Right now there are two main things missing from today's NBA.
The first is quite obvious, quality starting centers. The truth is based on the statistics of heights in the world this notion does make sense. There are less quality big men available due to two major items. First, it takes some unique coordination to play on the court like you're typical NBA player if you are over 6"8. Second, there are just less human beings out there and thus less selection from people of that height for the NBA.
The 90s spoiled NBA fans by featuring a healthy dosage of quality centers. The golden center decade featured Shaq, Ewing, Robinson, Mourning, and Mutombo. Currently, only Dwight Howard would be worthy of being mentioned amongst such greats.
But this isn't about Centers. Having a current crew that consists of Howard, Bogut, Bynum, Nene and Monroe sounds about fine when you consider the points mentioned earlier.
This is about the Shooting Guards.
Shooting in general has been a slowly dying art form in the league in general, but the weird part is it has happened mainly in shooting guards, you know, guards that are suppose to shoot.
Think about it. On the top of your head how many players in the league right now could give you around 20 points per game and are primarily perimeter oriented wing players?
Now I know guys like Kobe or Paul Pierce can nail the 3 ball, but I am speaking of guys who are more known for that perimeter stroke than anything else.
Currently, you got Joe Johnson, Jason Richardson, and Kevin Martin and....JJ Redick? Meh, he can't really get you anywhere close to 20 a game. Jason Terry? More of a combo guard than a true wing.
Meanwhile if we go back from 1995 - 2005 check out the below list of wings who could you around 20 and were shoot first wing players.
Steve Smith, Glen Rice, Mitch Richmond, Reggie Miller, Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, Michael Redd, John Starks, Peja Stojakovic, Rashard Lewis just to name a few.
Now a days having players who can simply shoot from the perimeter is actually a luxury. What the lack of true shooting wings has caused though is the in flux of shooters getting major minutes at other positions that were not once used for true shooters.
Guys like Andrea Bargnani and Danillo Gallinari who are poor defensive presences and rebounders for true 4s, will always find a niche in the league as shooters. Or point guards like Jose Calderon and Jimmer Fredette who may lack true play making abilities, but are lethal from down town and were signed to a hefty contract and draft high respectively solely because of it.
Even though you wouldn't label these guys classic Power Forwards or Point Guards, they'll get hefty contracts and stick around in this league solely due to their shooting.
The reason for the above is really due to the notion of following the super star.
After MJ was the big thing 20 years ago, you started seeing an influx of wing talent coming in looking to slash and score, but with less emphasis for shooting. Now with LeBron as the current best wing in the league, more players are coming in looking to emulate him and not focusing as much on the jump shot.
Moving into the next decade of basketball having a wing who can play significant minutes for you, and is not a major liability, that can shoot it fairly accurately from the perimeter, will start becoming a rarity in this league.
Again, this will cause a ripple effect with teams looking to get that shooting from other slots and sacrificing perhaps with lack of true point guard play or size up front.
Regardless, if these trends continue, it will still be SF and SG...but swap the word 'shooting' for 'slashing'. Unfortunately for all it may negatively effect the beauty of the game. With less perimeter play, slashing will be supreme, there will be even more one on one play and less efficient isolated play. Guys like Redick will soon be an extreme luxury in this league.
Best advice for any GMs out there. Get all the shooters on your team while you can, or else you'll need to waste a lotto pick on someone like Fredette.
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