Every champion in the history of the league has had at least one "elite-level" big man.  They generally have an elite scorer as well (or a super-elite big who fills both roles), but let's talk about big men.  My qualifications might be a little lax, though.  For instance, Dallas had 7 foot Dirk, but also 7'1 Tyson Chandler who was a defensive player of the year candidate.  I'm counting Chandler.  And I'm rejecting the idea that the Pippen/Jordan Bulls didn't have elite bigs... the first 3 titles were with Horace Grant, an 6-10 all-star PF.  And their last 3 titles were with 6'9 Dennis Rodman, player who dominated defensively and on the glass.


No surprise the Celtics went from the dregs of the league to a team that contended for 3.5 years with the arrival of Kevin Garnett, a dominant defensive 7'1 big man.


But recently there's this idea that the league has evolved and you no longer need elite bigs to compete.  As if you can stick a 37 year old PF out there with a 3rd string PF or a SF playing out of position and contend for a title.  Part of the blame for this is Miami's success.   It ignores the fact that LeBron James (who has been officially listed as 6'8/240 since being drafted) is reportedly actually 6'9 and 260-270 pounds.  So they have a transcendent basketball player who is roughly the same size of Karl Malone.  Had LeBron played in Russell's era (Russ = 6'9 and 215), he probably would have played center.  Yeah... LeBron is bigger than Dave Cowens (6'9 230) ...   But even if you disagree with the notion that King James is a big man you have to admit that they have an all-star level big in 6'11, 230 pound Chris Bosh.

Look at the teams currently in the running for a title:

Golden State:  They are probably about to be eliminated.  Steph Curry's incredible shooting is the main story... but it shouldn't be a surprise that their sudden threat for a deep playoff run coincided with the re-emergence of former elite 7 foot 260 pound big man, Andrew Bogut (all-nba in 2010) ... In the Denver series he averaged 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2.3 blocks on 63% shooting in 27 MPG.  He's averaging 12 rebounds in the series vs San Antonio... unlikely to win this series, though.

San Antonio - 7 foot 250 pound Tim Duncan is still a dominant 20 and 10 player who drives this team.  They are starting him next to 6'11 240 pound Tiago Splitter.  Classic size.

Indiana - 7'2 280 pound Roy Hibbert next to 6'9 250 pound David West.  Both have made all-star teams.  Classic size. 

Memphis -  The team now considered to be the biggest threat to knock off the Heat is built around the skills of all-star defensive player of the year, 7-1 265 pound Marc Gasol.  He's a player some are arguing is now the best center in the league (hence all the "member when i said I'd take Marc Gasol over Howard" comments on this forum).  Along side Gasol is 6'9 260 pound all-star Zach Randolph.  CLASSIC size.


Now sure... if you can land a transcendent player like LeBron (arguably a big man) or Durant (6'10, but nobody will argue he's a big)... maybe you take your chances with "small ball.  I mean sure, this ignores the fact that the Thunder were not considered real contenders for a title until they traded for a traditionally sized center and did away with "small ball".   

But it does indeed seem like the giants still rule this league.  The last team to win a title with a PG as their best player was the 80s Pistons and they still had allstar bigs like Laimbeer and Rodman holding down the fort.

It's for the reason that I see this Celtics team as a sure-fire lotto participant if KG retires.   It's also the reason why I'd take a chance on signing Greg Oden even though there's a 1% chance he ever gets healthy enough to contribute.  Yeah you might make the playoffs without elite size, but you probably aren't going very far.