The NBA draft is unique among the major sports in this country. Since rosters are much smaller in basketball than they are in football and baseball, some teams use free agency as a shortcut to build a team instead of going through the process of developing players.
However, spending big money over the summer doesn't always guarantee success. The Los Angeles Lakers tried to build a superteam in 2004 with Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Gary Payton and Karl Malone. They did get to the NBA Finals but fell short of the ultimate goal when the Detroit Pistons knocked them off.
That would be the last moment in the fading sunset for that particular group. Malone retired, Payton was traded to Boston in the offseason, and the volatile relationship between O'Neal and Bryant led the Lakers to deal the superstar center to Miami.
Some teams are unable to play the free-agent game because players have all the power. They aren't going to a situation simply for the most money if there's no chance to win. LeBron James may have gone back to Cleveland anyway, but the presence of a then-22-year-old Kyrie Irving certainly helped ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Adam Wells
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