NBA: What caused the start of the SuperTeam Era?

[Chinook]

I don't think the Lakers had anything to do with the formation of the Heat superteam. It was the 2010 playoffs. When James lost to Boston's Big Four, he knew he couldn't beat them by himself. It took the Cavs so long to bring in another superstar that he had already made other plans by then. The Heat had the resources to pay for three almost-max players, so he went there.

If James were truly worried about the Lakers' twin towers, he would have tried to get on a team with more than legitimate one big man. You don't plan to defeat the Lakers with scrubs like the Heat had behind and next to Bosh.

[TheRealCB]

Cavs trade JJ Hicksn for Amar'e ing Stoudemire and the Heat big three never happens tbh..

[ambchang]

Let's look at how many teams could be considered super teams in the history of the league:

1) Russell Celtics - That was before any formal controls by the league, and Red Auerbach outsmarted all the other GMs. Also because Auerbach was color blind with regards to the athletes, unlike some of the other racist GM/coaches of those days
2) 80's Lakers - Done through a little luck and a lot of good GMing. Kareem whined and got his way, then Magic declared early, then Worthy was #1 through one of the worst trades involving draft picks, but then getting Scott, getting Mychal Thompson, Bob McAdoo, Cooper and AC Green were just good trades/picks
3) 80's Celtics - Built through great drafts (Bird), and trades (DJ, Walton, McHale and Parish)
4) Early 80's 76ers - Short lived due to injuries and aging, but a team of Dr. J (ABA), Malone (trade), Andrew Toney (draft), Cheeks (draft), Bobby Jones (Trade) was just great GMing.

The league caught on, the disparity between management and scouting across the league diminished, and there are less stupid trades (like Cavs giving away their #1 pick, or Joe Barely Cares for McHale and Parish) as the years go by. Then comes the age of free agency and very questionable trades that only involves a select group of teams despite widely known better trade propositions.

5) 00 Lakers - Shaq whined, Kobe traded for Divacs (good management). Then there was the ringless Malone and Payton getting desperate (Malone also was rumoured to be attracted by LA's little Mexican girl population over Utah's)
6) 08 Lakers - highly su ious trade with peanuts for a prime Gasol, despite having better trade proposals from Chicago.
7) 08 Celtics - highly su ious trade involving Garnett, and Yi Ji Lian for Ray Allen. McHale most definitely had a hand in this.
8) 10 Heat - Lebron wussed out, reeks of tampering.

[Dex]

Where the is this coming from? What big free agent names have they signed in the past 15 years? Who have they been just trying to "buy" off the free-agent market?

The Mavericks may have never landed the premier free agent on the market, but they've been plenty loaded in terms of talent over the past decade, and Cuban paid to ensure that was the case.

'02-'03 - $11 million for washed-up NVE, $7 million for Raef Lafrentz
'03-'04 - $25 million combined for Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison (Come to think of it, Nash, Nowitzki, Walker, and Jamison may have been the worst SuperTeam ever).
'04-'05 - $14 million combined for Stackhouse and Dampier, $8 million more for Henderson
'05-'06 - $15 million for Keith Van Horn
'06-'07 - $19 million for Stackhouse and Dampier, $7 million for Austin Croshere
'07-'08 - $20 million for Kidd, $17 million for Stackhouse and Dampier

And let's also not forget that they paid Finley what, like $50 million to play for the Spurs for 3 years, just so they could clear room to spend all that other money?

The thing with Dallas wasn't that they got all the free agents...they just spent a ridiculous amount of money on over-hyped players.

[TheRealCB]

Stackhouse played up to every single penny of those money,the only semi decent contract of this bunch.Plus,Dampier posted 12/12 the season before he got his contract,so at the time it looked like a good deal.Plus his contract brought us big daddy Tyson so it was worth it in the end.

[Dex]

Stackhouse played up to every single penny of those money,the only semi decent contract of this bunch.Plus,Dampier posted 12/12 the season before he got his contract,so at the time it looked like a good deal.Plus his contract brought us big daddy Tyson so it was worth it in the end.

Ah yes, the vaunted DUST Chip.

[AaronY]

Cuban was trying to get Shaq for a while iirc but that might have been through trade

[Ace]

Not that it matters but Bosh committed to Miami before LeBron.

[stretch]

The Mavericks may have never landed the premier free agent on the market, but they've been plenty loaded in terms of talent over the past decade, and Cuban paid to ensure that was the case.

'02-'03 - $11 million for washed-up NVE, $7 million for Raef Lafrentz
'03-'04 - $25 million combined for Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison (Come to think of it, Nash, Nowitzki, Walker, and Jamison may have been the worst SuperTeam ever).
'04-'05 - $14 million combined for Stackhouse and Dampier, $8 million more for Henderson
'05-'06 - $15 million for Keith Van Horn
'06-'07 - $19 million for Stackhouse and Dampier, $7 million for Austin Croshere
'07-'08 - $20 million for Kidd, $17 million for Stackhouse and Dampier

And let's also not forget that they paid Finley what, like $50 million to play for the Spurs for 3 years, just so they could clear room to spend all that other money?

The thing with Dallas wasn't that they got all the free agents...they just spent a ridiculous amount of money on over-hyped players.

Oh okay, so basically you just admitted you were full of when saying that Dallas constantly tried to buy a team through free agency.

Big difference between making trades (which are supposed to come out financially comparable on both ends), as opposed to trying to go the "Yankees" route as you were trying to suggest.

[stretch]

People might have been confused since guys like Damp were paid like Superstars.

Yes, because Dallas is apparently the only team that overpays centers.

[pass1st]

Not that it matters but Bosh committed to Miami before LeBron.

Lebron had to put together the 2 hour special first, tbh

[lefty]

'sup Lefty, jinxing lakeshow today?

U mad that MAGIC is the one who started the superteam era?

[pass1st]

U mad that MAGIC is the one who started the superteam era?

Why would I care?

[Dex]

Oh okay, so basically you just admitted you were full of when saying that Dallas constantly tried to buy a team through free agency.

Big difference between making trades (which are supposed to come out financially comparable on both ends), as opposed to trying to go the "Yankees" route as you were trying to suggest.

So, you're telling me that Dallas hasn't been well over the cap for the last decade?

Even I don't have to dig up numbers to tell you that's a stretch, stretch.

[Clipper Nation]

Speaking of superteams, LeClip screamed at one point during the game tonight that Staples was "his goddamn house," clearly foreshadowing the upcoming CP3/LeClip/Blake dynasty

[stretch]

So, you're telling me that Dallas hasn't been well over the cap for the last decade?

As are half the teams in the NBA at any given time

[Latarian Milton]

henderson was a garbage contract that came as an expense for getting JET imho. stack was a terrible trade either, jamison was pretty overrated n they also got a pick with which they drafted devin harris IIRC. damp never deserved the $ he earned from dallas but he wasn't the first big that got overpaid in NBA history imho, bigs have been generally overpaid n it's still happening as to this day (asik for example)