Is role players nessesary?

In today’s NBA, role players are important more than ever.  In order to win, all star level players are necessary, but without good role players, it is hard for teams to win like what happened to Warriors in 2019 playoff.  If you only think about roster, Warriors had Curry, Klay, Draymond, Durant, and Cousins for starter.  It is a all star team, and there was Iguodala who was once all star.  But as you all know, because of so many injuries in roster, Warriors needed to depend on the bench players so much.  And it did not work.

Bucks did not win championship, but they had best season in the league when they had only 2 all star players, and Middleton was not real star player yet. So it looked Giannis and other role players.  And those role players are really good at 2 or 3 things such as 3p, defense, cut in, and other skills.

This season, Blazers has rare case which none of star player left team, blazers was not doing well at beginning.  Blazers did not lose anystar players like Lillard or McCollum, but they lost Seth and Kanter.  And they started worst since Lillard joined.

In order to change the flow, Blazers made contract with Carmelo Anthony who was waved by Rockets last season.  Carmelo used ti be one of the best players in the league, but right now he is not anymore.  Although he is not the fist option in the team, he was able to help team win.  On Dec 3, 2019 Melo played 6 games and team had 3-3.  3-3 is not a great number, but compares to before he came, it improved.  More over, Melo won Player of the week.

Here is the skill you need to be a great role player.

1. 3 pointer: In today’s NBA, 3p shooters are valued because they can make space for inside players and also scorer like Giannis or LeBron.

2. Defense: One big reason that Jazz is doing well is because of Gobert who won 2 consecutive DPOY.  Steal, block, rebound, and forcing to pass can make not only defend the rim but also having more opportunity for offence.

3. Clutch: many of great re players are clutch like Crawford, Lou, or Horry.  Some scorers are not clutch, for clutch time those confident players are more valued than scorers.

4. Height: This is not a skill, but jut being tall can help team a lot.  Tall player standing in the paint area can make opponents intimidated.

Carmelo is a great shooter and clutch player.  Other than him, Brook Lopez can shoot and block, and also tall.  When Kawhi was in Spurs, he wad a great defender and clutch time player.

When players have some of these skills, they can help team win.  If you are not scorer, try to earn these skills.