Better appreciate the Celtics while you can. Not because they're old and fading, although that could ring true in the near future. No, enjoy them because they come in threes.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Three players of All-Star pedigree on the same team? Good luck seeing that again anytime soon.
With a new labor agreement approaching, along with a lower salary cap figure and a decreasing number of teams willing to pay the luxury tax, a Big Three could be threatened with extinction. OK, maybe a Medium Size Three is possible. But three players of the same high quality? It's just too expensive. And perhaps unreasonable, given how some stars want a team to call their own. There are many factors working against any team with visions of assembling that kind of talent. It would take sacrifice, a willingness to pay soaring payroll and plenty of good luck, which is a Big Three in itself.
A more realistic trend will be pairing two stars, surround them with decent role players and hope for the best. And even that's difficult. Some teams don't even have one star, let alone two. Yes, the Pistons did win a championship a few years ago with a fairly balanced team, but that's not the norm.
Here's the best duos in basketball at the moment:
This is one to watch for the future. Right now they're just getting to know one another, but there is great pick-and-roll potential here. Bogut already is having his best season in this, Jennings' rookie year, and it's not by coincidence. Jennings can deliver and Bogut is getting better at finishing.
One is already a superstar. The other is still working at it. Durant's game is so mature that you're amazed he's only 21. Only Kobe, LeBron, Wade and Carmelo are better at scoring from all angles and getting to the free throw line. If he stays healthy and motivated, he's going to be a star for at least a decade. Perhaps Westbrook will go along for the ride, especially if he further develops his passing skills.
They both arrived in the same draft, both contributed almost right away, both received major contract extensions, and yet they'd be a lot more compatible if Aldridge was more of an inside player. He's not as polished as Roy, but manages to post a number of double-doubles anyway, and the Blazers seem intent on keeping them together. For now, anyway.
Much like the Celtics, better enjoy them while you can. With Boozer in the final year of his deal and the conservative Jazz unwilling to shell out the luxury tax cash it'll take to keep him, a breakup is just months away. Too bad, because this duo appeared to be the second coming of Malone and Stockton. Unless Boozer hooks up with a special player at his next stop, he'll miss a point guard like Williams more than he thinks.
Yet another duo that's probably on the clock. Johnson seems poised to leave this summer in free agency, just when Smith is getting more mature and becoming a complete player. Both are unselfish players and a big reason the Hawks are pushing elite status.
Make no mistake, Dirk had it better with Steve Nash. But Kidd is catching his second breath (nine assists per game) here in the twilight of his career and forming a bond with Nowitzki. This is probably their best chance to make something happen in the postseason before Kidd realizes he's 37 (in March).
As soon as Billups arrived, they clicked and not surprisingly, the Nuggets became a title contender. Billups had the same effect in Detroit; teammates value his leadership, direction and how he manages to make them look good. Although it doesn't take much to do that for 'Melo.
This is perhaps the end of the road after five seasons together (a sixth was cut short by Stoudemire's knee injury). Amazingly, this big man-small man combo doesn't have a championship to show for it, and that'll probably be written on their basketball tombstone. But if this is indeed the end, you can't say it hasn't been fun.
It's not by accident that, after Shaquille O'Neal left, Kobe didn't win another title until he found another big man. Gasol works because his demands and his game are totally different than Kobe's. Their personalities don't clash, nor does Gasol twist Kobe's arm for the ball. He doesn't need to, because Kobe turns into a willing passer when Gasol's on the floor. Kobe trusts Gasol will do the right thing with the ball.
Sure, you could argue there's a Big Three in San Antonio. That's certainly not a stretch, given Manu Ginobili's value to the Spurs this decade. And this isn't meant to show any disrespect to him. It's just that Parker and Duncan, at some point in their careers, were among the best at their positions. That puts them a cut above. They've got three titles together and still have enough time for a fourth. When they're finally finished playing, history will show Parker and Duncan as one of the best point guard-big man combos who ever connected.
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I think you have a pretty good list, but I would swap Kobe and Pau with Tim and Tony.
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