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NBA teams like the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers are hoping to spend their way to contention, which would mark something of a first in NBA history. Teams adding a key free agent that makes them a title contender is nothing new. Kevin Durant heading to Golden State is the most prescient example, and LeBron James going to Miami (and then back to Cleveland) is pretty fresh too. It’s standard practice in the Association.
What is less standard is teams trying to assemble their championship core instantaneously, by adding two stars through free agency or a trade. Throughout NBA history, there are exactly two teams that have won a title without one of their best two players having been drafted by the organization. We’ll even exclude players who leave and them come back, like LeBron did.
Don’t believe me? Let’s go through them. All of them. It’s easy to knock out several examples right away. The Warriors’ three titles all occurred with Steph Curry around, so those three are accounted for. The five championships the Los Angeles Lakers have won since 2000 all came with Kobe Bryant on the team (yes, we’re counting draft day trades as the team drafting a player).
The San Antonio Spurs have five titles, and all of them came with Tim Duncan on the roster. Michael Jordan’s Bulls took home six rings, and he was there for them all, a fact he’s not shy about sharing. The Lakers won another five titles in the 1980s, with Magic Johnson on the team for each of them. Larry Legend’s Boston teams won three titles in the 1980’s, all with him as the leading man.
Bill Russell’s Celtics won 11 titles, and the original GOAT was there for them all. Finally, the first Lakers dynasty that won five rings was led by George Mikan, who was a Laker for his entire career. That covers the dynasties, and 43 of the 69 NBA titles won at this point. Let’s go through the rest.
LeBron came back to win with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, but Cavs draftee Kyrie Irving was right there with him. LeBron also won two rings in Miami, and those two (plus Miami’s 2006 title) all came with Dwyane Wade around.
The sole Mavericks’ title came with Dirk Nowitzki on the roster, another star who was traded on draft day. Kevin Garnett was probably the best player on the Celtics’ 2008 roster, but Paul Pierce was at least number two.
Houston won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995, and they had Hakeem Olajuwon for both of them. Pistons legend Isiah Thomas was a crucial member of the Bad Boys when Detroit won back-to-back in 1989 and 1990.
Dennis Johnson is well-known for his Celtics tenure, but the SuperSonics’ draftee was Finals MVP when Seattle won in 1979. Big men Wes Unseld and Bill Walton led the franchises that drafted them to championships in 1978 and 1977, respectively.
Take your pick between John Havlicek, Jo Jo White and Dave Cowens for the two titles the 1970s Celtics won, all of them debuted with Boston. Willis Reed delivered the Knicks their two championships in 1973 and 1970, and Rick Barry was a Warriors’ draftee who won with Golden State after the franchise renamed. If he doesn’t count, given his trip to the ABA, then Jamaal Wilkes was the second-best guy, and he was drafted by the Warriors and didn’t leave before their championship.
The 1971 Milwaukee Bucks won with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the helm. The 1967 Sixers had Hal Greer. From there we jump to 1956 when the St. Louis Hawks won with Bob Pettit. The Philadelphia Warriors won in 1956 with Paul Arizin, the Syracuse Nationals won in 1955 with Dolph Schayes, and the Rochester Royals won in 1951 with Arnie Risen as their best player. All of the guys this paragraph were drafted and stuck around for the titles their teams won. That’s it. That’s every title. Except two.
1983 and 2004 are the exceptions. Moses Malone and Julius Erving led the 76ers to the promised land in 1983, and neither of them was drafted by Philly. This one is barely an exception though, as Dr. J did make his NBA debut with the 76ers, he just came over from the ABA after a successful career there.
That leaves 2004. Chauncey Billups won Finals MVP for his work during Detroit’s most recent title run, and he was not drafted by the Pistons. Rip Hamilton was great for that team, and also didn’t start his career in Detroit. The same is true for both Ben and Rasheed Wallace. Tayshaun Prince was a drafted Piston, but he was not a top-two player on that team.
Still, the 2004 Pistons were not exactly a hastily assembled juggernaut. Billups, Ben Wallace, and Hamilton all had multiple NBA stops with not much fanfare before coming to Detroit, where each of them became an All-Star for the first time. The Pistons may not have built through the draft, but Detroit didn’t just grab a couple standout free agents either. The Pistons built that team through a bunch of shrewd moves that added up to a title.
Teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks certainly aren’t wrong for trying to weaponize their market size and cap space, but if any of them really built a title core in a single summer they would be doing something that is almost unprecedented throughout NBA history.
Even the previous super teams all featured at least one homegrown star who then brought his peers over before going on a multi-championship run. Bringing in two stars and winning a championship would be a whole new feat in the league, and not an easy one considering homegrown cores in Milwaukee and Golden State are currently running their respective conferences.
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