National Basketball Association

The Starting Five: Shooters have their say in redefining NBA success

Published May. 12, 2015 2:41 p.m. ET

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While LeBron James and David Blatt are hugging it out, let's delve into some other burning issues in the NBA.

When the early stages of the postseason's second round skewed toward the ground-and-pound teams, the anti-metrics crowd began to crow, er, tweet.

Included was triangle master Phil Jackson, who chided 3-pointer-hugging analytics advocates after the Memphis Grizzlies used their considerable inside grit to take a 2-1 advantage over the run-and-shoot, 67-win Golden State Warriors.

And while it's true that teams with really good tall players who score close to the rim have been very successful through the years, there are different ways to reach the desired result.

The San Antonio Spurs, for example, averaged 23 3-point attempts per game (more than their regular-season average) while thumping the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals.

For many years now, the Spurs have relied on defensive attention paid to the post-ups of Tim Duncan and penetration of Tony Parker to generate open shots for everyone.

That's pretty much the way of the NBA world -- great players making plays, with offenses designed to put them in advantageous situations.

Let's see if Phil selects Jahlil Okafor -- the most-skilled low-post player we've seen in a while -- if he has to make a choice between the Duke center and Kentucky four man Karl-Anthony Towns.

Perhaps more teams would be inclined to work inside-out if whatever we refer to as a development system provided more players capable of scoring in the post.

Eight of the past 10 lottery winners for the first pick in the NBA Draft did not finish in the bottom three of the standings.

Instead of tank, perhaps we should use the word "rebuild."

For the record, we're not accusing any players or coaches from teams with large amounts of ping-pong ball options in next week's NBA Draft Lottery of losing on purpose. But we are here to remind everyone that the lottery hopper hasn't exactly been kind to the lowest of the downtrodden in recent years.

For example, only twice over the last 10 lottery gatherings has the first pick gone to one of the three teams with the greatest odds of securing it. In that same span, the first pick has been claimed by six teams entering the night ranked fifth or lower.

The Cleveland Cavaliers showed up last year as the ninth seed and walked away with the top selection. The Chicago Bulls were ninth in 2008 and won a lottery that delivered Derrick Rose.

There hasn't been a team finish the season with the highest odds and actually win the lottery since the Orlando Magic landed the pick -- and Dwight Howard -- in 2004.

This year's top four among the hopeful are, in order, Minnesota Timberwolves (25 percent chance of victory), New York (19.9), Philadelphia (15.6) and Los Angeles Lakers (11.9).

Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver give the Atlanta Hawks a pair of second-round draft picks in their starting lineup.

The NBA Draft Combine has begun in Chicago, complete with considerable gnashing of teeth over limited participation from the expected hotshot prospects.

But don't worry. Several players who, for now, aren't provoking much chatter might end up as household names in future postseasons.

Checking the eight teams still working in this year's playoffs, we find nine starters who weren't even drafted in the first round. Three have been All-Stars, including two (Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver) from the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks also start postseason star DeMarre Carroll, who wasn't off the board until the 27th pick of the first round.

Memphis center Marc Gasol -- a former Defensive Player of the Year -- was a second-rounder, as were soon-to-be-wealthy role-playing stars Draymond Green (Golden State) and DeAndre Jordan (Los Angeles Clippers).

Another player on the verge of a big payday is Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler, who was the final pick of the first round.

Had second-rounder Patrick Beverley not been injured, the Houston Rockets (Beverly and Trevor Ariza) would have been another team with two starters who begin their careers as second-rounder.

Restricted free agent Jimmy Butler is a potential max-contract target of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers' cap-room makeover has the team's personnel executives angling to sign LaMarcus Aldridge . . . or Kevin Love . . . or maybe even Rajon Rondo.

But the latest name reportedly associated with the Lakers is Jimmy Butler.

Butler, who was the league's Most Improved Player while working at shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls, will enter the summer as a restricted free agent.

The Bulls have announced they will match whatever offer Butler's agent can muster; these declarations typically are used to scare off any overtures from other teams. We certainly don't doubt Chicago's intent to retain one of the NBA's best two-way players.

Even though Lakers president Jim Buss says the team can pursue two max free agents, do they tie up a chunk of spending loot waiting for the Bulls to match while other unrestricted free-agent targets are fielding offers from other teams?

Then again, to land a player of Butler's caliber, they might give it a whirl.

Although the Bulls ownership has played hardball with better players in the past, we don't think the odds are great that the Lakers will line up a Butler next to Kobe Bryant next season.

Draymond Green has been up to the defensive challenge against Memphis' Zach Randolph and New Orleans' Anthony Davis. If the Warriors can put away the Grizzlies, next up could be the Clippers' Blake Griffin.

We certainly aren't counting out the Memphis Grizzlies in their Western Conference semifinal series with the Golden State Warriors.

But should the Warriors use their homecourt advantage to prevail -- and if the L.A. Clippers finish off the Houston Rockets -- we'll be treated to yet another nasty defensive challenge for Golden State's Draymond Green.

Green, who checks in at 6-foot-7, was second in the league's Defensive Player of the Year voting after spending most of his season guarding the opposition's power forward.

In the opening round of the playoffs, Green invested most of his time against Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Memphis series finds Green matched with robust Grizzlies four man Zach Randolph, although much of his Game-4 assignment was 7-1 Marc Gasol.

If the Warriors meet the Clippers -- that's a very compelling showdown in itself -- Green figures to lock horns with L.A.'s 6-10 (listed) Blake Griffin.

All Griffin has done in the playoffs thus far is average 24.7 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists.

To be sure, Green has had some difficult stretches while attempting to keep his designated foes in check.

But his rise from second-round pick to crucial component of a contending team is further proof that NBA success is not the exclusive province of those inhabiting the draft-night green room.

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