With the popularity of small balls in NBA, can the current center become the core of the team?

Although the ball is the most popular in the league, the center can still be the core of the team. Among the strong teams in the league, there are many teams with the center as the core. The core of Denver Nuggets is center Jokic, and the core of Philadelphia 76ers is Embiid. The era of small ball really eliminated many centers. The biggest feature of the small ball era is that the pace of the game is accelerated, the number of shots is increased, and the confrontation under the basket is reduced. It requires the center to have strong mobility, requires the center to break through quickly and change defense quickly, and also requires good shooting skills. Therefore, many centers with rough skills and slow movements were eliminated by the era of small balls. And those centers with excellent mobility, shooting ability and passing ability are very popular. Because the center has obvious advantages in height, wingspan and passing vision, they can share the organizational task of the defender and become the central axis of the team's attack, thus releasing the scoring ability of the defender. This kind of center has become the mainstream of the league, and it is also the characteristic of the center in the era of small ball.

In today's NBA, the center is still the force that can decide the outcome of the game. Center is not uncommon among MVP candidates, and Jokic and Embiid are both popular candidates. Even the letter brother will often make a guest appearance in the center. But these centers are obviously different from traditional centers. They can shoot three points, pass the ball and have the skills of traditional centers.

In the era of small ball, not only the characteristics of center have changed, but also the requirements for point guard are very different. The traditional point guard is short of height and physical fitness, and is only responsible for organizing attacks. But in the era of small ball, the physical quality and scoring ability of point guards have been greatly enhanced. Shao Wei, Owen, Lillard, Curry and Morant are all excellent scoring experts.

Almost every post is developing in the direction of omnipotence. The core players of each team, no matter where they are, no longer only undertake a single scoring or defensive task, but completely control the rhythm of the game. Most of the team's role players are functional players, who are responsible for defending or opening three points, which is the development direction of the team in the era of small balls.