Parity means title up for grabs
There are at least 10 teams with legitimate chances to reach the NBA Finals. Teams are better managed than in years past and the new collective bargaining agreement has limited them from spending exorbitantly to win championships.
Such conditions have brought about more parity. Teams such as the Thunder, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Cavaliers (even without LeBron James) are title contenders. Meanwhile, some larger-market teams have struggled to put together quality rosters in recent years.
“We’re not trying to drive parity as much as parity of opportunity,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “I think in this league superstar players are still going to win a disproportionate number of championships, and well-managed franchises are still going to win a disproportionate number of championships.
“Where I thought it wasn’t good for the game and it wasn’t good for the league, that there was no question that there’s a correlation between spending and the quality of the team, and that while I understand that dynasties are something that fans will get behind, at the same time what you hear from fans is they want those teams to be created the right way. So people aren’t that interested in seeing teams buy championships, so to speak.”
The Celtics built their team through the draft and free agency. The Nets trading for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce allowed the Celtics to procure the picks to draft Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Al Horford was signed through free agency, and then reacquired by trade. Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday also were acquired in trades.
“We felt by leveling the playing field and by creating more parity in terms of opportunity, that would help us continue toward a more competitive 30-team league,” Silver said. “If you look back over the last at least two decades in this league through successive collective bargaining agreements, I think we’ve made progress. Incidentally, I’ll just add that this is not just a league interest. I think it’s a player one, too, because if there’s going to be a draft, who wants to get drafted to a team that has a significant disadvantage because of the size of their market and their opportunity to generate revenue?
“I use Victor Wembanyama as an example. I think for people that have been covering the league for a while, certainly 20 years ago, probably even 10 years ago, if a transcendent player like Victor Wembanyama were drafted first — were the first pick in the draft and he had gone to a small market, people would have said, oh, that’s too bad, he’s not going to have the same economic opportunity or not as many people are going to see him. Nobody says that now.”
Ignite on the way out?
The NBA formed the G-League Ignite to provide an opportunity for prospects who were not interested in college to get NBA-type tutelage and prepare for the draft. Players such as Scoot Henderson, Jonathan Kuminga, Jalen Green, MarJon Beauchamp, and Jaden Hardy were drafted from the G-League Ignite.
But in the past two drafts, only two G-League Ignite players — Henderson and Dyson Daniels — were top-10 picks, meaning that those prospects need another year or two of seasoning or aren’t flourishing under the NBA’s developmental system. This season, the Ignite are 2-19 and have lost nine consecutive games competing against teams with older, more established players.
“At the time that we formed Team Ignite, I think I was very public about the fact that I favored going to a minimum age of 18 instead of 19,” Silver said. “As we sat down with our players to discuss that and then essentially the college market changed, the introduction of collectives, NIL, the transfer portal, a lot changed around us, and then we came to a consensus when we sat down with the players and our teams that we were better off staying at 19.
“I’d say also some of the societal concerns that were driving us to move to 18, that there seemed to be an unfairness that these players even at the highest level couldn’t earn a living in college basketball, and we, the league and the Players Association together, were preventing them from doing that. I think sort of that dissipated because all of a sudden this great economic opportunity presented itself through these various programs at college.”
Silver pointed out that players who bypassed college because they couldn’t earn money, now have that right with NIL. College has become more attractive to prospects, leaving the Ignite unable to be competitive in the G-League.
“I’m not sure what the future of Team Ignite will be, because before there was a hole in the marketplace that we thought we were filling, and now my focus is turning to earlier development of those players,” Silver said. “What we’re seeing in terms of that close to 30 percent of the league, players born outside the United States, it’s clear that the development is very different in many of those programs outside the United States, more of a focus on practice, less of a focus on games, which seems to be the opposite of many of the youth programs in the United States.
“I think that now we’ve begun discussions with the NCAA, the vast majority of the top players will play in college and never play in the NBA, of course, so we have a common interest in just improving the game, developing players.”
Layups
The Wizards’ potential move to Northern Virginia is not popular in the D.C. area, with many fans blaming owner Ted Leonsis for considering bailing out when the city needs the team most. The Wizards play at Capital One Arena, in the middle of Chinatown. Without the Wizards, many businesses in the area could struggle. Meanwhile, some Virginians, including influential politicians, disapprove of the move because of potential traffic issues, as well as labor unions who aren’t satisfied with how workers would be compensated for building the sports complex that would house the Wizards and the
NHL’s Capitals. There is also disdain for Leonsis for not putting a winning product on the floor. The Wizards are 27 th in the NBA in total attendance at
16,679 per game for a 20,356-seat arena. Wizards players have complained in recent years about fans who attend games and cheer for the opposing team. The franchise is in the middle of another rebuild with little hope in sight, so it could be considered poor timing to relocate. The Wizards (9-46) have not won 50 or more games in a season since 1978-79, which is also the last time they reached the NBA Finals . . . Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart could face legal issues for punching Suns center Drew Eubanks near the locker rooms in Phoenix prior to a game. Stewart was not scheduled to play in the game because of an injury but still confronted Eubanks and punched him. He was briefly detained by police and then released. Stewart was suspended for three games by the NBA as Phoenix authorities continue to handle the legal case. It’s uncertain why Stewart would confront Eubanks. The two did not play against each other in college and there was no issue in the teams’ first meeting of the season on Nov. 5. Stewart, once a potential Celtics trade target, has gained the reputation for being a volatile player. Two years ago, he had to be restrained from confronting LeBron James after a hard foul. Stewart remains eligible to play in games . . . The 2024 Will McDonough Writing Contest, held each year in memory of the legendary Globe sportswriter, is accepting entries from students in grades 4-12 through March 6. Guidelines and entry information is available on The Sports Museum’s website.