Positions Within Positions

Brad Stevens uses four categories that I like: Guards, Wings, Swings, and Bigs

Brad Stevens uses four categories that I like: Guards, Wings, Swings, and Bigs

From my personal experience and observational experience, I’ve learned that defined positions don’t really mean a ton in the grand scheme of things. The big thing is your ability to defend and how well you can space the floor/handle the ball, which has contributed to the metoeric rise in "3 and D" players in today’s game. Draymond Green is a guy who displays these characteristics well which is a big reason why he’s been so successful in today’s NBA.

From my personal experience and observational experience, I’ve learned that defined positions don’t really mean a ton in the grand scheme of things. The big thing is your ability to defend and how well you can space the floor/handle the ball, which has contributed to the metoeric rise in "3 and D" players in today’s game. Draymond Green is a guy who displays these characteristics well which is a big reason why he’s been so successful in today’s NBA.

THE STRETCH CENTER aka the Stretch Five  Meaning a guy with legit center size (even if slightly undersized) who can still rebound and so some center things, BUT a guy with legit 3 point range.  You could say that Sam Perkins was the first stretch 5.  You could ALSO say that at 6’10 he was more of a power forward with 3 point range.  So, an early edition of the Stretch Four but without Robert Horry’s crazy athleticism, all-around defense, and solid shot blocking skills.  Chris Bosh was THE prototype Stretch Center on the Small Ball Bron Ball Heat teams.  Frank Kaminsky could carry on that tradition.  Karl Anthony Towns, too, is a guy who I have compared to Sam Perkins.  Ok, now that I think about it, the first legit center who also utilized the 3 point shot was Bill Laimbeer.  Don’t get too many Laimbeers, though.

THE ENFORCER: Seems to have gone out of style after peaking in the 80’s/early 90’s.  Examples include Rick Mahorn and Charles Oakley.  Usually a hard nosed power forward who could rebound, mix things up, defend some, and not much else.  The league seems to be moving away from this, but there might always be a place for a guy like a Kendrick Perkins on your roster.  Gives you depth at either big man spot and doesn’t need the ball to be effective.  Oh yeah, he also helps protect your team’s best players.

UTILITY DEFENDER:  You could say a DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST, but you could say that about Dennis Rodman and that guy is going to the Hall of Fame.  Bill Russell SPECIALIZED in defense (and rebounding) and practically INVENTED shot blocking, but the guy is a top 3 or 4 center in NBA history.  So instead of waiting for the next Russell or Rodman (or even Dikembe Mutombo) go find a solid rotation guy who you can convert into a UTILITY DEFENDER.  These guys are usually found on the wing, and make of for their lack of superstar talent and mediocre scoring skills to carve out a nice niche.  Here are some examples of UTILITY DEFENDERS: Michael Cooper, Vincent Askew, Bruce Bowen, PEAK Raja Bell, Shane Battier, Tony Allen.  Yeah, Shane was a lotto pick and probably had more fans (at least in Memphis) than he probably deserved, BUT at its base he was a DEFENDER first, then a guy who could also help out on the boards and the corner 3.  Sometimes you can even convert former semi-stars like Ron Harper into UTILITY DEFENDERS.  He was a guy who could get you 20 on a mediocre team, then went to a Top Three Heavy Bulls team and turned into a Point Forward Point Guard who could give you defense.  Iggy saw Ron Harper and raised him in last year’s Finals.  Possibly THE BEST utility defender out there these days.  

POINT FORWARD POINT GUARD: A guy with a small forward’s size who does the point forward stuff, except at the point guard position.  Examples include the 6’5 Nate McMillan who nearly exclusively played the 1.  Sidenote: Nate could make this list TWICE, since he was a TOP NOTCH defender, but perhaps not a SPECIALIST (since he was a good point guard too, albeit off the bench as a backup to Gary Payton in the second half of his career).  Another guy: yeah, the Ron Harper circa 1995-1998, then with some of those Shaq-Kobe Lakers teams, too.  Tyreke Evans is a guy with smallish 3 size, and with a really good wingspan who plays BETTER at point guard than other spots.   You could then call Tony Wroten a poor man’s Tyreke Evans.  Shaun Livingston is a LEGIT point guard with enough height/length to play some small forward.  The OLD point forward (like the ones on the old Don Nelson Buck’s teams) were around 6’5.  NOW, that is too small to play the 3, and is a size better utilized in the backcourt.  Denzell Valentine could fit here.  If Small Ball turns into BIG Small Ball as I am predicting, then why not just play a guy like DV at POINT GUARD?  Get two ultra athletic wings who can both shoot and score with some modern day bigs, and let Valentine overpower the other team’s smaller guards.  IF Valentine can defend the smaller speed demons then I would just play him at the 1, and create matchup nightmares for the other team.  You can ALSO have super star Point Forward Point Guards like Magic Johnson.  Penny Hardaway was another.  Here is hoping that Ben Simmons turns into a LEGIT Point Forward Point Guard.  If not, he will turn into a CLASSIC Tall Point Forward like the 6’10 Lamar Odom or the 6’11 Toni Kukoc — two guys who could do some point guard things like pass and dribble (uh, shouldn’t EVERYBODY in the NBA be able to pass and dribble????), but not guys who you could RELY ON to play the point guard position for more than a few minutes at a time.

