Is There A Way To Save Small Market Teams?
Superstar players in the NBA moving from team to team is now more common than ever. Gone are the days when all-time greats would spend their entire career with a single team, no matter the results. Those days are long gone. Now you have superteams, player leverage, and the pressure to win as soon as you have a superstar on your hands. In turn, small market teams are finding it harder and harder to win. There are outliers for sure, both teams in the finals this year, the Bucks and Suns, are considered small markets. But overall, small market teams are finding it harder and harder to win in the current state of the NBA. Is there a way to revive them?
“Traditional” NBA Superstars
To first review how we got here, we have to take a deep rewind to the start of the NBA. Back in the 1960’s and 70’s, it was very uncommon to see players leave their teams. Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, and John Havlicek never left the Celtics. Although, to be fair, they won a lot of championships. One of the earliest superstars of the game to leave his team was Wilt Chamberlain.
Chamberlain played 3 seasons with the Philadelphia Warriors before the team relocated to San Francisco in 1962. Chamberlain played a few years in the Bay Area but after a poor start to the 1964-65 season, Chamberlain demanded a trade to the Philadelphia 76ers, who had relocated from Syracuse. That was one of the first superstar trades and Chamberlain got traded again, this time to the LA Lakers. Before the upcoming 1968-69 season, Chamberlain headed to Hollywood where he finished his storied career. He was one of the first superstars at that time to be moved.
But the trend of superstars not leaving their teams continued into the 1970’s and 80s. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar didn’t like Milwaukee and he left, but then he stayed in LA for the rest of his career. Magic, Bird, McHale, Isiah Thomas, Hakeem Olajuwon, they all stayed with the same team. So did John Stockton and his one teammate that nobody likes (I don’t like him either). Michael Jordan spent his entire prime with the Bulls. So did Scottie Pippen. David Robinson was a Spur for his entire career. Gary Payton was with Seattle until his age 34 season when he was traded to the Bucks.
It just wasn’t common to see great players leave teams. Clyde Drexler got traded to the Rockets in 1995, but he went to the University of Houston and he was teammates with Hakeem Olajuwon. He won a ring in 1995 as well. Charles Barkley was traded in 1992 to the Suns and in 1996 to the Rockets.
After just 3 seasons with the Hornets in the mid 1990s, Alonzo Mourning was traded to the Miami Heat at just 24 years old. The Hornets offered Mourning the 2x All-Star a 7 year deal worth around $11.2 million dollars. Mourning said no way and the Hornets shipped him to South Beach where he was very good.
But like I said, superstar movement wasn’t common. The majority of superstars stayed with their teams, no matter how things were going. But things started to change and superstar movement started to become very common.
Shaquille O’Neal
I think the first example of a big superstar leaving when he still has a lot left in the tank was Shaquille O’Neale. The guys I listed above weren’t in their prime or they were just leaving their prime, save Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But Shaquille O’Neale was drafted in 1992 by the Orlando Magic with the #1 overall pick. Shaq was a beast the moment he was in the NBA and the Magic made the NBA finals in 1995, where Shaq was emasculated by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets. The Magic were swept in that series, but the future was bright.
Shaq was only 22 at the time and they made the conference finals the next year during Shaq’s age 23 season. He had another young stud alongside him in Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. Hardaway was only 23 years old when the Magic made the finals in 1995 and in 1996, he was only 24. Hardaway did have injury concerns, but they were both young and they could be contenders in the East for a long time.
During the 1996 offseason, Shaq helped the Unites States win the gold medal at the Atlanta, Georgia Olympics. During that time, stuff was happening in nearby Orlando. Media polls to fans showed that most fans didn’t think Shaq was worth a $115 million dollar contract. 82% of fans said that the team shouldn’t fire head coach Brian Hill if O’Neal wanted that to happen. Shaq and Hill had their differences, Shaq said that Hill didn’t have the “respect of the team.”
But perhaps the most damming thing that Shaq heard was that Penny Hardaway considered himself the leader of the Magic and didn’t want Shaq making more money than him. So Shaq left for Hollywood and the rest is history. It kind of worked out well for Shaq, he got to play his prime with some guy named Kobe. You might have heard of him.
Shaq left the Magic when he was 23 years old and spent his prime dominating the league, winning 3 straight titles to start the 2000s with Kobe and Phil Jackson. Shaq had made the finals with the Magic early on and he still left. This was one of the first examples in the modern NBA of a young superstar leaving his team to win.
