Atlanta Hawks: How Poor Fit Can Turn Elite Talent Average

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Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

When Three All Stars Aren’t Enough

Nowadays, when NBA analysts discuss what it takes to be a bona fide championship contender, an often brought up rule is that generally, three “star” level players must be present on a team in order for said team to have a puncher’s chance at winning an NBA championship.

Despite my own annoyance with terms like “star” and “superstar”, there is some merit to that popular premise, especially when an attempt is made to remove the dubious subjective elements of the “star” label.

Subtracting these elements, let us say that a “star” is a player who is generally much more productive than other players in his league and especially at his position. This isn’t exactly a revelatory statement but teams that have won the title in recent years tend to have three such players.

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Therefore to compete with those teams, three players of this caliber should be present on your roster. Looking at the Hawks on paper talent, it is very easily arguable that they had three such players. Jeff Teague, Al Horford, and Paul Millsap not only were all All-Stars at one point or another (Kyle Korver was too, but that was likely more a celebration of the Hawks 60 win season than an affirmation of Korver’s supreme talent), they all mostly merited that label.

Talent wise, Millsap and Horford were easily two of the ten most productive players at their respective positions, and Teague was reasonably considered one of the 15 best at the deepest and most talented position in the league.

Furthermore, Millsap and Horford are two of the most skilled big men in the NBA; being capable of excelling in face up and post up situations, while also being very proficient shooters and passers. Jeff Teague himself is very capable of going toe to toe with some of the most celebrated point guards in the league.

On paper, is a trio of Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, and Al Horford that much less talented than one of Kyrie Irving, Lebron James, and Kevin Love to warrant getting swept all 2015-16 regular and postseason seven contests between them?

On paper, no, but obvious statement alert, basketball talent does not exist in a vacuum, and talent that was elite in one situation does not always maintain productivity when introduced to a different situation. I believe that the issue with the Hawks hasn’t been a lack of talent itself (though Teague and Horford were strangely subpar in the postseason after two excellent regular seasons between them, the reason for that most likely being injury related), but where the talent itself is located on the roster.

Next: Where All-Star Is Average

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