I noticed that
I also noticed that of the 9 youngest teams, 4 have not only winning records, but have the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 9th best records in the league. 4 of the 9 youngest teams are in the top-10 teams in the league, and a 5th team has a .500 record. Meaning that only 4 of the 9 youngest teams have losing records.
I'm willing to grant that there could be some correlation to being a young team and finding more ways to lose games than win them. But that list of the 9 youngest teams, all within a year in average age, demonstrates that youth isn't quite as big a factor as many imagine. Looks like management and roster decisions have a much bigger impact
My still standing observation for a contender has been the majority of playing time goes to the MVP candidate and his supporting cast of three 17ppg capable players (or a dominant, skilled DPOY type like Rodman/Draymond/Ben Wallace). 3/5 of those starters must play defense. Bench depth (6th man and/or young player).
Most championship teams throughout history have featured this.
And many of these young, up and coming teams have done well in acquiring all these parts - namely, Houston, Memphis (especially if Wells or Edey pans out), and OKC...maybe Detroit if they balance their roster out a bit as they're currently a .500 team. Charlotte might be here but they're facing a boatload of injuries so it's not so clear, just yet. Orlando is missing one more guy - probably Simons tbh or maybe healthy Carter Jr.
Either way, my point is that this is why all these young teams have just popped in out of nowhere and are taking top seeding or play-in positioning away from veteran star studded rosters. They're literally constructing 10-12 year windows that match up with the typical blueprint of contending teams. This is not something that was present amongst young teams, even five years ago. Might be a signal of a new era.
For Portland, it's not as far off as one might think but there's work to be done. They are where OKC was before acquring Holmgren. Obviously, hinging your bets on acquiring a Top 2 draft pick like Holmgren is not reliable but that's what it'll take.
Otherwise, it's Sharpe and Deni (who has showcased he can score at will and is 17ppg per 36). Clingan provides defense and rebounding and I projected prior to the draft that he has Nurkic type offensive potential but that remains to be seen.
Now, I think that Portland might be stuck indefinitely with a Scoot-Simons-Sharpe rotation unless they get Harper. That's okay since Simons is a 17ppg guy. But you'd need to get the 4 that can pass/defend/score to makeup for Scoot-Simons combined limitations on defense and with playmaking. Ideally, that's Flagg or maybe Demin (could've been Amen too).
Because you look at OKC, Houston, Memphis, and Orlando. They have versatile star players at the 4. All championship teams in the modern era have them (ex. Lebron, AD, Love, Draymond, Giannis, Siakam, Tatum, Gordon) so if Portland wants to get to where Houston, Memphis, OKC, Orlando are, you gotta get that player.
Unfortunately, it's not Camara or Grant since they tend to stagnate with the ball in their hands. Camara is actually probably the bench depth, who tend to play meaningful minutes as a specialist role player.