All-Star Movement – 2000’s
After Shaq, it was more common to see guys move teams. His teammate Kobe Bryant stayed with the Lakers for his whole career, but other guys at the time didn’t.
Ray Allen was traded to the Seattle Supersonic from Milwaukee when he was 27 and just entering his prime playing years.
Vince Carter had an ugly tail end to his stint with the Raptors and was traded to the Nets when he was just 28 years old.
Gilbert Arenas was the Most Improved Player with the Golden State Warriors during the 2002-03 season. Arenas got offered a 6-year deal from the Wizards and because Arenas was a 2nd round pick, the Warriors couldn’t go over the salary cap to keep him. He then went to the Wizards and a pure scorer, before he had some, off the court issues (pew-pew). Yeah, let’s just put it that way.
Jason Kidd, one of the best point guards ever, moved around a lot in the 2000s. He started off with Dallas, along with Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn. The 3 were known as the “Three J’s” and they all had a promising future. But Mashburn has injury concerns and Kidd didn’t get along with coach Jim Cleamons. Kidd was an All-Star in 1995-96, just his 2nd season, but midway through his 3rd season in 1996-97, he went to the Suns at just 23 years old.
He was with the Suns for a while but was traded during the offseason following the 2000-01 season. Kidd had made 3 All-Star appearances with the Suns and he was only 27 at the time, but now he went to New Jersey. Don’t worry Phoenix, you got Steve Nash just a few years later. You’ll be fine. Kidd was great with the young Nets, making it to too finals appearances.
Speaking of Steve Nash, Nash was on the Suns for a few seasons to start his career. He was with the Suns from 1996-98 and they had a lot of guards. Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson mainly, Nash never fit in really. So after two seasons of decent playing time, Nash was traded to the Mavericks. During that 1998 offseason, Dallas drafted some German kid named Nowitzki. Never heard of him before.
After a few success seasons with some playoff success, Nash was a free agent after the 2003-04 season and he went to the Phoenix Suns, again. He won 2 MVP’s and his revolutionary offense created by Mike D’Antoni was the start of the 3-PT boom. But Nash was another guy who moved around a lot.
These are just a few examples from the 2000s. Other guys like Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Stephon Marbury, Latrell “The Choker” Sprewell, Chris Webber, the list goes on and on. But this was just the start of the boom. These were individual players moving teams. Most of the time they were going to a place where they would again be the #1 player on that team. But now there would be a coordinated effort by multiple stars to try and go to the same team. Now what would this be called?
Superteams
Superteams, the most hated word in all of basketball. Now what is a superteam? Other than the explanation that they suck (which they do), superteams are a simple concept that can happen a few ways;
-2-3 star players all decide to go to one team in free agency. Likely that one player is already on said team, other stars join him (Miami Heat Big 3)
-Star player asks for a trade to join another star player(s) (James Harden)
Now before I start to name the list of superteams that were made around this time, let me make something clear. There were some teams in the 80’s and 90’s that could now be considered superteams. A common name that gets tossed around are the showtime Lakers with Magic, Kareem, and James Worthy. The difference is that the Lakers only traded for Kareem. They drafted Magic 1st overall in 1979 and they drafted Worthy #1 overall in 1982 (thanks Cleveland).
MJ and Pippen were both drafted by the Bulls, Pippen was drafted by the Supersonics but the Bulls traded to get him. The Celtics drafted Larry Bird 6th overall in 1978. They did get Parish and McHale in a trade, although you have to admire how much of a steal the trade was. Robert Parish had already been playing with the Warriors for a few season and they traded him, along with a 1980 first round pick for two first round picks. The Celtics got Parish and that 1980 first round pick from the Warriors turned into the 3rd overall pick, where they selected Kevin McHale.
But for the most part, it wasn’t multiple superstars getting traded to be with one another, or them signing together in free agency. But the teams that were built in the last 2000’s were just the beginning of the trend that we see so often in today’s game.
The first modern superteam that wasn’t built by expert managing, was the Boston Celtics in 2008. They had drafted Paul “better than Dwyane Wade” Pierce in 1998 but with his tenure with the Celtics, they had only made the Eastern Conference Finals once, during the 2001-02 season. They lost twice to the Indiana Pacers from 1998-2007. The Celtics were 24-58 in 2006-07, but in an instant they became contenders.
