Signing LeBron James Not Slam Dunk Guarantee for Winning
Dear sirs,
As I’m sure you know, the six of you will be among the most powerful men in the basketball world over the course of the next month. As the executives in charge of the Cavaliers, Bulls, Heat, Knicks, Nets and Clippers, respectively, the six of you will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this month to land free agent LeBron James, altering your own careers and the history of your franchises dramatically.
Unfortunately, five of you will lose. Five of you will pour your hearts, souls, time and money into making the free-agent signing of the millennium, and you’ll come up short. Only one of you will be so very, very fortunate as to land the ultimate prize.
But here’s the thing: Even if you don’t lose, that doesn’t mean you’ve won anything yet. Signing LeBron, and possibly reeling in a superstar sidekick or two to go with him, is a huge deal. But it’s not everything.
I promise you, it is not that simple.
A word of advice to whichever one of you ends up with the big prize this July: Take a moment out of your day of triumph to pick up the phone and place a call to Danny Ainge in Boston. No, not to work out a sign-and-trade deal for Paul Pierce — simply to seek some friendly advice. It just might help.
You see, Ainge learned a lesson in 2008 when he finally brought a 17th championship banner to the Hub. He learned that while rounding up superstars is a big step in the process of building a championship team, it’s not the only step. A team is made of 12 guys, at the very least, and you’ll need them all at one point or another as you venture off in search of a title. A Big Three is big; a true team is bigger.
Ainge may have thought he was on top of the basketball world on July 31, 2007, when he landed Kevin Garnett in a blockbuster trade with Minnesota. Put him next to Ray Allen, another trade piece from earlier that summer, and Pierce, the greatest Celtic legend since Larry Bird, and he had a formidable foundation. But he did more than just that — he built around his stars, and what he built was a winner.
First of all, he made sure his stars were a good fit with the homegrown talent he already had. A lot of young Celtics were traded that summer, but Ainge was deliberate in keeping two: Rajon Rondo, his raw, 21-year-old point guard, and Kendrick Perkins, his 22-year-old center. He built a strong starting five by combining hired mercenaries and cheap in-house talent. He made it work.
Ainge built a bench from scratch. He went out and used part of his mid-level exception to sign James Posey, a veteran forward that could give them a defensive presence and a knack for big-time shots off the bench. He spent the rest on Eddie House, one of the better outside shooters in the game.
He developed more young, talented guys into bench role players — Tony Allen, Leon Powe, Glen Davis.
He made a couple of midseason acquisitions to fill in the cracks — P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell.
Ainge understood that in order to win a title, he needed a total team effort, not just a few stars, so he went out and got the job done.
Which one of you, dear sirs, will do the same?
One of you this summer has a chance to come away with one of the greatest "Big Threes" the game has ever seen. LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, for instance — that would make a trio of future Hall of Famers unlike anything we’ve witnessed in a long time.
But the journey doesn’t end at a podium in early July. Winning the sweepstakes is big for the future of your franchise, but it takes a lot more hard work to earn the victory that really matters.
Titles are won in June, not in July. And they’re won not by great players, but by great teams. It’s not easy to build one.
