I was watching BST with Felger & Holley last night, and they had a graph of the past 7 champions, highlighting the two best players.
'22 Curry and Thompson
'21 Giannis and Middleton
'20 LeBron and Davis
'19 Kawhi and Lowry
'18 Durant and Curry
'17 Durant and Curry
'16 LeBron and Irving
I would argue Middleton should have been replaced with Jrue Holiday on that list. The graph was trying to make the argument that the past 7 champions didn't have players that had similar skill sets like the Celtics do. I saw it as the point guard was either the first or second best player.
I'm starting to love the idea of trying to trade for Trae Young. I know he can't defend, but he is elite offensively and would take the Celtics offense to the next level. He would create open looks for others, and could you imagine him driving to the lane, where it would either be a layup or lob to Williams.
Wade and LeBron had similar skill-set on their two Miami Heat title teams in 2012 and 2013.
Duncan and D Robinson on the 1999 Spurs.
Then you have two arguable ones:
Pippen and Jordan = similar size players, versatile skill-sets but not necessarily the same. Pippen more facilitator. Jordan scorer. Lot of overlap in skill-set.
Zeke and Joe D = Zeke great PG play. Joe D a big PG or small SG combo guard. Not as creative a passer as Zeke and a bigger better defender but overall quite similar in skill-set.
The big problem for me isn't similarity. It is that Jaylen just isn't good enough. If he passed the ball as well as Joe Dumars or Scottie Pippen, we'd be in business. The problem is he can't.
I'll add that while Durant and Curry are very different in size, they are very similar in what they do as offensive players.
Yeah, reducing everything to a top two is too simplistic. Curry and Thompson are both guards, but they're also two of the best shooters in history. They're balanced out by Draymond who has one of the best basketball IQs in the league and is a great passer. When they had Durant, you could argue they had three of the best shooters in the league in addition to a prime Draymond when he still scored a little. That's why those teams were so dominant. The Raptors team was incredibly deep as well. Besides Kawhi and Lowry, they had Vanvleet, Siakim, Ibaka, Gasol, Norm Powell, and Danny Green (also Anunoby who couldn't even get off the bench). That's just an absurd collection of talent on one team, full of tough guys, vets who already won titles, and young players on the rise. The Lebron teams are pretty self-explanatory, though the '20 title deserves its asterisk since it was such a weird situation. Finally, the Bucks won in a weird year when all they had to do was beat the Suns. Still, they had a top two-way player at the three positions in Holiday, Middleton, and Giannis who is a former MVP and DPOY as well.
While it's easy to say Tatum isn't going to be a GOAT candidate like LeBron or best shooter of all time like Curry, he at least can become a mixture of Kobe on offense and George on defense. He needs consistency and more efficiency on offense to truly become elite. The fact that he can get his shot off against 90% of players makes his inconsistent shot maddening. Why is it so hard for him to master that one-footed fadeaway? Why does he keep taking low percentage 3s? Can he actually get his float and midrange game to a good place? Oftentimes those are the only shots available against playoff defenses.
Brown needs to become an off ball monster and commit himself to defense. You're already getting your supermax so accumulating points shouldn't be the primary goal anymore. If you're going to shoot 33 percent on 3s then it's simply not a good shot for you. Move closer to the basket, use your physicality to get fouls (it's weird how someone so strong and athletic can't get to the line more than 5 times a game). Then take the 3s when you're in a rhythm or when an open one presents itself. Can you also inch your steal rate up a little? Brown basically only gets 1 steal a game. Weren't you supposed to be a great on ball defender? One of your best physical attributes is your long wingspan. Use those arms to disrupt passing lanes and poke balls away. Your hands being small shouldn't prevent you from getting deflections. Sigh, it's probably just a motor thing. I'm giving up during the pep talk which is not a good sign.