The first addition was Ray Allen from the Supersonics. I already mention that Allen was traded right before his prime from the Bucks to the Supersonics. He was great with Seattle, they were a pretty good team for a few years. Allen wanted to win and on June 28th, his wishes were fulfilled. The Supersonics got Jeff Green and Delonte West back, among others. Very impressive haul for a hall of famer.
Then is June, another addition to the Big 3. Kevin Garnett’s prime had been wasted in Minnesota, aka the worst franchise in the NBA. KG was an MVP and still an elite defensive big guy. The Celtics gave the T-Wolves some players like Al Jefferson and Gerald Green among others, along with two first round picks, both in 2009. The T-Wolves selected Jonny Flynn over Steph Curry with one of those picks. Stay classy Minnesota.
Now you had Pierce, Garnett, and Allen. 3 perennial All-Stars and 3 Hall of Fame players, 2 of them acquired in two weeks. Rajon Rondo was a rookie in 2007 but he became a staple to the Celtics who were a pretty good big 3. They only won the one ring in 2008, lost to the Lakers in 2010 before injuries took them down. But along with injuries and old age, another Big 3 came along and took all of their gusto. Many people credit this big 3 with “ruining” small markets, and they just might have a point.
Not One, Not Two, Not Three, Not Four….
(Incoming GOAT debates for absolutely no reason). The Big 3 Miami Heat. Perhaps the most infamous Big 3 ever made, perhaps even more infamous than the KD-Warriors Big 3 mainly because of the spectacle that they made before even playing a game. They (Lebron) promised championships and championships when they only won two. They were embarrassed by Dallas in 2011 and they were decimated by the superior Spurs in 2014. But the impact of this team was immense, not only during that time period, but going forward.
Aside from Lebron’s prime and the 2013 Ray Allen Game 6 Finals 3, this Big 3 changed a lot, mainly with a new way for teams to retain their star players. Enter Dan Gilbert.
Gilbert was the owner of the Cavaliers and he was one of the people who helped drive Lebron away. The Cavaliers could have traded for Amar’e Stoudemire, but they didn’t do it because they wanted to keep JJ Hickson. Stoudemire was injury prone and was going to be a free agent after the 2009-10 season, which would end up being Lebron’s final year with the Cavs. Instead of getting a 20-ppg scorer, they gave Lebron a 37-year old Shaq and a 33-year old Antwan Jamison along with Mo Williams to try and win.
Not exactly the thing that attracts star players. So James left, which was absolutely the right decision. Of course the Cavs hated him, not just the fans. But Dan Gilbert and the Cavs upper management never built a winning team. They could have gotten Amar’e Stoudemire but didn’t want tp get rid of JJ Hickson. They signed a 37-year old Shaquille O’Neale in free agency the summer before Lebron’s last season in Cleveland. Lebron didn’t have any help, it’s a wonder they were winning 50-60 games a year, even making the Finals in 2006.
But Lebron knew the Cavs weren’t going to get him help, he knew it early on. So Lebron executed what we know now to be player leverage.
In 2006, the Cavs wanted Lebron to sign a 5-year extension and then waste his prime by giving him no help. But Lebron wanted to keep his options open and only signed a 3-year extension that would make him an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2010. So Lebron was the main reason he left, 4 years earlier. James held the power in those negotiations and he crushed the hearts of everybody in Cleveland with his eventual move to South Beach. He left because he simply didn’t have help and the Cavs weren’t winning championships. You’re seeing this pattern with guys like Luka Doncic and you’re going to see it more in the future.
It showed that you have to get them help from the jump and make them title contenders to make them happy. You can’t just half-ass something and hope for the best. That’s not how it works anymore and you’re seeing that more and more with young stars today. The Lebron Big 3 move was the start of what has become more normal than ever today.
Kevin Durant and Big 3’s
Now unlike most, this tangent isn’t very long. The first move for KD, from OKC to the Warriors was bad, we all know. Leaving a Thunder team that was one game away from the finals, up 3-1 on the 73-9 Warriors, just to blow that 3-1 series lead and then as soon as the Warriors do the same thing and blow a 3-1 series lead to the Cavs, you join. It’s bad, it was horrible for basketball in 2017 and 2018 because you knew who was going to win, there was no point in watching.
