Ever since the 2008 championship Boston Celtics team introduced the modern “big three” with Garnett, Allen, and Pierce, it has almost been assumed that any contender favorite needs three stars in their starting five to have a real chance. The Los Angeles Lakers changed this scheme, though, in their two-star model that won the 2020 NBA Championship.
Since then, a number of attempted super teams have fallen flat. Take, for example, the tragically talented Brooklyn Nets. And, under the coming Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the Association will have the closest thing to a hard cap that the league has ever seen thus far.