2026 NBA draft thread

[mvossman]

Regarding the finals in relation to the draft.

For me, this final makes me feel more comfortable about the draft, it is an opportunity, an important one, but not as consequential as folks said.

But the traditional model of a "Batman and Robin doesn't seem to be the current one. Well coached and deep teams are essential.

A year ago, or less, KAT was a loser you can't build a winner around, Brunson was a undersized ball hog that doesn't win chips. Now they are champions. None on this team is a traditional franchise player. Not a single starter was drafted by them.

Last year, OKC had clear superstar , but I don't see a clear "side kick" but rather a strong deep team. Same with 2023  Denver. 2022 GSW was kind off the same too. Boston 2024 is the closest thing to that, though I feel it was 2 robins  with a very deep team around them.

Get a good talent, don't focus too much on his limitation, and see how it works as a fit and then we work from there.

I would argue the Batman/Robin model still tends to dominate.  Your Batman needs to be an elite creator and your Robin needs to be a strong creator as well.  For OKC the Robin is Jalen Williams.  Shai desperately needs somebody to help shoulder the creation load.  Chet is a great complimentary player, but he can't shoulder Robin level creation which is why they lost in the playoffs.  In Denver Murray is the Robin.  In NY KAT is the robin, but he did have a lot of help.  We are seeing a trend of having more creation throughout the lineup (NY, Spurs, Boston).  When you don't have a top 3-5 creator on the roster you need more than one guy to help out.