good player, an efficient secondary star and a deep supporting cast.
lebron + scrubs led cleveland to the best record in the nba, and a finals appearance Bosh + Wade + Lebron are all in their 20's and among the league's best players. When Allen + Garnett + Pierce got together they were past their prime but still managed to squeeze one out because of their defense/chemistry. This superteam will sweep the playoffs next year by a margin of 20+ points a game
