IT’S ALL IN THE FORMULA
HISTORY SHOWS THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO CONSTRUCT A ‘SUPER TEAM’
There are few who can appreciate the math of super teams as much as LeBron James, having been a factor in just about every possible permutation.
• “If I become an owner,” he said amid these NBA Finals between super and, still seemingly, super-er, “I’m going to try to sign everybody.”
• For the most part, champions create a recalibration of how to best get it done on the court, be it the Golden State Warriors’ three-for-all shooting, the San Antonio Spurs’ good-to-better-to-best shot sequence, or the Miami Heat’s position-less lineups.
• But the new paradigm transcends playing styles, gets to the core of the cap, the ability, to paraphrase a previous rendition of LeBron, or how to get not one, not two, not three … but perhaps as many as four elite-level talents on the same team.
So as his Cleveland Cavaliers sought to hang on against the Warriors, James went through the computations. He spoke of the Heat clearing out just about all their cap space for their 2010 power play, of the Warriors using the golden ticket of Bird Rights, of his Cavaliers cobbling together enough for at least one championship.
Because those means, as much as any coaching cunning, are what the NBA has become, as teams, perhaps even the Cavaliers, now try to become Warriors.
Hoard and hope
This is how the Boston Celtics got the Big Three (or Four) trend started in 2007-08, hoarding enough chips to be able to pounce when talent came to market.
First there was the acquisition of Ray Allen from the Seattle SuperSonics for Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and the rights to 2007 No. 5 overall pick Jeff Green. Then a month later, Danny Ainge cashed in his remaining chips in the acquisition of Kevin Garnett from Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff and a pair of 2007 first round picks, No. 6 Jonny Flynn (could have been Stephen Curry) and No. 28 Wayne Ellington.
Now, the team best positioned to emulate the approach might be the current Celtics, with their No. 1 overall pick in the June 22 draft, the No. 1 pick they have coming next year from the Brooklyn Nets and enough mix-andmatch pieces to again facilitate trades for a pair of proven veterans.
Bankrupt the cap
This is the scorched-earth approach the Heat took leading to the 2010 offseason, when they basically tossed aside everything, in order to create the possibility of three maximum-salary slots, eventually reeling in James and Chris Bosh while retaining Dwyane Wade. The bare-bones approach including unloading Daequan Cook, the salary slot for their 2010 No. 18 draft pick, James Jones (briefly) and Michael Beasley (eventually).
Of all the paths to super teams this is still an attainable model if a team were to plan ahead, selling off all remaining assets and then moving for three max-salary players, which would require about $90 million in space (leaving just enough to fill out a roster).
Whether it would be enough is another story. For example, exactly how far would this summer’s top attainable free agents — for argument’s sake let’s say Gordon Hayward, Paul Millsap and Kyle Lowry, filled out with minimum salaries and one mid-level player — get you?
Lousy, lucky
This essentially was the Cavaliers’ golden ticket — enough losing and lottery appearances to build up the equity to draft a star mainstay (Kyrie Irving), attract a premier free agent (James) and trade for a premier talent (Kevin Love in the deal for Andrew Wiggins).
As a refresher, in the wake of James’ 2010 offseason departure, the Cavaliers landed Irving with the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft, Dion Waiters at No. 4 in the 2012 draft, Anthony Bennett at No. 1 in 2013 and Wiggins at No. 1 in 2014.
As much as that paved the path for a team that has won the past three East titles, consider what could have been achieved had the Cavaliers taken Damian Lillard (No. 6) over Waiters in 2012 or even Otto Porter (No. 3) over Bennett in 2013.
The story of that Cavaliers fortune could ultimately be the story of the current Philadelphia 76ers, depending on how they maximize Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and the player they select at No. 3 on June 22.
Build from within
For as much as Kevin Durant appeared to put the Warriors over the top, it is the Warriors’ drafting brilliance (and previous rookie-scale contracts and current Bird Rights) that positioned them for this year’s coronation.
Curry went No. 7 to the Warriors in 2009, Klay Thompson at No. 11 in 2011, Draymond Green at No. 35 in 2012. The very presence of those three proved more than enough to catch Durant’s eye in the prime of his career.
That, perhaps, could be the model that lifts the 76ers (Embiid, Simmons, Josh Jackson?) or Celtics (with this year’s No. 1 picks and potentially next year’s No. 1, as well).
Ultimately, there are a variety of ways to become super, be it money management, draft deftness or lottery luck. The common thread with each is patience.