Just look at the Golden State Warriors, who routinely trot out their acclaimed “Lineup of Death” with 6-foot-7-inch power forward, Draymond Green, starting at center. The Houston Rockets have raced out to the third best record in the NBA after moving on from center Dwight Howard in free agency.
It remains to be seen if the Mike D’Antoni-led Rockets can be true Championship contenders. However, his Phoenix Suns teams of the early 2000s, led by point guard Steve Nash, were regarded as great regular season teams whose lack of size and defense would come to haunt them come playoff time. Those “Nash teams” could never get over the hump and make the finals, as they were routinely downed in the playoffs by the Tim Duncan-led San Antonio Spurs. Duncan’s paint presence on both offense and defense gave the Suns problems, as he averaged a ridiculous 27.4 points and 13.8 rebounds per game in the 2005 Western Conference Finals.
However just last season, the Warriors and their D’Antoni-esque use of pace and shooting culminated in a NBA regular season record of 73 wins. Historically, if a team wanted to be a true championship contender, it needed a dominant center. Guards were the gritty sidekicks that helped you win championships, but were rarely regarded as a centerpiece. Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett are just a few of the centers who became the most decorated champions in NBA history.
However, over the last two decades, the NBA has become a guard and wing-dominated league. Shooting guard Michael Jordan ushered in the transition as he ascended the throne to all-time greatness. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant have followed in his footsteps as explosive wing players who can defend, shoot and serve as true franchise centerpieces. The arrival of Golden State’s Stephen Curry, the league’s most polarizing and transcendent star, just a couple seasons ago signaled that the NBA is moving even smaller and prioritizing shooting touch from long range.
The meteoric rise of the guard has ushered with it the meteoric fall of the traditional big man. Deadly post scorers, like the Indiana Pacers’ Al Jefferson and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jahlil Okafor, can barely crack an NBA rotation due to their lack of shooting and slow feet on defense; Just two decades ago, both would have been the face of their team’s offense.
However, over the past few years NBA fans have been treated to the evolution of big men suited to play in this day and age of pace, space and shooting.
Center Kristaps Porziņģis of the New York Knicks offers the tantalizing shooting ability of a stretch four matched with the athleticism and defensive potential of a classic rim protector. Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. can do it all, and at the age of 21 is averaging 23 points, 11 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, all while shooting 34 percent from three. Some of the greatest centers of yesteryear could barely hit 50 percent of their free throws, and some modern NBA centers still struggle with their shooting touch, to put it lightly (looking at you Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan). The emergence of big men with the athleticism and shooting ability to stay on the court against small lineups has the potential to snuff out this era of small ball just as it is getting started.
Imagine if the Warriors’ death lineup was forced to match up against a pair of big men who can shoot from a distance, defend the paint and rebound at an elite rate? The Warriors best center is Zaza Pachulia, and despite the fact that he briefly dominated NBA all-star fan voting, no one would ever regard him as even an above average center.
If that above scenario has always been your fantasy, then look no further! The Sacramento Kings were gracious enough to gift center DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans just days before the trade deadline, uniting the two best modern NBA big men on one squad.
Anthony Davis (“the Brow”) and DeMarcus Cousins (“Boogie”) are now sharing the court; “Boogie and the Brow” have the potential to form the most dynamic big man duo since Tim Duncan and David Robinson back in 1998. And that thought, for the Warriors, the Rockets and all the other small ball squads, should be terrifying.
Although the Pelicans currently sit with a 23-34 record, they remain just two and a half games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. In order to acquire Cousins, the Pelicans were forced to ship off a large portion of their guard depth (Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and Tyreke Evans). However, they retained a quality starting NBA point guard in Jrue Holiday and also added forward Omri Casspi, in the deal as wing depth. The Pelicans absolutely fleeced the Kings in this trade.
However, part of what made Boogie so attainable in the first place stems from on court outbursts and a lack of leadership and maturity, which have plagued his young career. But Davis and Cousins are close friends, stemming from their days at the University of Kentucky. While the Pelicans are by no means a complete team, they certainly possess the talent to ascend to the eighth seed by the season’s end. If all else in the league standings remains the same, a tantalizing Warriors-Pelicans matchup will await NBA fans in the first round.
While I would not bet against the Warriors in that series, it would certainly be filled with compelling storylines. How would the Warriors deal with the Pelicans size? Could they play their best lineup against a Davis-Cousins tandem without getting abused on the glass? I really hope we get to find out in May.
If the Pelicans can add some quality guards and shooters during the offseason to put around this dynamic duo, New Orleans may be hosting some championship parades in the not so distant future.
