|
he was only in Detroit for one year
Milwaukee definitely grew him, but not Jrue.
I wonder if this writer considers the Clippers a super team with a healthy Kawhi, or does it HAVE to include a third superstar.
>>(KD Steph and Klay and Dray did just fine as a superteam
>>until the injuries, if KD Harden and Kyrie were all vaxed
>and
>>healthy, I think they win the title, if the Lakers were all
>>healthy, they win a playoff series at the very least.. even
>>with Westbrook being what he is)
>>
>>(does Miami count as a superteam? or just a bunch of really
>>good players?)
>>
>>
>>https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/insider/story/_/id/33719050/lessons-brooklyn-nets-controversy-filled-season-superteam-era-over
>>
>>KYRIE IRVING'S OPENING act in Brooklyn was marred only by
>>slick footing. It was the final possession of his first
>>regular-season game -- Oct. 23, 2019 -- against the
>Minnesota
>>Timberwolves. With 50 points already in the bank and the
>crowd
>>roaring in anticipation, Irving dribbled opposite Josh
>Okogie
>>with the game hanging in the balance, before slipping and
>>performing an aerial cartwheel, falling but maintaining his
>>dribble. He immediately popped back up and nearly drained an
>>off-balance winning fadeaway at the buzzer.
>>
>>The Nets lost the season opener, but electricity coursed
>>through Barclays Center. Brooklyn had its first bona fide
>star
>>in his prime suiting up for the Nets, one who would record
>>point totals of 50, 39, 37 and 33 over his first 11 games
>>before being sidelined by a shoulder impingement.
>>
>>Yet talent comes with cost, especially with Irving. League
>>sources say executives, coaches and players who were present
>>during Irving's time in Cleveland and Boston shared with the
>>Nets negative intel -- his unresponsiveness and truculence
>>with coaches, his lack of self-awareness with teammates, his
>>constant defiance of offensive game plans, his disinterest
>in
>>playing off the ball. But the Nets, multiple sources say,
>knew
>>that bringing Irving aboard was the cost of doing business:
>No
>>Irving, No Kevin Durant.
>>
>>To be sure, the Nets would be acquiring an otherworldly
>talent
>>to pair with Durant. For all of Irving's fickle behavior,
>his
>>production, shot creation and finishing ability have been
>>among the league's best (11th in points per chance among 40
>>players with at least 7,500 shot attempts since 2013-14,
>when
>>Second Spectrum began tracking).
>>
>>But the Nets team he and Durant were joining was a paragon
>of
>>cohesion -- a team of castoffs, lower draft picks and
>>reclamation projects who had overachieved and embraced an
>>effort to build from the ground up.
>>
>>Over the next year, several of the linchpins of that culture
>>would be dealt to acquire James Harden to form a superteam.
>>
>>By the time Harden grumbled his way out of Brooklyn, as he
>had
>>into Brooklyn, the vibe at the facility in Sunset Park was
>>vastly different -- and the league took notice. Several top
>>league executives assert that devising a strategy around
>>chasing big-name stars doesn't hold the same appeal it once
>>did. They've watched the likes of the Celtics in the Kyrie
>>Era, and now the Brooklyn Nets, the Los Angeles Lakers and
>--
>>for the time being -- the LA Clippers believe they could
>>absorb superstars into their existing structures, only to be
>>underwhelmed by the results.
>>
>>One unintended consequence of bringing in players like
>Durant
>>and Irving is that an upstart core often hears a pointed
>>message that management doesn't entirely believe in what is
>>being built, despite years of gospelizing the value of
>>culture. As much as an organization might believe that
>>arriving superstars will adapt to the team culture that
>>preceded them, superstars often don't adapt to cultures;
>they
>>replace them.
>>
>>
>>"Assembling a superteam is something very, very few
>>organizations can do," one senior league executive says.
>"And
>>we're seeing that even fewer can actually pull it off
>because
>>superstars aren't enough -- it has to be the right
>superstars
>>in the right culture. What this current era of NBA
>basketball
>>is showing us is that going all-in -- whether it's with cap
>>space or all of your loot -- to go acquire two or three of
>the
>>top talented players in the league and having either
>>underperforming infrastructure or a complete lack of roster
>>depth, you're doing nothing favorable for your
>organization."
>>
>>No team serves as a more compelling study than the Nets, who
>>are still looking for a sustained breakout as they scrap for
>a
>>playoff berth in the play-in tournament. The Lakers didn't
>>even get that far.
>>
>>This postseason offers a referendum -- is the era of the
>>superteam over?
>>
>>
>>FEW PHENOMENONS DEFINE the era of player empowerment more
>than
>>the superteam. After decades of watching a bunch of
>>functionaries move pieces around the chessboard, the
>talented
>>stars who drive the value of the NBA decided they would
>>determine where they'd play and with whom they'd play.
