Fire Joe! ... or critique Joe ... or defend Joe... or worry about Joe's coaching

[Moranis]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

[tazzmaniac]

As for a trade, I think there are several fairly realistic trades that may make sense this summer.  Davis for Brown being the most obvious, but there are others.

I think this is the main point.  Everyone agrees that Tatum is better than Brown.  The question is what player or type of player would be more complementary alongside of Tatum, to allow Tatum and the team to be better.  And my point from earlier is that the equation for what the best complementary player would be has changed.  Last season I would have been OK with trading Brown for say Towns, to add a skilled big to the mix.  Now we have a skilled big.  Last season, you could have argued that more of a ballhandler would have been a better fit next to Tatum, but now we have Holiday in that role.

So you are suggesting Anthony Davis, a scoring but still strong defensive and rebounding big, albeit with durability issues.  I don't think that makes us better or complements Tatum better.  If that trade went down, all you would hear is "we need more wing scoring".  I could see possibly someone like Siakam, more of a hybrid big/wing.  Maybe someone like Jaren Jackson.  But I don't think either of them have more talent than Brown or would complement the team any more than Brown.  I would be happy to add a starting level big to the rotation, but not at the expense of Brown.

To me, the ideal team would be:

Holiday
Brown
Tatum
Defensive/Rebounding PF
Porzingis

with White and Horford off the bench.  I would even be happy with White in the "first" unit and Brown coming off the bench.  But at this point, I see it as hard to trade Brown and end up with a better, more complementary team.

Adding a player without giving someone up and sending White to the bench is not playing fair.  Give me Embiid.  Others I'm sure would prefer Jokic.  There's lots of players that could be added to make the team better.  Now as far as trading Brown to get a better, more complementary team the two choices who first come to my mind would be Bridges and Bane.  Setting aside Bridges better contract, I'm not sure which I'd prefer. 

[Vermont Green]

As for a trade, I think there are several fairly realistic trades that may make sense this summer.  Davis for Brown being the most obvious, but there are others.

I think this is the main point.  Everyone agrees that Tatum is better than Brown.  The question is what player or type of player would be more complementary alongside of Tatum, to allow Tatum and the team to be better.  And my point from earlier is that the equation for what the best complementary player would be has changed.  Last season I would have been OK with trading Brown for say Towns, to add a skilled big to the mix.  Now we have a skilled big.  Last season, you could have argued that more of a ballhandler would have been a better fit next to Tatum, but now we have Holiday in that role.

So you are suggesting Anthony Davis, a scoring but still strong defensive and rebounding big, albeit with durability issues.  I don't think that makes us better or complements Tatum better.  If that trade went down, all you would hear is "we need more wing scoring".  I could see possibly someone like Siakam, more of a hybrid big/wing.  Maybe someone like Jaren Jackson.  But I don't think either of them have more talent than Brown or would complement the team any more than Brown.  I would be happy to add a starting level big to the rotation, but not at the expense of Brown.

To me, the ideal team would be:

Holiday
Brown
Tatum
Defensive/Rebounding PF
Porzingis

with White and Horford off the bench.  I would even be happy with White in the "first" unit and Brown coming off the bench.  But at this point, I see it as hard to trade Brown and end up with a better, more complementary team.

Adding a player without giving someone up and sending White to the bench is not playing fair.  Give me Embiid.  Others I'm sure would prefer Jokic.  There's lots of players that could be added to make the team better.  Now as far as trading Brown to get a better, more complementary team the two choices who first come to my mind would be Bridges and Bane.  Setting aside Bridges better contract, I'm not sure which I'd prefer.

I wasn't implying an all star for that additional player, much less an MVP.  Someone more like Rob Williams level.  A #5 level player.  Someone we may be able to get with the TPE and a first round pick or a first and a second.  If you trade Brown, you would expect and all star if not all NBA level player in return.

[tazzmaniac]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers. 

[Moranis]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers.

Kawhi averaged 12.8 ppg in the regular season and bumped it up to 14.3 ppg in the playoffs. He was not an elite or even very good scorer the 2 years they made the Finals.  Once Kawhi emerged as a very good scorer they stopped making Finals (though the injury in the Warriors series might have altered that - of course by then Manu was a shell and not even a good scorer so they were at 1 very good or better wing scorer).

