Why 2024 Celtics represent the future of NBA superteams, which are being built in a whole new way

The Boston Celtics started the NBA’s superteam boom in the summer of 2007 when they united Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett with Paul Pierce to create a 66-win champion overnight. In the process, they established a rough blueprint of what we considered to be a superteam moving forward. 

At least one superstar needed to be acquired through external means. In Boston’s case, there were two. The depth needed to be comprised mostly of unproven players on rookie contracts (in their case, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis, Leon Powe and Tony Allen) and veterans who took pay cuts to join them (James Posey and Eddie House). They were usually able to snag a higher-end veteran or two through the buyout market (Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown), and were off to the races from there.

The next batch of superteams more or less followed this formula. The Miami Heat paired Dwyane Wade with LeBron James and Chris Bosh and slowly accumulated surrounding veterans in the ensuing years. The Golden State Warriors upped the ante in 2016 by using a once-in-a-lifetime cap spike to get to four stars. Meanwhile, less successful three-star (remember Carmelo Anthony and Paul George joining Russell Westbrook?) and two-star (the ill-fated James Harden-Chris Paul duo, for example) variants became increasingly common. 

As time passed, these superteams became decidedly less super. Think of the teams from the 2023-24 season that fit that model. The Phoenix Suns were swept out of the first round in their first season with Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Devin Booker together. The Los Angeles Clippers only stole two games against the eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks. Granted, you could argue that on some level, both of those teams lost to opponents who check a few “superteam” boxes of their own. Both Minnesota (Rudy Gobert) and Dallas (Kyrie Irving) added All-Stars externally to their existing cores. 

But neither of those teams really resembled the 2008 Celtics or their immediate successors. The Mavericks and Timberwolves are far deeper. Their…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/why-2024-celtics-represent-the-future-of-nba-superteams-which-are-being-built-in-a-whole-new-way/

Author : Sam Quinn

Publish date : 2024-06-05 16:43:17

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