NBA: 3 teams leading the charge in making big men relevant again

In a small-ball crazed league, we explore three teams that are leading the charge in making big men relevant again in the NBA

When the Golden State Warriors won their 2015 championship by going small, they left the rest of the league in the dust. Some teams have attempted to follow in their footsteps by emphasizing an increased volume of 3’s and going with smaller lineups so their big men aren’t exposed on the perimeter and in the pick and roll.

This year, though, there appears to be a small counter movement with some teams looking to exploit small ball teams by going with big lineups. Let’s look at how these teams are planning to use their size.

Philadelphia 76ers

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The Philadelpiha 76ers were a large team last season with Tobias Harris, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid all in the starting lineup. They got even bigger for the upcoming season by signing Al Horford away from the Boston Celtics.

This creates an interesting problem as the Sixers are now filled with players whose strengths are within the arc. While Horford is a good 3-point shooter I doubt he’ll be able to fill the role of JJ Redick as the 76ers floor spacer, so they’ll need contributions from the rest of their bigs. Harris had a down year last season from behind the arc, but he is capable of making outside shots, so they’ll need him to find his old stroke. Embiid is a willing shooter, but he’s not an efficient shooter, converting on 30 percent of his attempts from 3 last year.

The key to this, however, is 6-foot-10 point guard Ben Simmons, who hasn’t made a 3-point shot in his career. If Simmons can’t add an outside shot this season, it will create an issue of an overcrowded lane as that’s where four of the 76ers starters feel most comfortable. From a general offensive perspective the 76ers need Simmons to make some jump shots to keep his defender from sagging off him and providing help defense in the paint, which was a common theme last year.

The positives to this strategy for the 76ers is that it will be extremely difficult for opponents to switch on pick and rolls as they will have a size advantage in nearly every situation. When an opponent puts a smaller lineup on the floor they should be able to find the mismatch in the post and take advantage of it.

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers have made a lot changes this offseason, most notably replacing Darren Collison with Malcolm Brogdon who’s a far more capable defender and scorer, not to mention even more new faces added to the roster. The biggest change made this offseason could be moving Domantas Sabonis into the starting lineup alongside Myles Turner.

Neither one is a complete center in the traditional sense of the position, Turner is an excellent rim protector and perimeter shooter but leaves a lot to be desired on the offensive end in the post, while Sabonis is a gifted scorer in the paint and in the pick and roll but is limited as a defender.

There’s also rookie backup Goga Bitadze who is a physical defender and capable shot blocker not to mention a threat inside and outside offensively. One issue with the Pacers playing two centers won’t be stretching the floor, ironically it will be the pace they play out. The Pacers were one of the slowest teams last season in terms of pace ranking 23rd and it figures to get even slower this season as the Pacers will take some more time to get up and down the court in their big lineups, it’s not a major issue but it is one to consider.

They are also putting a lot of faith in rookie Bitadze to contribute from the start, especially considering playing time has been sparse for former Pacers rookies like TJ Leaf and Aaron Holiday. The Pacers should be able to make Sabonis and Turner work well, though it may be a bumpy ride early on.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have a whole new-look heading into this season after the addition of Anthony Davis. They could be looking at a whole new style of basketball heading into the year with Anthony Davis and his preference to play power forward rather than center, hence the signing of Dwight Howard to go with Javale McGee at center.

While LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both capable shooters, their strengths are scoring inside of the paint, the same is true of Howard and McGee who lack the ability to shoot from the perimeter, the Lakers should have multiple combinations of big lineups. They also don’t have much depth outside of their bigs, so they should see a lot of action.

The biggest challenge to this team playing together will be whether LeBron can adapt to a different style of basketball than he’s become accustomed to. The foundation of LeBron led offenses in years past has been LeBron driving, collapsing the defense, then kicking out to shooters on the perimeter. He doesn’t really have that luxury this season as the only exceptional shooter on the roster is Danny Green. We’ll see how well the Lakers are able to adapt to their new brand of basketball.

There are a number of other teams such as the Denver Nuggets, Brooklyn Nets, and Portland Trail Blazers that could go with big lineups depending on the situation, though it wouldn’t be their main option. They may need to when playing one of these big lineups.