Kyle Lowry Kevin Martin Shane Battier Luis Scola Nene Hilario Are all championship level starters, but we need to upgrade one of those players to a superstar. Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Danny Granger etc...
20+ years ago . . . K Mart is Vinnie Johnson. Lee. Lowry, PP, Scola are guys who IMO can be [or will be] starters for championship type teams . . .but their must be two STARS to pair with them. [Though they may become stars in their own right] Rocket River
Plus he's got a quicker trigger with a shooting form that's tougher for a player to defend. That's the issue with Kmart. You get up on him or close in quickly (like a lot of defenses do in the 4th) and you'll pretty much shut him out.
Ray Allen did not become a decent defender until he got on the Celtics. He was known for being "soft" and defense was never something he practiced. That was why so many people were surprised when he became decent defending in Boston. Defense is something anyone can do as long as they want to.
He's got the physical tool and brain to be more than decent at times and decent consistently. Not everyone can be that, even if they give 100%. Going back to the OP, i think pretty much every NBA player can be a "championship type". There's really only very few players who are completely worthless and could never contribute consistently during a title run, even if they had hall of famers as teammates. Of course there's some that can't because they're deep in the bench, but a lot of those guys could do it, if more minutes were available. The key is having top players who trust others, sometimes known as "making them better". Even Nate Robinson became one, once he was on the right team.
What does "nice" mean. Let's just say "soft," ok. Otherwise, I suppose you are saying a "soft" player with a "mean" streak. ?? Rex Hamilton was a key role player for Detroit. Glen Rice was pretty soft. Peja was an Horry miracle and bs refs away from being a role player just like Martin. As Rockets River noted too: Vinnie Johnson. And I don't recall Andrew Toney liking to play defense much. Not all role players have to be gritty and hardworking guys with a Dream-like mean streak. Some are finesse shooters. A lights-out shooter like Martin, Rex, Glen Rice and Peja are welcome on championship teams for sure.
Ahhh............. HP... Man you brought back some memories with Toney... He could flat out shoot... Too bad he had bad feet.
Sorry to say it, but as a matter of fact, we are looking for players to make the playoff, not a championship...
I've always looked at players this way: The best player on a championship team, the 2nd best player on a championship team, etc... I always viewed Yao as the 2nd best player as the championship team, meaning that he can't be your best player and your team still be a contender. I view Kevin Martin as the 3rd best player on a championship team. To be fair there are not many players in the NBA that, in my mind, fit the mold as the best player on championship team. Right now I think they are: Kobe Bryant Lebron James Dwayne Wade Carmelo Anthony Kevin Durant Possibly Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, and Paul Pierce (although the Celtics win more because of their tremendous depth than anything). That's it.
Name one 20 point scorer in today's NBA not on his rookie contract paid less than 10M a year. Here I'll help you: Spoiler .
dwight has probably done the best of any player in recent times in taking a team with no all stars besides himself to relevance, tbh dwight + paul and a bunch of complimentary roleplayers would probably beat current team in the nba on average 2 series out of 3.
I think most of our team fits the role, since they all have something they can bring to the table..but guys who play well on both sides of the floor (with the exception of K-Mart) Kyle Lowry (off the bench) Kevin Martin. Courtney Lee Shane Battier (off the bench). T-Will (off the bench) Patrick Patterson
We have the perfect team to surround a superstar or two. I really really want two - 2 way superstars - one on the wing and one down low. The one on the wing can replace Battier and the one down low to replace Hayes. This is my dream. We had it and it got shatterd in front of my eyes. Why in the world did TMAC and YAO had to end like this. WHY???!!!!!
