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[The Jom]

I don't know where else to ask this...

Once GSW won their first small ball championship, there seemed to be a surge toward 5-out, 3pt heavy offenses. Even the Mavs, until recently, seemed bought in to this philosophy. Maybe because there was a shortage of quality centers, maybe because stats say 3pt shots can be the most efficient, maybe it's just a copycat league.

A key issue to DAL's problems have been the donut defense (hole in the middle). It wasn't an issue when Luka could play a lot of starting centers off the floor, but a team with quality depth at the five, like GSW two years ago, was a problem. It was a key issue to the post-Kyrie trade last season. But the advent of DLive and Gafford has solidified the position and elevated the defense. That combination is also the third "star" we needed to make opponents pay for over comitting to guard Luka and Kyrie.

So my question here is whether we are seeing the decline of small ball and a return to basketball as a big man's game?

I agree with the premise of your question. And I think we are seeing bigger lineups. But they are largely more mobile, modern bigs. For instance, we might argue today about whether Giannis is really a 5, not a 4. But not too long ago the same debate was about Tim Duncan.