You of course pretty much need a superstar #1 scorer who can take over a game and run the offense through, but that can come from any position+
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+32. You need A LOT of things to win a title, talent and depth everywhere. But looking at successful and disappointing teams, is center the most important position in the league right now? Does any team win a title without a versatile center who can adjust to different styles of play during the playoffs?
- Nuggets are the best team and have the best center.
- Warriors won a litany of titles because they can play Draymond at center. He has always been the skeleton key that unlocks their death lineup, without him nothing works. Looney was key to their recent title run as well now that Draymond has slowed down.
- The Heat have recently outperformed their record in the playoffs, partly due to having a center like Bam.
- The Celtics are great all over, which includes the Horford/Williams two headed monster. This year with Porzingis having a career renaissance they look even better.
- The Suns best year coincided with Ayton’s best year, every since he’s been inconsistent and so have they.
- Lakers won a title with Anthony Davis healthy and playing out of his mind.
- Kings hit a wall last year because Sabonis is great but can’t adjust to different styles of play and sucks at defense.
- Timberwolves were disappointing last year with Gobert struggling, but he’s better now and they look great.
- Mavericks finally got a center and look much better.
- Thunder added a great center and look much better.
- Clippers have been so talented but Zubac and nobody else is a bad center rotation and they keep disappointing.
- 76ers prove having a great center doesn’t guarantee deep playoff runs, but Embiid is good enough that they are always solid despite turnover and turmoil.
- Grizzlies collapsed in on themselves last year without Steven Adams (among MANY other reasons of course).
- Recent versions of the Nets have been talented but disappointing, partly due to having unreliable centers.
- Bucks won a title with Lopez in DPOY form and shooting the lights out, alongside Giannis who often operates as a center as well.
Is this something? Could you do this for any position, and I just have confirmation bias when going through the league right now?
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Nah, point guard
A good big man is a game-breaker, there’s only like 2 of those though
This subreddit LOVES over hyping defense. But a PG who’s capable of solid playmaking goes a long long way.
Not like it was back in the days.
Grizzlies are missing several guys including you know….Their main star Ja Morant. To contribute their fall merely to Steven Adams is laughable. They are without their superstar too ya know
Nets fell apart because of Kyrie. They were the only team to drag the Bucks down to the wire of a game 7 over time with KD, one legged Harden and no Kyrie. Even half way healthy the nets could win that series without a prime time center
Warriors single handily erased the importance of the traditional center. The best centers now like Joel And Joker have skills that can be attributed to guards as well which is why they are in the positions they are in. The “old school” kind of bigs have been over with for years
Could you do this for any position, and I just have confirmation bias when going through the league right now?
yes
If you don’t have a strong center, tough matchup against teams that do.
no most centers are super replaceable
The most important position is “guy who can create elite offense for himself and others.”
It doesn’t matter what position they play. They can be a center (Jokic), a PG (Steph), a wing (KD, LeBron).
Most title teams have a good center because it’s hard to win a title with a major weakness. Sooner or later, that weakness gets exposed.
You could do what you did above with almost any position. Warriors aren’t winning the '22 title without Wiggins elevating his game. Bucks don’t win the title without Jrue. etc etc etc. The issue isn’t positions, it’s weaknesses. In most years, in today’s fantastically deep league, it’s simply really hard to win a title if you have a major weakness.
For me it’s small forward simply because it’s currently the hardest position to fill. Guards are everywhere and aren’t hard to get and while elite bigs are hard to come by, teams can still manage with serviceable bigs like Poeltl or Zach Collins. Meanwhile two way wings like OG and Mikal are extremely coveted in the league. Every team either needs or wants players like them and they fit on every team.
If we’re talking about a guy like Duncan, Giannis or KG playing center then maybe. Those guys were/are complete cheat codes at center and Giannis especially is better there. See 2021 finals. But in terms of standard centers like Adams, Valanciunas, Ayton, Allen, those guys? Hell no. Not even close. The most valuable position is probably wings or a guy who can play anywhere (Durant, LeBron, Luka, etc). Center is the least valuable position outside of Joker, Embiid Adebayo. I do think the position is improving and Chet, Mobley and Wemby are extremely valuable players. Mobley and Wemby are fake PF’s and their best positions will be at center.
The most important position is the position your best player plays
There is so much wrong with this post lol
I would say yes.
There’s a handful of things you need to win a title. Shot creation, playmaking, spacing, rebounding, a lockdown perimeter defender, and rim protection.
You can get the offensive things from any position really. Usually the playmaking is gonna be a guard, but it doesn’t have to be. Rim protection and rebounding pretty much has to come from the center position though. You can get some from the PF spot but it’s usually supplementary. Having just a guy at center makes it a lot harder to contend than having a just a guy at any other position. You can still be a contender for sure, but that requires having truly all time talent elsewhere.
And even the teams which have won with unimpressive centers have still needed really solid players there. Tristan Thompson was actually pretty good in 2016, Longley on the Bulls wasn’t bad either. But those teams also had GOAT level players with excellent secondary stars.
Is not the most important, but the most dificult to get a great player. There’s a lot less guys 7 foot than shorter guys, and the taller, the more easier to get an injury. That’s why some of them are called unicorn, because it’s extremelly rare to find a player 7 foot tall and as skilled as a good 6’4 guy. They teams that get a player like that are at an adventage over teams who struggle to get such a player.
Center is the most important position to have serviceable defense at. It’s why guys like Christian Wood who have a very good offensive presence can be walked off the floor. At the rim is the highest percentage shot. You absolutely cannot be giving those up.
No Point Guard is.