>>
>>Two of those stars, Durant and Irving, opted to sign with
>>Brooklyn when they hit free agency in 2019. Nabbing the duo
>>required no recruitment, something Marks told the media in
>the
>>days following the signing. Durant and Irving intended to
>play
>>together somewhere. Durant said in 2019 he never even spoke
>to
>>the Nets before deciding to come to Brooklyn.
>>
>>The Nets team those superstars joined was a feel-good story.
>>Capable NBA franchises sell either hope or success, and in
>>2019, the Nets had given their fans plenty of the first with
>>promises of the second. A team headlined by D'Angelo Russell
>>(traded away by the Lakers after two seasons), Jarrett Allen
>>(a late first-round pick in only his second year), Joe
>Harris
>>(acquired along with cash considerations for a second-round
>>pick) and Spencer Dinwiddie (waived twice by the Bulls prior
>>to the 2016 season) scrapped its way to 42 wins and a
>playoff
>>berth as the No. 6 seed.
>>
>>A young front office with Spurs alumnus Sean Marks at the
>helm
>>had finally shaken off the last vestiges of the disastrous
>>2013 trade with the Boston Celtics that gutted the
>>organization of its draft assets. Marks and head coach Kenny
>>Atkinson helped transform the culture of one of the league's
>>woebegone franchises.
>>
>>The Nets bowed out in the first round of the 2019 playoffs
>>with a 4-1 series loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, a
>dignified
>>exit for a team that had won only 69 games during the
>previous
>>three seasons. Yet as pride coursed through this band of
>>overachievers, a reality set in for the Nets' ownership and
>>brass, sources say: Overachievers don't win NBA
>championships.
>>Achievers do.
>>
>>Enter the superstars.
>>
>>IRVING BEGAN HIS tenure as the lone superstar on the floor,
>as
>>Durant spent his first season with the Nets sidelined by a
>>torn Achilles tendon suffered in the 2019 Finals. Irving
>>ultimately played only 20 of the Nets' 64 games before
>>undergoing season-ending surgery. NBA players typically
>>operate with some degree of isolation from the team when
>>working through rehab, but Irving and Durant had a bevy of
>>medical specialists and personal trainers outside the team's
>>purview that added to their sense of removal from the Nets,
>>sources say.
>>
>>Atkinson had some difficulty managing the superstars from
>>afar. According to multiple sources, the starting assignment
>>at center became a source of internal strife, with DeAndre
>>Jordan the preferred option for the vets, while Atkinson
>>favored the blossoming Allen. Sources describe the situation
>>as a proxy battle between the scrappy pre-2019 Nets and the
>>new brand-name iteration. As much as the existing core in
>>Brooklyn acknowledged that having transcendent talents would
>>goose the offense, the cultural transition "bummed them out
>a
>>little," in the words of one source with knowledge of the
>>locker room dynamic.
>>
>>Durant was initially impressed by his intel on Atkinson's
>>approach to his coaching craft coming into Brooklyn, but as
>>the Nets languished, sources say he was increasingly
>>underwhelmed by the team's lackluster play. Though multiple
>>sources with knowledge of the Nets' internal machinations
>say
>>that reports that Atkinson's firing in March 2020 was at the
>>direct command of Durant and Irving are greatly exaggerated,
>>the dynamics that led to Atkinson's demise in Brooklyn were
>>informed in large part by the new composition of the roster.
>>
>>Admire him, loathe him, pity him or be confounded by him,
>>Irving has been a very complicated piece in that
>composition.
>>One Nets source says it's not so much one single act that
>>weighs on the team or organization, but rather Irving in the
>>aggregate: "It's always something," irrespective of how
>>productive he is when he suits up.
>>
>>Brooklyn's acquisition of James Harden, 18 months after
>>signing Durant and Irving, was the ultimate Faustian
>bargain.
>>By trading away Jarrett Allen, who made the All-Star team
>this
>>season, and Caris LeVert, the team's 13th-ranked defense got
>>1.4 points per 100 possessions worse and plummeted to 22nd.
>>The Nets bowed out to Milwaukee in the conference
>semifinals.
>>Comparatively, the Nets' short-handed, seven-game effort
>>against the Bucks without Irving for the final three games,
>>and with Harden absent for Games 2, 3 and 4, might be the
>>highlight of the Harden Era in Brooklyn.