POINT CENTER: A guy who has the size (and paycheck) of an all-star center, but has the thought process and pass-first team mentality of a point guard.  You can put Marc Gasol here.  David Robinson played this role a few times on some Spurs teams, especially the editions with Dennis Rodman.  Go ahead and put Draymond Green here, too.  Lots of Magic Johnson in his game, but a little stronger, and better at defense, especially in the post.  FEW guys can pull this off.  Most famously Magic in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals.  Draymond has the POTENTIAL.  I actually think that that will be the position that Draymond Green (my sneaky lock pick) in the RIO ’16 Olympics.

CIRCUS FREAK SHOT BLOCKING SPECIALIST: Manute.  Mark Eaton.  Chuck Nevitt (if he could do anything other than change light bulbs.  And I STILL wouldn’t bet the farm on him being able to change light bulbs).  Shawn Bradley as the CIRCUS FREAK SHOT BLOCKING SPECIALIST GOAT.  This would have been a GREAT role for Hasheem Thabeet but he was picked 85 draft spots too high.  Dikembe was supposed to be PERFECT for this role, but he utterly disappointed everyone and winded up a Hall of Fame career.

Third String Point Guard: Everybody needs one, few teams really have one.  Now that you have 13 active players each night, I think the last spot should go to a third string point guard.  You NEED guys who can at least handle the ball and run the offense.  Besides, a lot of the other positions are interchangeable.  An IDEAL third string point guard has probably moved up into the backup point guard role by now, or getting starts here and there.  Examples of this include Delly, TJ McConnell, and Ish Smith.  Here is my TOTAL draft break down: Top 5 picks, go after a guy with SUPERSTAR potential.  Picks 5-15: get the guy who can help you fill out your CORE.  15-25: Potential 6th man territory here.  Guys with low level starter talent, but ABOVE AVERAGE bench talent.  So, get your 6th man here!  25-35: NEED, NEED, NEED.  35-45: Can never have too many 3 and D Wings.  So, get one.  45-55: Circus Freak Shot Blockers.  Protecting the rim is ALWAYS important, even if the guy is glued to the bench.  55-60: all that is left is guys who are 6’1 and 6’2 so you might as well get a third string point guard…

THE STRETCH CENTER aka the Stretch Five  Meaning a guy with legit center size (even if slightly undersized) who can still rebound and so some center things, BUT a guy with legit 3 point range.  You could say that Sam Perkins was the first stretch 5.  You could ALSO say that at 6’10 he was more of a power forward with 3 point range.  So, an early edition of the Stretch Four but without Robert Horry’s crazy athleticism, all-around defense, and solid shot blocking skills.  Chris Bosh was THE prototype Stretch Center on the Small Ball Bron Ball Heat teams.  Frank Kaminsky could carry on that tradition.  Karl Anthony Towns, too, is a guy who I have compared to Sam Perkins.  Ok, now that I think about it, the first legit center who also utilized the 3 point shot was Bill Laimbeer.  Don’t get too many Laimbeers, though.

THE ENFORCER: Seems to have gone out of style after peaking in the 80’s/early 90’s.  Examples include Rick Mahorn and Charles Oakley.  Usually a hard nosed power forward who could rebound, mix things up, defend some, and not much else.  The league seems to be moving away from this, but there might always be a place for a guy like a Kendrick Perkins on your roster.  Gives you depth at either big man spot and doesn’t need the ball to be effective.  Oh yeah, he also helps protect your team’s best players.

