Hawks' flawless roster construction shies away from archaic player archetype

The NBA has never been more reliant on positional size and versatility than at present.

Take last night's game of the Houston Rockets squaring off against the Oklahoma City Thunder - the Rockets started not one, not two, not three, but a whopping four players standing 6'11 or taller (not to mention their oversized point forward Amen Thompson flanking the towering foursome at a not-so-tiny 6’7).

Sure, we've seen fun and experimental lineups emerge historically that mimic this formula - see Denver’s (at the time) record-breaking lineup in the 2020 bubble featuring Jokic, Grant, Millsap, Bol, and Plumlee - but such tandems have never seen extended burn. 

This once mocked and ridiculed experiment is no longer a concoction of a mad scientist - it’s the future of the league.

Think about the collective talent of the sport of basketball. Thirty years ago, the game was confined almost entirely within America. Thanks to superstars like MJ, Magic, Bird, and Hakeem, the league took a gargantuan leap, extending its influence across the world in less than a decade. 

Folks in the 90's tuned in to broadcasts and followed sports media at an increasing rate around the world. And who better to pick up the game than their kids - eagerly watching fantastical shots, beautiful lobs, crowd-hushing rejections, and jaw-dropping posters from their living rooms. These kids began to pick up the game and run with it at an unprecedented rate, eventually making it to the league as superstars a la Giannis, Jokic, Embiid, SGA, and more.

Not so shockingly, the increased size in the league has incrementally phased out small guards. What should come as a surprise, however, is the frequency at which such small guards are handling the ball. A recent analysis found a rapid decrease in the frequency of ball-handling duties from players 6’3 or shorter, making way for larger guards to dominate. 

Despite the obvious irony, Atlanta is rapidly adapting to this shift 

But wait - isn't Trae exactly the archetype of guard getting phased out?

Quite the contrary. Atlanta has been keen to pick up on this trend of increasing positional size. In fact, with the recent departure of Kobe Bufkin, the Hawks currently roster only two players listed shorter than 6’5 - Keaton Wallace and Trae Young. While Trae will no doubt command the attack once again this year, Onsi Saleh has done a stellar job at flanking him with positional size everywhere else.

Trae Young is also the epitome of an outlier. Players like himself, Jalen Brunson, Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, and Fred VanVleet will continue to exist in the league, by virtue of their extremely upper-echelon raw talent. No matter how many 6'8+ players come into the league, the creme de la creme of small guards will continue to thrive - it's just a matter of increasing exclusivity.

The victims of this trend, however, are the role players. Gone are the days of an abundance of 6’3 3&D guards. Gone are the days of more than a handful of 6’0 bench playmakers. The league is adapting - and as can be seen in the plethora of tall, lengthy offseason acquisitions, Onsi Saleh has made sure Atlanta remains well ahead of the curve.