A handful of teams in the NBA are continuing the trend of rebuilding this year. Philadelphia is the easy candidate for the rebuild of the year, as we all know, mainly because more than half the roster is a D-League team. But other teams have joined them in the ranks, maybe not wanting to admit: Boston, Orlando, Utah, and Minnesota. We could also put the Lakers into this conversation but Lakers fans will deny the rebuilding. Sure, let’s say the Lakers are theoretically trying to get back to the playoffs again this year, but realistically, they’re in no position to knock out any of the 8 from last year, let alone get passed the Suns.
This leaves us with Boston (who’s GM still refutes that they’re in a rebuilding stage), Orlando, Utah, and Minnesota. With teams such as the Magic, Jazz, and Wolves, we see a common trend with these teams; the roster of the franchise is as young as can be. Each of these teams lacks a veteran presence in the locker to show the young players how to conduct themselves in public, the significance of practices and healthy lifestyles. These are things that former players such as Charles Barkley, Tracy McGrady, and Jalen Rose have stressed the importance of.
The Jazz will rely on Dahntay Jones as their primary veteran leader in the locker room, this is the same guy who barely stayed in the league the last few years. The last time he played significant minutes was with Indiana in 2012 where he was teaching such young players like Lance Stephenson.
Minnesota signed Mo Williams over the offseason and will rely on him and Ronny Turiaf to be the locker room presence for the young players. Although each player has a long NBA resume, neither stick out as the proven veteran leader. Rather, they’ve both been role players in their respective pasts that have never really shown themselves as veteran leaders.
Lastly, Orlando is in the best position of the 3. The summer of 2014 saw Orlando sign Luke Ridnour and Channing Frye. They proven vets as coaches have never dared to speak an ill word about Ridnour or Frye’s commitment to the game and their work ethic. Channning Frye’s heart was literally too big for him to handle and Luke Ridnour has been able to learn from quality veterans like Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, and Michael Redd. As a result, he’s seemingly adapted their work ethic into his own.
The last success story that we’ve seen come out a full rebuild has been the OKC Thunder with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook leading the way. However, this isn’t a model that can always be followed unless every rebuilding team has an MVP caliber player and one of the best point guards in the league. Even with that impressive squad, the Thunder still brought in Kendrick Perkins and relied on Nick Collison to provide the veteran leadership that the younger players on the team needed.
The NBA’s rebuilding teams have seemingly lost the emphasis of proven veterans on teams. Long gone are the days that Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter could come into the league and essentially be given reigns to the team, but also have veterans like Charles Oakley, Keon Clark, and Doug Christie to help guide them. It’s obviously too early to tell, but will be intriguing to see how these teams develop their players at the advice of young coaching, young rosters, and all the money and YouTube glory of the world.
