There are 3 positions in today's NBA. 1) Point Guard (1) 2) Swingman (2,3,4) 3) Big (4,5) And you can play with only 2 positions if one of the Swingmen can pass (LeBron) or one of the Swingmen can defend Bigs (Green).
Yes, because with each position comes a certain role or responsibility. These have changed, but Guards, Forwards and Centers always remain. In Europe we have actually one guard, two forwards, two centers. These are basically: - PG - SG & SF (wingmen, can initiate offense & play on the perimeter preferably) - PF & Center (bigs, close to the basket, now more perimeter oriented) While you can mix and match, in the end you need wingmen and bigs for different reasons, but of course positions matter. I agree with whoever who've said that if it didn't matter, you would see way more 'non-traditional' line-ups. Some traditions or fundamental things will never change, even though people try to say the game has so revolutionized there are no positions anymore and such.