Outside of MJ and Pip, Lebron and Wade, and Durant and Klay (though obviously Curry is a better scorer than Klay), there just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers that even make the Finals let alone win them. Teams are simply better off not having their best scorers be of a similar position.  It makes them easier to contain and often causes issues with duplication where talent and skill sets aren't maximized. 

[BitterJim]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers.

Kawhi averaged 12.8 ppg in the regular season and bumped it up to 14.3 ppg in the playoffs. He was not an elite or even very good scorer the 2 years they made the Finals.  Once Kawhi emerged as a very good scorer they stopped making Finals (though the injury in the Warriors series might have altered that - of course by then Manu was a shell and not even a good scorer so they were at 1 very good or better wing scorer).

Outside of MJ and Pip, Lebron and Wade, and Durant and Klay (though obviously Curry is a better scorer than Klay), there just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers that even make the Finals let alone win them. Teams are simply better off not having their best scorers be of a similar position.  It makes them easier to contain and often causes issues with duplication where talent and skill sets aren't maximized.

There just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers, period. And that isn't because the other 29 teams are team-building savants.

Before last year, when was the last time a team won with their best player being a Center? The last one to even make the finals was the Magic in 2009. So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing? No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold.

[SparzWizard]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers.

Kawhi averaged 12.8 ppg in the regular season and bumped it up to 14.3 ppg in the playoffs. He was not an elite or even very good scorer the 2 years they made the Finals.  Once Kawhi emerged as a very good scorer they stopped making Finals (though the injury in the Warriors series might have altered that - of course by then Manu was a shell and not even a good scorer so they were at 1 very good or better wing scorer).

Outside of MJ and Pip, Lebron and Wade, and Durant and Klay (though obviously Curry is a better scorer than Klay), there just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers that even make the Finals let alone win them. Teams are simply better off not having their best scorers be of a similar position.  It makes them easier to contain and often causes issues with duplication where talent and skill sets aren't maximized.

There just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers, period. And that isn't because the other 29 teams are team-building savants.

Before last year, when was the last time a team won with their best player being a Center? The last one to even make the finals was the Magic in 2009. So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing? No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold.

2020 Anthony Davis Lakers
2014 Tim Duncan Spurs

Does 2011 Dirk Nowitzki Mavs count but as a PF (still a big)?

[tenn_smoothie]

Bitter Jim,
"So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing?
No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold."

You mean the way that Danny cost us a title in 2011 by trading away Kendrick Perkins in favor of making the team more athletic, like the Heat and Bulls were at the time? Even though, with Perk, we had an advantage inside that the other finesse teams did not possess. I'm not suggesting Perk was our best player, but he fit a niche on that team that made him much more valuable to us than maybe to other teams. If we keep him instead of acquiring Jeff Green, like the current Nuggets, we would have maintained our unique advantage over the other contenders, not to mention that very close group was on a mission after the 2010 finals screw job. Anyway, your comment reminded me of that disastrous trade that I am obviously still upset about.

[Moranis]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers.

Kawhi averaged 12.8 ppg in the regular season and bumped it up to 14.3 ppg in the playoffs. He was not an elite or even very good scorer the 2 years they made the Finals.  Once Kawhi emerged as a very good scorer they stopped making Finals (though the injury in the Warriors series might have altered that - of course by then Manu was a shell and not even a good scorer so they were at 1 very good or better wing scorer).

Outside of MJ and Pip, Lebron and Wade, and Durant and Klay (though obviously Curry is a better scorer than Klay), there just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers that even make the Finals let alone win them. Teams are simply better off not having their best scorers be of a similar position.  It makes them easier to contain and often causes issues with duplication where talent and skill sets aren't maximized.

There just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers, period. And that isn't because the other 29 teams are team-building savants.

Before last year, when was the last time a team won with their best player being a Center? The last one to even make the finals was the Magic in 2009. So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing? No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold.

Teams where the 2 leading scorers are both wings:
BOS - Tatum/Brown
BRK - Thomas/Bridges
CLE - Mitchell/LeVert
CHI - LaVine/DeRozan
NO - McCollum/Ingram 
OKC - SGA/Williams
PHO - Booker/Durant
LAC - George/Kawhi

So 8 teams where the 2 best scorers are wings.  That is 25% of the league. 

