New Positions in the NBA

The NBA has evolved throughout the years.  This is made most possible by extremely-talented players whose revolutionary styles were able to change the game as a whole.  Or in some cases it can be an entire team, such as the Warriors, who are so dominant that other squads try to copycat.  In fact it was primarily due to the success of the Dubs + KD that everyone started predicting that the NBA would becomes "positionless".  Well the dynasty Warriors themselves, despite having had a couple of players who could dominate at different positions, weren't truly "positionless".  And since then, it seems that some teams at least have come to the realization that conventionally speaking, size does matter, and you cannot win big being overly reliant on three-pointers.

But still, some new positions have been created in the 21st century.  It's like these days there's less of a premium on actual strategy, and star players especially are empowered to do whatever the hell they want on the court.  With some organizations this has resulted in some ugly team basketball, such as what we're currently seeing with the Lakers.  But at least now, players are not restricted to stick to a mold where they cannot, if multi-talented, fully reach their potential.  In other words, who knows how much greater Karl Malone may have been if for instance he were encouraged to dribble and shoot threes.

THE POINTBACK

A pointback is a PG with like the strength of a linebacker.  I know that a linebacker isn't an NBA position, but there's really only one player who currently fits this mold anyway, that of course being Russell Westbrook.

The ScapeGOAT is such a unique specimen that despite having been in the league for like 15 years now, it can be said that no team really, triple-doubles and all, has been able to utilize him to his full potential.  The Lakers right now should be starting him at the 3 instead of the 1.  But anyway, by the looks of things it may not be until the next Westbrook comes along that some coach truly figures out how to make sense of a PG who averages more rebounds than most power forwards.

THE POINTCENTER

The first point-center I can remember, off the top of my head, was someone like Boris Diaw.  But to truly be respected as a center who can run the point, you need to be a really talented bigman like Lebron, Giannis or Jokic, with Nikola being one of the best passers in the NBA, period.

But the downside of having a point-center is that if the center is out playing the point, then who's down low playing center?  And this can really be a problem for some squads, like we're currently seeing with the Lakers sans AD, where once the center moves out of position, there's no one else in the paint to grab a rebound.  But the current NBA is such that there is definitely such that (three-point) shooting is considered to be more important than rebounding.

THE POINTCHUCK

A pointchuck is a PG who is so committed to scoring that he doesn't consistently pass the ball, even when sound opportunities to do so present themselves.  A player has to be really, really, really talented, like Steph Curry, to rationalize being a pointchuck, as this modus operandi is sort of intrinsically detrimental to team play.  Lebron, even though not being officially listed as a PG, can be considered a pointchuck, despite his passing prowess.  And the reason that pointchucks have become so hard to control is that sometimes a team can even have five chucks on the floor simultaneously.  But such mannerisms more or less began with a PG or franchise player who is less than willing to pass.

THE SG4

This has actually been the biggest overall effect of the Warriors dynasty, that now since shooting is all the rage teams have gotten smaller, since it is usually smaller players who shoot better.  If you look at powerforwards from the 1990s, you would see these big, burly types of dudes like the Mailman, Sir Charles, Otis Thorpe, Charles Oakley, etc.  Now, we have these skinny cats like Dorian Finney-Smith, Jae Crowder and Stanley Johnson holding down the position.  And again, since now shooting has become more important than even defense, it's like no one truly gives AF.  And I would venture to say that's one of the reasons why some relatively-big teams like the Cavs and Sixers have been able to prosper this season, by simply outsizing the competition.

CONCLUSION

Evolution is a slow process, and it's easy to try to imitate a team that has already proven successful.  What's more difficult is trying to craft a championship out of the hand you've been dealt.  And in between those two extremes we have squads like the Suns, who are an effective mix between the three-point chucking ways of the new and the more hard-nosed, in-the-paint ways of the old.