What you need to win in the modern NBA

[bcgenuis]

Danny Ainge set the standard for building championship teams when he traded for KG and Ray Allen.

That is a team needs 3 very good/great players that fill different roles.

Those roles are:

1. a big man (PF/C) that will anchor the interior defense, rebound and be a force on offense as well.  Think: Garnett, Draymond, Duncan, Bosh

2. a scorer, preferably on the wing.  This scorer can score in multiple ways, iso, 3, slash, mid range, get to line. Think:  Pierce, Curry, Ginobli, LeBron, Wade

3. a knock down shooter, usually at guard to spread the offense. Think: Ray Allen, Klay Thompson.

The current Celtics do not have a 1.  They may have a 2 in Thomas.  Have hopes that someone on the roster can become a 3; maybe Bradley or Hunter or Young.
 
So when thinking about roster moves or draft moves.  This is IMO is how Danny and crew approach it.  Which role will the player fill 1, 2, or 3?

Now these types of players are generally found at the top of the draft. 

In middle and back end of the draft you hope to find the glue pieces or the specialists.  The excellent defenders (Bradley, Tony Allen).  The hustle players/rebounders (Perk, Bass, Powe, T Thompson). The distributors (Rondo, Parker). The secondary shooters.   

The team now has a lot of glue and hustle.  They need the 123.

2's are the hardest to find - a player that can go for 30 ppg any given night.  (Durant)

1's are the next hardest to find - a player that will give you at least 16/10 every game. (Cousins)

3's the least difficult - you better not leave him open, 38+% from 3pt range and not afraid to shoot it. 

So where does Bender project? Hield? Murray? Brown?

[D Dub]

TP for a good post.   

While everyone wants to talk fireworks, it is starting to look like it may be hard to find a dance partner.  Butler or Love?  Seems good from afar but hard to put either into the mold the OP so nicely laid out.   Bender?   Intriguing but will he really be anchoring an NBA defense?   

Barring the extreme longshot of KD & Horford, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ainge draft Hield then sign DHoward.   That fits this equation, and wouldn't require our convincing another team to trade.

#1, Howard.  #2, Thomas.  #3, Hield --- and we keep all our glue guys.   

would that work out?

[PickNRoll]

I agree with this and was just saying something like it to a buddy of mine. 

"How hard is it to win a title without an elite, 2-way wing player who's around 6'7"ish?"

Klay, Lebron, Kawhi, Pierce, Kobe, Manu, and so on...

How many titles does that cover in the past 20 years?  We basically decided that the Mavericks might be an outlier.  They had Marion on the tail end of a nice career, but I wouldn't say he was elite that year.  And of course, the 2004 Pistons who defy every convention and are the answer to all such trivia.

We know you can win a title with a rookie point guard.  We know you can win with Luc Longley and Bill Cartwright at center.  We know it's hard to win without rim protection, and I doubt you can win if you're not a top 10 defensive team.

So yeah, elite 2-way wing should be high on the wish list.  I don't think IT fits the bill.