>>
>>Sources say that much of the discontent between Harden and
>the
>>Nets started in September when he arrived into training camp
>>out of shape. Durant had been understanding of Harden's
>>predicament in Houston as a man in need of new scenery, but
>>also tacitly expected his former teammate to commit himself
>to
>>conditioning and self-care when he came seeking a title in
>>Brooklyn, according to a source close to both stars. With
>>Irving's status already in flux due to his unwillingness to
>>get vaccinated, Durant was astonished in the opening weeks
>of
>>the season at Harden's lack of explosiveness and sluggish
>>play, something he attributed in large part to Harden's
>being
>>out of shape, as he did the ensuing hamstring issues.
>>
>>Harden, sources say, found Durant's slant grating and
>>self-righteous. The two never resolved the conflict, and
>there
>>was little that teammates, coach Steve Nash or Marks could
>do
>>to mediate it. With each passing week, Harden became more
>>isolated, with staff and teammates increasingly frustrated
>by
>>the static. The Nets ultimately excised him from the locker
>>room in a blockbuster trade deadline deal with Philadelphia
>>for Ben Simmons.
>>
>>The notion that Harden -- or Irving -- would find religion
>in
>>Brooklyn and embrace the culture when surrounded by
>colleagues
>>he respected now seems quaint. Culture can encourage a
>>superstar, but it can't change him. To a superstar, culture
>is
>>merely a series of suggestions, not a list of imperatives.
>>
>>Above any one superstar's temperament, the overall ethic in
>>Brooklyn has changed over the past two years. As one source
>>inside the organization characterized it, the Nets have gone
>>from a team for which decisions both on and off the court
>were
>>made in service to a conscious culture, to one where
>decisions
>>are made to please certain constituencies, be it star
>players
>>or ownership. Cardinal principles like accountability run
>>second to the whims and preferences of stars like Irving,
>>Harden and Durant. That trade-off can manifest itself in any
>>number of smaller ways -- a softer defensive scheme
>preferred
>>by the stars, an ad-hoc offense or even availability to play
>>-- and the biggest one: esprit de corps.
>>
>>Marks disagrees with this portrayal. "We have always
>involved
>>our key stakeholders at the appropriate times," he says.
>"Our
>>players are at the core of everything we do. They set and
>>drive our culture, and receiving their input sometimes
>allows
>>you to see things from a different point of view. Ownership
>>has been nothing but supportive of our decisions.
>Personally,
>>I love bouncing ideas off Joe ."
>>
>>Nevertheless, the superteam construction is a bargain that
>has
>>yet to pay dividends for the Nets, and they're not alone.
>>
>>GIVE THE LAKERS some credit: Unlike the Celtics of the
>>mid-aughts and the Nets of today, they don't operate under
>the
>>pretense of "culture." In Lakerland, the superstars are the
>>culture. The late Jerry Buss established the star system as
>>the franchise identity decades ago, and the Lakers have
>stayed
>>true to it. Let the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat have
>>their precious culture. Let them break bread and bask in the
>>"Heat Way." We'll bank on talent.
>>
>>This year's model was no different, packed with five
>surefire
>>Hall of Famers, four of them 33 years of age or older.
>Seduced
>>again by brand names last summer, the Lakers demonstrated
>>their institutional prioritization of superstars over
>>cultural, as well as on-court, alignment. The team acquired
>>Russell Westbrook in exchange for much of its depth and some
>>of its grittier contributors. James was publicly defensive
>>over his role in constructing the roster and voiced assorted
>>veiled comments about Lakers management. Meanwhile, deposed
>>coach Frank Vogel needed the permission of the front office
>to
>>bench Westbrook in the fourth quarter. The results were
>>disastrous, as the joyless firm of James, Anthony Davis and
>>Westbrook failed miserably.
>>
>>Yet it's not as if it hasn't worked before, lest we forget
>>that they won a championship in Davis' first full season
>after
>>he pushed his way to the Lakers in 2019. And James has had
>>plenty of success at his previous stops.
>>
>>His Miami and Cleveland teams boasted one crucial difference
>>to the current Lakers -- and Nets -- squads: Despite their
>>constructions as superteams, each featured at least one
>>megastar who was indigenous to the organization.
>>
>>History shows that a superteam has a better chance to
>succeed
>>with an organizational anchor. The Big Three in Boston,
>which
>>presaged the Superteam Era, dominated the 2008 season, with
>>Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joining Paul Pierce, the Celtic
>>product. The construction of the 2010-11 Miami Heat might
>have
>>been radical in assembly, but they had a strong mainstay in
>>Dwyane Wade. As commanding as James was, he was not going to
>>divert from the Heat Way, so long as Wade and Pat Riley were
>>driving the bus. And when James eventually returned to
>>Cleveland in 2014 and found a team that was far less
>organized
>>and more lackadaisical in its habits, James prescribed a
>>healthy dose of the Heat Way.
