And I am here to watch it all burn. https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/04/26/brooklyn-nets-durant-irving/ The NBA playoffs must carry on now without the Brooklyn Nets, the league’s most soulless and faulty all-star conglomerate. Give yourself time to adjust, okay? Not to disappointment, but enjoyment. Without the Nets, the remainder of the postseason will be so much more fun. The first round isn’t complete, but all the franchises following the outdated superteam model are on vacation. The Los Angeles Lakers, led by the imprudent trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, finished 33-49 with an aging roster that included five certain future Hall of Famers. The Los Angeles Clippers, who played the entire season without injured star Kawhi Leonard, lost in the play-in tournament after their other marquee player, Paul George, tested positive for the coronavirus. And then the Nets — the last hope for inorganic teams built on the whims of restless stars — were swept out of the playoffs Monday night. Fittingly, the Boston Celtics — the team that Irving quit on three years ago before departing for Brooklyn to join forces with Kevin Durant — were the ones holding the broom. Fittingly, the first squad eliminated this postseason was the top-heavy, incomplete one that now stands in opposition of the league’s latest team-building best practices. Just a year ago, the Nets were the tip of Durant’s size 18 Nikes away from eliminating the Milwaukee Bucks and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals. After the classic seven-game second round series, the Bucks went on to win the NBA title, with Giannis Antetokounmpo delighting over proving that an organization constructed diligently around one patient superstar can prosper during an era in which the best players have preferred to team up and turn the game into fantasy basketball. [...] The top teams this season were all built in a classic fashion, meaning a heavy emphasis on drafting and using all avenues to upgrade instead of stripping the roster to clear salary cap space and pursue multiple all-star free agents. It usually takes a glamour market to employ the superteam strategy, but right now, there is solid parity of opportunity in the NBA. The eight teams that won at least 50 games during the regular season tell a more diverse story than usual: Phoenix, Miami, Memphis, Boston, Golden State, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Dallas.
Or the times of 30 plus year old superstars are almost over. It is the handing over of the royal scepter to the younger generation who would rule the league. I have predicted that a while ago as the NBA is modelling itself after the Euro League, being a Super Euro league with tons of star players and still different rules.
Maybe it's just different labeling but same endgame but I think it's more of the Mercenary Team is dead. You can't really just trade or sign free agent All-NBA players and expect to win a championship like you could a few years ago. It's definitely not a sustainable model because salaries get higher and the window for competing is smaller. This was great when your mercenaries for hire were the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard but there are only x amount of those difference makers in the league. That's why it's important, as a rebuilding organization, to draft well.
More lack of super stars willing to take less to win. Donovan Mitchell is ready to bolt imo Lillard is ready to bolt. I don't think they want that rep. The criticism. So they may not "superteam" because of that. Also....who will be a free agent and leave instead of demanding a trade? Trust and believe. Is Pat Riley had the pieces to force trades ....be would. Rocket River
I get that superteams have faltered as of late. But if you think stars/superstars have it in their mind that they'd rather carry their teams instead of teaming up, they can just look at Denver this year. Or Portland, in years past. Even Houston, pre-CP3. Those teams were all hyper-reliant on one guy to basically get them over the hump. And it just doesn't happen in today's NBA. As a UFA superstar, you don't really want to wait for an organic situation to develop, because it might not turn out to be a championship team in the long run. The Pacers have a pretty promising roster, but what superstar would think that the only piece missing for that team to contend, is me? It's easier to jump to a team with Curry, Klay and Draymond on it than to try and get to the Finals again with a Russell Westbrook. It's a lot easier to jump to a team that has a Wade and an incoming Bosh on it, than to try to get to the Finals again with Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao.
WaPo also dug up this quote: “I think it’s also going to change the way we see coaches,” Irving said on a podcast after Nash’s hiring. “I don’t really see us having a head coach, you know what I mean? [Durant] could be a head coach. I could be a head coach.”
yup we dodged a bullet. I always thought his game would decline with age, not to mention the rule change. I hope jalen doesnt bolt. The kid is special.
Because superteams form when over the hill players realize they can't carry a team on their own anymore.
This is all correct except the UFA part. Free agency no longer exists for stars; they just get traded wherever they want to go. But your overall point remains: it is premature to declare the end of superteams.
Exactly. Is this PRIME Kyrie/KD/Harden - not really. I think in all three cases they are at the top of THE game (at best) but not at the top of THEIR game. They are more similar to Boston's Big Three (KG, Peirce and Jesus Shuttlesworth) than the Heatles They had a short window Kyrie blew it with off court isht and Injuries Rocket River
Wait for the next TV deal/cap jump... We are however reaching the end of the Lebron Era. He's been the most social/friendly best player for a while. Other players like KD or Harden looked up to him and took notes. I don't see Giannis/Tatum/Luka etc having that same mentality not because they don't want to team up but because it's just not their personality to court future teammates. I also think teams are smarter at roster construction now compared to earlier in the LeBron Era. LeBron lost for many years in Cleveland then figured he could do a better job putting a team around him than a GM, and he's been largely right until this season. So it's the opposite now. The smartest constructed teams can beat one with just a couple superstars and players off the scrap heap.
You are spot-on, here. Because, you can have a great group of blue-chippers and young guys bursting with potential, but if it doesn't manifest after say 4-6 seasons. A team has to more or less blow the roster up, because the GM is probably got fire in his seat. As the team, probably is on it's 2nd or 3rd coach by that point. If they cannot get to the playoffs or even beyond the 2nd round, the owner/executive groups are not going to want to commit alot of salary to guys who aren't panning out as superstar caliber players, even when they do alot of owners have become more cautious about those contracts over time. They almost are willing to play Russian roulette, instead giving out a "supermax" to players who cannot get their teams to another round. Perhaps, with so-so attendance. I don't feel like super teams are completely dead or are gone for good. You could have a situation, like the T-Wolves, Warriors, or possibly the Nuggets (if Murray and MPJ come back healthy), where the young talent go beyond their potential and are all-star caliber players. I feel for a superteam to truly be successful, the superstars need to be in-sync and have games they can compliment or make each other's game better. Also, the right mix of personalities. I wouldn't say a superteam, like the Heat or Warriors necessarily failed, since both teams won 5 titles and reached 9 NBA Finals, collectively.