UTILITY DEFENDER:  You could say a DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST, but you could say that about Dennis Rodman and that guy is going to the Hall of Fame.  Bill Russell SPECIALIZED in defense (and rebounding) and practically INVENTED shot blocking, but the guy is a top 3 or 4 center in NBA history.  So instead of waiting for the next Russell or Rodman (or even Dikembe Mutombo) go find a solid rotation guy who you can convert into a UTILITY DEFENDER.  These guys are usually found on the wing, and make of for their lack of superstar talent and mediocre scoring skills to carve out a nice niche.  Here are some examples of UTILITY DEFENDERS: Michael Cooper, Vincent Askew, Bruce Bowen, PEAK Raja Bell, Shane Battier, Tony Allen.  Yeah, Shane was a lotto pick and probably had more fans (at least in Memphis) than he probably deserved, BUT at its base he was a DEFENDER first, then a guy who could also help out on the boards and the corner 3.  Sometimes you can even convert former semi-stars like Ron Harper into UTILITY DEFENDERS.  He was a guy who could get you 20 on a mediocre team, then went to a Top Three Heavy Bulls team and turned into a Point Forward Point Guard who could give you defense.  Iggy saw Ron Harper and raised him in last year’s Finals.  Possibly THE BEST utility defender out there these days.  

POINT FORWARD POINT GUARD: A guy with a small forward’s size who does the point forward stuff, except at the point guard position.  Examples include the 6’5 Nate McMillan who nearly exclusively played the 1.  Sidenote: Nate could make this list TWICE, since he was a TOP NOTCH defender, but perhaps not a SPECIALIST (since he was a good point guard too, albeit off the bench as a backup to Gary Payton in the second half of his career).  Another guy: yeah, the Ron Harper circa 1995-1998, then with some of those Shaq-Kobe Lakers teams, too.  Tyreke Evans is a guy with smallish 3 size, and with a really good wingspan who plays BETTER at point guard than other spots.   You could then call Tony Wroten a poor man’s Tyreke Evans.  Shaun Livingston is a LEGIT point guard with enough height/length to play some small forward.  The OLD point forward (like the ones on the old Don Nelson Buck’s teams) were around 6’5.  NOW, that is too small to play the 3, and is a size better utilized in the backcourt.  Denzell Valentine could fit here.  If Small Ball turns into BIG Small Ball as I am predicting, then why not just play a guy like DV at POINT GUARD?  Get two ultra athletic wings who can both shoot and score with some modern day bigs, and let Valentine overpower the other team’s smaller guards.  IF Valentine can defend the smaller speed demons then I would just play him at the 1, and create matchup nightmares for the other team.  You can ALSO have super star Point Forward Point Guards like Magic Johnson.  Penny Hardaway was another.  Here is hoping that Ben Simmons turns into a LEGIT Point Forward Point Guard.  If not, he will turn into a CLASSIC Tall Point Forward like the 6’10 Lamar Odom or the 6’11 Toni Kukoc — two guys who could do some point guard things like pass and dribble (uh, shouldn’t EVERYBODY in the NBA be able to pass and dribble????), but not guys who you could RELY ON to play the point guard position for more than a few minutes at a time.

POINT CENTER: A guy who has the size (and paycheck) of an all-star center, but has the thought process and pass-first team mentality of a point guard.  You can put Marc Gasol here.  David Robinson played this role a few times on some Spurs teams, especially the editions with Dennis Rodman.  Go ahead and put Draymond Green here, too.  Lots of Magic Johnson in his game, but a little stronger, and better at defense, especially in the post.  FEW guys can pull this off.  Most famously Magic in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals.  Draymond has the POTENTIAL.  I actually think that that will be the position that Draymond Green (my sneaky lock pick) in the RIO ’16 Olympics.

CIRCUS FREAK SHOT BLOCKING SPECIALIST: Manute.  Mark Eaton.  Chuck Nevitt (if he could do anything other than change light bulbs.  And I STILL wouldn’t bet the farm on him being able to change light bulbs).  Shawn Bradley as the CIRCUS FREAK SHOT BLOCKING SPECIALIST GOAT.  This would have been a GREAT role for Hasheem Thabeet but he was picked 85 draft spots too high.  Dikembe was supposed to be PERFECT for this role, but he utterly disappointed everyone and winded up a Hall of Fame career.

Third String Point Guard: Everybody needs one, few teams really have one.  Now that you have 13 active players each night, I think the last spot should go to a third string point guard.  You NEED guys who can at least handle the ball and run the offense.  Besides, a lot of the other positions are interchangeable.  An IDEAL third string point guard has probably moved up into the backup point guard role by now, or getting starts here and there.  Examples of this include Delly, TJ McConnell, and Ish Smith.  Here is my TOTAL draft break down: Top 5 picks, go after a guy with SUPERSTAR potential.  Picks 5-15: get the guy who can help you fill out your CORE.  15-25: Potential 6th man territory here.  Guys with low level starter talent, but ABOVE AVERAGE bench talent.  So, get your 6th man here!  25-35: NEED, NEED, NEED.  35-45: Can never have too many 3 and D Wings.  So, get one.  45-55: Circus Freak Shot Blockers.  Protecting the rim is ALWAYS important, even if the guy is glued to the bench.  55-60: all that is left is guys who are 6’1 and 6’2 so you might as well get a third string point guard…

 Good call CC11. Its like the NBA finally found a use for all these"tweeners"

 Good call CC11. Its like the NBA finally found a use for all these"tweeners"

 Fundamentals and versatility are at a premium these days.  Harder to compete as a SPECIALIST, and those guys should probably be coming off the bench.  Even specialist SHOOTERS, because all you have to do is play up on them.

