The other faction, led by Heat general manager Pat Riley, advocates not rebuilding, but seeking superstars to join in the free market and reorganizing to maintain playoff strength in order to compete for the championship. Daryl Morey, the recently resigned Rockets chief executive, is also a leader of this group. "There are very few teams that have a chance to compete for the championship every year. If you have a 5% chance of winning the championship, you must focus on competing for the championship." Morey said. (The Heat's three kings' team-up to win the championship is not included in this list. The players' agreement to form a team has nothing to do with the GM's trading ability)
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, is also a believer in the 5% theory. The championship in the 2010-11 season was basically built on this basis, exceptHome-trained Dirk NowitzkiIn addition, key championship players such as Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojaković, and Caron Butler all came through trades or short-term contracts. At that time, Cuban used the new salary cap and mid-level contracts to the extreme to form this team. A special attack team whose main players are around 32-36 years old. After winning the championship again, Cuban very realistically rejected Butler, Chandler and JJ Barea's attempts to sign him, and turned to star players Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. After failure, he turned to sign Lamar Odom andVince Carter.
The 2019 champion Raptors and the 2020 champion Lakers are both typical cases of striving to win the championship, betting on superstars who may only stay for one season.Kawhi LeonardThe slight difference with Anthony Davis is that the Raptors have trained a group of players to match Leonard, but the Lakers traded young talents accumulated over the years for ready-made superstars. What is interesting is that according to rumors, after the Lakers acquired Davis, After Leonard failed to compete in the free agent market, he turned to trying to win over Butler, his championship opponent. "The goal of the company is to make money, and the goal of the team is to win the championship, and use all methods to win the championship." Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said, and the Lakers In addition to the previous crownsKobe BryantIn addition, Shaquille O'neal, Paul Gasol and other important players at the time were also formed to compete for the championship.
In addition to the Lakers, Heat general manager Pat Riley is also building the team based on the 5% theory. After taking over the Heat 25 years ago, he has been building the team based on a one-year reorganization plan. In the past 18 seasons, he has only The winning rate was lower than 50% three times (the main players were all retired for the entire season). This season, in addition to the sudden emergence of young players cultivated by themselves, the main playersJimmy Butler, Jae Crowder, and Andre Iguodala all joined before the season or mid-season.
Further reading:One year rebuilding plan! How did Pat Riley build the Heat into a championship contender at light speed?
Morey was born at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He used data analysis and technology extensively to build teams and constructed a basketball version of Money Ball. His trading experience with the Rockets was also based on the 5% theory. In 2012, his bold trade with the Thunder was still unknown.James Harden, Harden also became a two-time scoring champion and the annual MVP. In 2017, Morey traded seven players to the Clippers for top point guard Chris Paul. After losing to the Warriors in the playoffs, he traded Paul for another star guard.Russell Westbrook.
Morey's goal is to constantly hit the championship and build a team that can compete for the championship at all costs, so he recruits star players at any cost, and then uses data analysis to find green leaves who can strengthen the main force or specialize the team's strength. During Morey's tenure, the Rockets' winning percentage has been less than 50% every year (since 2007), and from the 2012 to 2020 seasons, the Rockets have not missed the playoffs in one year.
And Morey left the Rockets to take over as the general manager of the 76ers, taking over a team with a chance of winning the championship, 5%, with two young stars.Joel Embiidas well asBen Simmonsas the core and hasTobias Harris, Al Horford and Josh Richardson and other players, he has a lot of chips for him to make decisions. There are already rumors that Morey intends to pursue Harden. It depends on whether this atypical general manager can turn the Sixers into a championship contender.
