Size STILL MATTERS.
I was always baffled by the Rockets dumping Capela, who was a skilled agile big.
And while I don't share BoD's snarky disdain for Westbrook, the weaponization of the Small Ball Epoch is a load of crap.
Obviously, the modern era of the Stretch 4 & 5 is significant.
Nikola. AD. Jurkic. Vukavic. Porzingis.
But the Lakers had SIGNIFICANT SIZE UP FRONT.
Davis, Kuzma, McGee, Howard. I mean, come on, Stretchers and Beasts, both played a signficant part.
I mean, the notion that the Sixers should dump Embid is LUDICROUS. They could surely use some better shooters around him and Ben.
It will be interesting to see how Mitchell evolves. He does so many things well, but my God, that roll to the hoop game would be far more effective if he had a 12-15 foot jumper.
In terms of BIGS, the future would seem to be towards more mid-sized bigs in the Bill Russell-Willis Reed-Wes Unself trad who were in the 6'7", 6'8", 6'9" country.
Capela...and of course, BAM, the seminal prototype moving forward. Closest thing we presently have to BAM is Kenny Wooten, who has shown be can be a defensive force, but has much to prove on the offensive end.
And I think Bo dressing down Ayton is BS. He has come a long way in two seasons, and Phoenix under Monty Williams had one hell of an impressive run in the bubble. Whereas Bagley's evolution has been kind of stilted.
Agree that backup centers can be plentiful and had on the cheap. I'd be kind of interested in Biyombo at bargain basement prices.
But the idea that the likes of Wilt, Kareem, Thurmond, Lanier are somehow obsolete is some flavor of the month dookie. AS is the notion that a down low post game is passe. All hail the trey, but BALANCE still works. Look at the Lakers. Of course, LeBron and AD. But Dwight gave them BIG IMPORTANT MINUTES.
Though in all candor, the modern bigs most teams would cherish are in the Spencer Haywood, Elvin Hayes, Jerry Lucas, Tim Duncan, Bob McAdoo, Dave Cowens, Kevin McHale, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Durant, Rasheed Wallace, Kurt Thomas, Amare Stoudamire Hybrid Mode.