>>
>>Though James left and returned, he was undoubtedly "of
>>Cleveland," as was 2011 No. 1 draft pick Kyrie Irving. The
>>2016 champion Cavs, like virtually every winner in recent
>>memory, featured superstars native to their organization.
>>Outside of the 2019-20 Lakers, no team comprising a core
>>without a homegrown star as one of its two best players has
>>won a title in more than 40 years.
>>
>>If the superstar is the culture, he better be the right
>>superstar and, most important, a homegrown one.
>>
>>THE COMPOSITION OF the postseason field that tips off this
>>weekend reveals an emerging truth about the NBA: Superteams,
>>like the Nets and Lakers, are out. Homegrown squads -- with
>>perhaps the strategic acquisition of a "final piece" -- are
>>very much in.
>>
>>The Phoenix Suns tower over the rest of the league. The
>>Memphis Grizzlies, almost an entirely homegrown roster, are
>a
>>decisive second. The Milwaukee Bucks enter the playoffs as
>the
>>incumbent champions whose blueprint was used to build
>>something special. And the Boston Celtics staged a
>second-half
>>rally to vault themselves toward the top of the standings,
>>with the East's best point differential by a wide margin.
>The
>>teams best equipped for success aren't those meeting with
>>marquee free agents in July or trying to nab stars at the
>>trade deadline in February, but are those that develop from
>>within.
>>
>>The most recent dynasty, the Warriors, stands as the
>ultimate
>>prototype, as did the Spurs team Golden State dislodged as
>>Western Conference champs. The Suns added a veteran star
>point
>>guard in Chris Paul to a strong youth movement he has
>>mentored. Paul accelerated and refined a culture, but he
>>didn't replace it.
>>
>>The Grizzlies' ceiling, with homegrown star Ja Morant,
>hasn't
>>yet been defined, but the sky is high in Memphis, which is
>>offering a template in ground-up construction in which
>>players, coaches and management collaborate in the building.
>>
>>Giannis Antetokounmpo presides in Milwaukee as one of the
>>iconic leaders of his generation. Drafted as a teenager,
>>Antetokounmpo grew up in the organization and stayed, in
>large
>>part, because he feels he has a piece of the enterprise he
>has
>>helped build. And if the Celtics win this postseason, it
>won't
>>be with Irving, Gordon Hayward or Al Horford on massive
>>long-term deals, but with a starting five comprising their
>>first-round picks in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and
>journeyman
>>Horford with only a single guaranteed season remaining on
>his
>>contract.
>>
>>Too often, the superteam requires an organization to sign
>away
>>custody of its culture to outsiders. And superstars, even
>>those with the most blessed talent, are still outsiders.
>They
>>have egos to accommodate and brands to manage. Their
>on-court
>>preferences will supersede anything previously installed or
>>valued, because dominant people dominate.
>>
>>The payoff increasingly doesn't justify the sacrifice. As
>much
>>as a superstar like James or Durant can survive in chaos,
>>teams have much more trouble. The vagaries of the NBA season
>>present countless pitfalls. In those moments, organizations
>>must have some first principles to draw upon, even if
>>superstars can rely on sheer talent.
>>
>>Yet free agency isn't a trend, it's a reality, and
>superstars
>>feel more empowered than ever to demand trades, even in the
>>midst of a long-term contract. NBA teams, particularly those
>>in glam markets, will forever be drawn to the max superstar
>--
>>whether or not he warrants the max or is worth the trouble.
>>Talent is alluring, and developing homegrown stars isn't
>>easy.
>>
>>Brooklyn, the Clippers and the next team that lures a couple
>>of marquee names from outside the franchise could win, and
>win
>>big.
>>t
>>But until that happens, the NBA's ma and pa shops are
>>emboldened. If they want superstars, they'll grow their own.
>
>That's a quaint thought but not factual. Milwaukee didn't
>"grow" Jrue and Middleton they traded for them. Nobody thought
>Giannis would win a title in Milwaukee until he did.
>
>If KD's ego allowed him to stay with GS that super team is
>still rolling.
>
>Pelinka fumbled the ball in LA with Russ and other personnel
>decisions but they got it done in 2020.
>
>Up until a few months ago people were saying Boston was a
>failure and their 2 stars needed to be broken up.
>
>Memphis and Phoenix are just cool stories until they actually
>win it. Phoenix has major contract decisions coming up and
>this is pretty much a title or bust season for them.
>
>The problem with a "homegrown" team be players contract
>demands usually exceed their growth. The same reason Durant,
>Westbrook and Harden were separated before they won even
>though they did reach the Finals in 2012.
>
-------------------
I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...
|
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
Okay Sports
#/media/File:Firefly.png)