Call them new positions or just new roles, or a new take on old roles, but you NEED guys who can fill multiple roles (point forward, stretch 4, 3 and D wing, utility defender, etc.).  Then, the fewer spots it takes to fill those positions the better off you are.  

For instance, the ’96 Bulls were TOP HEAVY with MJ AND Pippen being able to play AND GUARD all three perimeter positions.  Rodman was a 4 and played a bit of small ball 5, but could GUARD all five positions.  Then Harper played point, but was more of a 2 guard, but could guard multiple spots.  Toni Kukoc couldn’t really guard ANYBODY but you could put him in at any of the 5 positions on the floor.  Steve Kerr was both a 3 point shooting SPECIALIST off the bench AND a decent backup point guard.  Luc Longley was a classic, lumbering big, but he could also pass, as well as provide low post defense.  Basically, the Poor Man’s Marc Gasol.  … Bill Wennington was not very versatile, but as a 7 foot center he could still hit mid-range jumpers and throw down some hammer dunks.  

The current Warriors squad has a guy in Steph who is a SUPERSTAR SCORER high-volume 3 point shooting specialist.  Maybe the first of its type in history.  He is also a really good ball handler and passer and has decent size at 6’3.  Klay Thompson is a pure 2 but tall enough so they can go with a 3 guard lineup. Draymond can play MULTIPLE positions and GUARD multiple positions.  Bogut is a throw back lumbering big, but he can PASS as well as defend.  They really have some strength off the bench since Iggy is a DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST who can also create on offense.  He can PLAY and GUARD multiple positions.  Shaun Livingston is a taller, longer, pass-first point guard.  Harrison Barnes is a starter and your basic small forward, but he can shoot.  Along with either Draymond or Iggy, the Warriors can go small and not really lose anything on defense or in rebounding.  A HUGE asset.

Pretty soon, you might be able to narrow it down to TWO positions: The BEN SIMMONS position that does everything, and the KRISTAPS PORZINGAS postion that does everything else.

 Fundamentals and versatility are at a premium these days.  Harder to compete as a SPECIALIST, and those guys should probably be coming off the bench.  Even specialist SHOOTERS, because all you have to do is play up on them.

Call them new positions or just new roles, or a new take on old roles, but you NEED guys who can fill multiple roles (point forward, stretch 4, 3 and D wing, utility defender, etc.).  Then, the fewer spots it takes to fill those positions the better off you are.  

For instance, the ’96 Bulls were TOP HEAVY with MJ AND Pippen being able to play AND GUARD all three perimeter positions.  Rodman was a 4 and played a bit of small ball 5, but could GUARD all five positions.  Then Harper played point, but was more of a 2 guard, but could guard multiple spots.  Toni Kukoc couldn’t really guard ANYBODY but you could put him in at any of the 5 positions on the floor.  Steve Kerr was both a 3 point shooting SPECIALIST off the bench AND a decent backup point guard.  Luc Longley was a classic, lumbering big, but he could also pass, as well as provide low post defense.  Basically, the Poor Man’s Marc Gasol.  … Bill Wennington was not very versatile, but as a 7 foot center he could still hit mid-range jumpers and throw down some hammer dunks.  

The current Warriors squad has a guy in Steph who is a SUPERSTAR SCORER high-volume 3 point shooting specialist.  Maybe the first of its type in history.  He is also a really good ball handler and passer and has decent size at 6’3.  Klay Thompson is a pure 2 but tall enough so they can go with a 3 guard lineup. Draymond can play MULTIPLE positions and GUARD multiple positions.  Bogut is a throw back lumbering big, but he can PASS as well as defend.  They really have some strength off the bench since Iggy is a DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST who can also create on offense.  He can PLAY and GUARD multiple positions.  Shaun Livingston is a taller, longer, pass-first point guard.  Harrison Barnes is a starter and your basic small forward, but he can shoot.  Along with either Draymond or Iggy, the Warriors can go small and not really lose anything on defense or in rebounding.  A HUGE asset.

Pretty soon, you might be able to narrow it down to TWO positions: The BEN SIMMONS position that does everything, and the KRISTAPS PORZINGAS postion that does everything else.