[tazzmaniac]

As for a trade, I think there are several fairly realistic trades that may make sense this summer.  Davis for Brown being the most obvious, but there are others.

I think this is the main point.  Everyone agrees that Tatum is better than Brown.  The question is what player or type of player would be more complementary alongside of Tatum, to allow Tatum and the team to be better.  And my point from earlier is that the equation for what the best complementary player would be has changed.  Last season I would have been OK with trading Brown for say Towns, to add a skilled big to the mix.  Now we have a skilled big.  Last season, you could have argued that more of a ballhandler would have been a better fit next to Tatum, but now we have Holiday in that role.

So you are suggesting Anthony Davis, a scoring but still strong defensive and rebounding big, albeit with durability issues.  I don't think that makes us better or complements Tatum better.  If that trade went down, all you would hear is "we need more wing scoring".  I could see possibly someone like Siakam, more of a hybrid big/wing.  Maybe someone like Jaren Jackson.  But I don't think either of them have more talent than Brown or would complement the team any more than Brown.  I would be happy to add a starting level big to the rotation, but not at the expense of Brown.

To me, the ideal team would be:

Holiday
Brown
Tatum
Defensive/Rebounding PF
Porzingis

with White and Horford off the bench.  I would even be happy with White in the "first" unit and Brown coming off the bench.  But at this point, I see it as hard to trade Brown and end up with a better, more complementary team.

Adding a player without giving someone up and sending White to the bench is not playing fair.  Give me Embiid.  Others I'm sure would prefer Jokic.  There's lots of players that could be added to make the team better.  Now as far as trading Brown to get a better, more complementary team the two choices who first come to my mind would be Bridges and Bane.  Setting aside Bridges better contract, I'm not sure which I'd prefer.

I wasn't implying an all star for that additional player, much less an MVP.  Someone more like Rob Williams level.  A #5 level player.  Someone we may be able to get with the TPE and a first round pick or a first and a second.  If you trade Brown, you would expect and all star if not all NBA level player in return.

While adding a player like Williams would improve the overall team, I don't think putting him in the starting lineup would improve the team.  Having 5 players who are all threats offensively is a big plus.  There's nowhere to hide a weak defender.  The Bucks could hide Lillard on Wllliams.  They could put Giannis on Williams and let him play help defense. 

[tazzmaniac]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers.

Kawhi averaged 12.8 ppg in the regular season and bumped it up to 14.3 ppg in the playoffs. He was not an elite or even very good scorer the 2 years they made the Finals.  Once Kawhi emerged as a very good scorer they stopped making Finals (though the injury in the Warriors series might have altered that - of course by then Manu was a shell and not even a good scorer so they were at 1 very good or better wing scorer).

Outside of MJ and Pip, Lebron and Wade, and Durant and Klay (though obviously Curry is a better scorer than Klay), there just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers that even make the Finals let alone win them. Teams are simply better off not having their best scorers be of a similar position.  It makes them easier to contain and often causes issues with duplication where talent and skill sets aren't maximized.

There just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers, period. And that isn't because the other 29 teams are team-building savants.

Before last year, when was the last time a team won with their best player being a Center? The last one to even make the finals was the Magic in 2009. So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing? No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold.

Teams where the 2 leading scorers are both wings:
BOS - Tatum/Brown
BRK - Thomas/Bridges
CLE - Mitchell/LeVert
CHI - LaVine/DeRozan
NO - McCollum/Ingram 
OKC - SGA/Williams
PHO - Booker/Durant
LAC - George/Kawhi

So 8 teams where the 2 best scorers are wings.  That is 25% of the league.

I certainly would count McCollum as a wing and I'd question SGA and Booker being wings. 

[obnoxiousmime]

The important thing is roles, not positions. LeBron is usually a PF officially, but he controls the ball for the important possessions like a traditional point guard would. Wade was the secondary creator/scorer and Bosh, Battier, and Chalmers (or Ray Allen/Mike Miller) were just there to space the floor, defend, rebound, and be glue guys. Because Wade was so good at everything else and also Bosh was a good 3 pt. shooter for a big, it wasn't a huge deal that Wade wasn't the best long-range shooter. Besides, these comparisons where you invoke Jordan or LeBron don't work because they are anomalous, once in a generation players. Tatum's obviously never going to be as good as either and let's not even mention Jaylen's name next to Pippen or Wade (oops).