Then KD tears his achilles in 2019 and he joins Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. Kyrie was traded himself after the 2017 NBA Finals with Cleveland, a loss to KD and the juggernaut Warriors, to the Celtics. Injuries and terrible chemistry ruined those incredibly stacked Celtics teams, but now KD and Kyrie were in Brooklyn.
Entering the 2021 season, where both were supposed to be healthy, they add James Harden just a few weeks into the season. Now this one is also bad, but for different reasons. James Harden had become frustrated in Houston. They had given him multiple stars and none of them worked. Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, no championships to show for it.
Now usually when a star player wants out of a situation, it can get ugly but usually nothing really happens. The Anthony Davis trade was awkward, but there were no shots fired between the two sides. AD wanted to leave and New Orleans eventually caved in.
But James Harden went about things a different way. He was at strip clubs during a pandemic, saying insulting things about his teammates in press conference, looking very out of shape and disengaged. It was ugly, but he got to the Nets and if not for injuries, he might be in the Finals tomorrow. If only.
Is There A Way To Save Small Markets?
Ok. Here we go. The question everybody is waiting to hear an answer for. We talked about how superstar trades were rare and then in 2000s they became more popular. Then became the birth of superteams like the Big 3 Celtics and Miami Heat (we also had the failed 2013 Lakers, but lets not talk about that). You have players leaving left and right, creating juggernaut teams like the 2017 and 2018 Warriors that just take out the unpredictability of basketball.
Small market teams have been getting crunched. It’s harder for them to be good because they aren’t, for the most part, free agent hot spots. Sure teams like the Bucks and Suns are good, but there aren’t many small markets succeeding right now. The Pelicans lost Anthony Davis. The Thunder lost KD. The Cavs lost Lebron. The T-Wolves lost KG. The Magic lost Vucevic. Small market teams just don’t have the same appeal that bigger markets do.
The NBA has made attempts to revive them, offering them the opportunity to give their superstars supermax contracts. Giannis signed one with the Bucks before the start of the season. Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Zion Williamson are other players who could receive a contract like that in the future.
But even with that larger contract that your current team can offer you, people want to win, they don’t necessarily want money. So this is why I think smaller markets are forever doomed. There will always be Los Angeles. There will always be New York, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia, all of these teams are high profile places for free agents.
So when you see Luka Doncic getting frustrated with the Mavs for giving him no help for the last two seasons (justified), Dallas went into panic mode, firing their coach and GM and now they have one of their most important off-season’s ever, trying to build Luka a winning team.
You see the same thing with Zion Williamson, who is also apparently unhappy. Now they have to fix a very flawed team in one offseason and hire a new coach to try and avoid losing their generational star in a few short seasons (Anthony Davis flashbacks).
You don’t have many Damian Lillard’s, Bradley Beal’s, or Giannis’s around everywhere. Younger plays demand excellence from the jump and most teams can’t give them that. It’s why the larger markets will always eventually get their star players and build superteams because they’re glitzy and glamourous while smaller markets aren’t.
I don’t really have any solutions to fix the problem, because there is no real way. The only real way for small market teams to get superstars is the draft. But superstars don’t grow on trees, so getting one and trying to win around him in a small market is pretty hard in most cases. Free agency is a bust, everybody always goes to big markets, at least the top-tier free agents anyway. Your occasional young superstar in a small market likely wants to win immediately and it’s unfortunately not realistic in most cases. It just isn’t.
In short, smaller markets and parity in the NBA are doomed. Superteams with multiple superstars form in big markets every couple of seasons while smaller markets hope to get a huge haul for their stars in return. Free agency doesn’t give smaller markets stars and the only real way to get them is in the draft. But then you have to try and get them a winning team knowing you’re not going to be able to sign anybody and everybody to help.
As a GM of a small market team, you have to be so creative and spot on with every draft pick and trade, just for the chance that that superstar doesn’t decide to leave for Hollywood or the Big Apple. It’s said, but there’s really no fix. The NBA loves superstars in big markets, because it’s a business at the end of the day and Lebron James in LA/Miami is a lot better than him in Cleveland.
So there’s really no fix. Small market teams are doomed. It’s cool that the Suns and Bucks, two small market teams, are in the NBA Finals. But bigger markets will always dominate and there’s nothing to do about it.
Are There Any Solutions For Smaller Markets? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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