The comparisons to Kawhi and George are more valid, in that they both desperately need a guard that can facilitate. That's why the Clippers keep swapping point guards in an effort to get their offense unstuck. The Bulls have the same issue, scoring but no creation. That's why they fell apart (also no defense) when Ball got injured. It's why for years people wanted the Celtics to get a true point guard next to Brown and Tatum.

If you don't have that one elite creator like a Luka, LeBron, or Jokic to run your offense around, your team needs to be elite in other areas (like a dominating defense and a couple of great one-on-one scorers), or play a more IQ-heavy team game to generate points. If Curry started getting tired of running around and thought, well I can get 30 most nights just taking it easy and scoring on my own, he could probably do that. But it would also make their offense a lot more one-dimensional and predictable. The Warriors leverage the attention he receives to open things up for others, but it's not just on-ball, but off-ball as well. Obviously, this takes a tremendous amount of buy-in from a team and also a level of unselfishness most teams can't achieve. The Spurs are another example of selfless, team basketball because they had a rare unselfish star in Duncan and then got guys who were used to team ball in Europe. That's the squad that Stevens keeps wishing he could re-create.

So, it's not just Tatum and Brown are wings, but they are wings with similar skill sets and weaknesses. Both are scorers first and foremost. When they have the ball, their inborn instinct is to score. That's just how they're built and what they're best at. Sometimes you have guys who have the ability to score but love passing just as much. That's not Jaylen or Jayson, which doesn't help matters. They also both aren't elite ballhandlers. Tatum is better than Brown, but both aren't good enough to be lead ballhandlers. Furthermore, Tatum is a better shooter but both are definitely rhythm guys who needs attempts to warm up (Tatum being more efficient this year is welcome). Jaylen isn't Ray Allen, who easily transitioned into more of a catch-and-shoot guy on the Celtics and the Heat because he was always an elite jumpshooter. Brown is someone who has had to work a lot to become a decent-enough shooter, but it's not like he's competing in the 3 pt. contest. Some games, his 3 ball goes in without touching the rim. But then other times when he's off it looks like he's never shot a ball in his life.

Add in the fact that both are naturally quiet and reserved personalities and not natural-born vocal leaders and it's not surprising that Celtics fans thought we'd have to split them up eventually. Remember, this is before the recent arms race and most teams were still built around 2, maybe 3 stars. Nobody really thought it was possible for the Celtics to keep adding top pieces around Brown and Tatum not just from a cost but an asset perspective.

[Kernewek]

Bitter Jim,
"So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing?
No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold."

You mean the way that Danny cost us a title in 2011 by trading away Kendrick Perkins in favor of making the team more athletic, like the Heat and Bulls were at the time? Even though, with Perk, we had an advantage inside that the other finesse teams did not possess. I'm not suggesting Perk was our best player, but he fit a niche on that team that made him much more valuable to us than maybe to other teams. If we keep him instead of acquiring Jeff Green, like the current Nuggets, we would have maintained our unique advantage over the other contenders, not to mention that very close group was on a mission after the 2010 finals screw job. Anyway, your comment reminded me of that disastrous trade that I am obviously still upset about.

Well was the trade to make the team 'more athletic', or was it to address the need for a backup wing after Marquis Daniels went down with a spine injury on Feb 6? As I remember it we had no one to really spell Pierce after that, and the Perkins/Robinson trade happens on Feb 24, after it becomes clear this is going to be an issue.

Look what went in and out: we traded Nate Robinson and Perkins for Kristic & Jeff Green, plus a first-round pick. (Ainge also flipped Semi, Harangody, and Daniels's contract for second-rounders). So we did, nominally, pick up a decent center.

Personally, I think the trade was catastrophic for the morale of the team, but I also don't think Perk at that point was going to move the needle in that series against the Heat. If we have a healthy Shaq and a healthy Jermaine, now, that's a different story.

[BitterJim]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers.

Kawhi averaged 12.8 ppg in the regular season and bumped it up to 14.3 ppg in the playoffs. He was not an elite or even very good scorer the 2 years they made the Finals.  Once Kawhi emerged as a very good scorer they stopped making Finals (though the injury in the Warriors series might have altered that - of course by then Manu was a shell and not even a good scorer so they were at 1 very good or better wing scorer).

Outside of MJ and Pip, Lebron and Wade, and Durant and Klay (though obviously Curry is a better scorer than Klay), there just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers that even make the Finals let alone win them. Teams are simply better off not having their best scorers be of a similar position.  It makes them easier to contain and often causes issues with duplication where talent and skill sets aren't maximized.

There just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers, period. And that isn't because the other 29 teams are team-building savants.

Before last year, when was the last time a team won with their best player being a Center? The last one to even make the finals was the Magic in 2009. So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing? No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold.

2020 Anthony Davis Lakers
2014 Tim Duncan Spurs

Does 2011 Dirk Nowitzki Mavs count but as a PF (still a big)?

I thought about the Spurs and Mavs, since Duncan and Dirk would probably be centers in today's game, but Dirk definitely was a PF in 2011. Duncan played an awful lot of C that year so even though I still think of him as a PF I guess he does count. As for the Lakers, I would say LeBron was the best player, not AD. So 2 teams in the past 15 years, still pretty rare.

But even then, the point isn't that Centers don't ever win. It's that you build your team around YOUR strengths, not around what other teams' strengths were.

[BitterJim]

Most of the recent champions have 1 wing scorer, not 2.  Heck Denver didn't even have a wing scorer.  You absolutely do not need 2 wing scorers.  You need 1 elite and at least 1 very good scorer, but you are better off without the duplication of position and role because you often end up how the Celtics do i.e. not great compliments to each other.

You're obviously better off with better fit.  However Lebron and Wade won championships together and Wade was a Lebron mini-me.  Tatum/Brown may not be a great fit together but for this Celts team KP, Holiday and White provide the necessary versatility.

Lebron and Wade also struggled until Wade told Lebron to be the man.  And Lebron and Wade are both much better passers than Tatum and Brown.  2 titles and 2 losses and the losses were to teams who didn't have wing scorers (or just 1 if you count Manu as a wing).

And they won because Bosh took a back seat offensively and focused more on defense.  The Spurs had Manu and Kawhi.  You can certainly win a championship without big-time wing scorers but you have to be able to defend wing scorers.

Kawhi averaged 12.8 ppg in the regular season and bumped it up to 14.3 ppg in the playoffs. He was not an elite or even very good scorer the 2 years they made the Finals.  Once Kawhi emerged as a very good scorer they stopped making Finals (though the injury in the Warriors series might have altered that - of course by then Manu was a shell and not even a good scorer so they were at 1 very good or better wing scorer).

Outside of MJ and Pip, Lebron and Wade, and Durant and Klay (though obviously Curry is a better scorer than Klay), there just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers that even make the Finals let alone win them. Teams are simply better off not having their best scorers be of a similar position.  It makes them easier to contain and often causes issues with duplication where talent and skill sets aren't maximized.

There just aren't many teams with 2 very good or better wing scorers, period. And that isn't because the other 29 teams are team-building savants.

Before last year, when was the last time a team won with their best player being a Center? The last one to even make the finals was the Magic in 2009. So should the Nuggets have traded Jokic for a more "traditional" center and a star guard or wing? No, they were smart to play into what made their team unique and elite instead of trying to mash it into a hypothetical "best team building" mold.

Teams where the 2 leading scorers are both wings:
BOS - Tatum/Brown
BRK - Thomas/Bridges
CLE - Mitchell/LeVert
CHI - LaVine/DeRozan
NO - McCollum/Ingram 
OKC - SGA/Williams
PHO - Booker/Durant
LAC - George/Kawhi

So 8 teams where the 2 best scorers are wings.  That is 25% of the league.

I certainly would count McCollum as a wing and I'd question SGA and Booker being wings.

I'd probably count Booker, but I'd seriously question including guys like LeVert and Jalen Williams as "very good or better" scorers. So 5 teams, with 3 of them being contenders if they stay healthy (BOS, PHX, and LAC), and of the pairings I'd take Tatum and Brown every time (well, except maybe if there was a universe where George and Leonard were healthy...).