What's in an age?

Looking at some of the oldest teams, their season, and their future

The NBA ecosystem LOVES to talk about age. Draft age, “he’s only 25” age, “he’s doing this at X years old” age, and, my favorite, “in his prime” age. This season, there’s an interesting group of teams at the top of the age-bracket (highest average age):

• Sixers - 27.8

• Clippers - 27.7

• Suns - 27.5

• Warriors - 27.3

• Bucks - 27.3

• Heat - 26.8

  

  Old Man Summer

Sixers - Surprisingly Geriatric

The 76ers are pretty interesting, because Tyrese Maxey is only 23 years old. But they are planning on seven of their eight other rotation guys being 29 or older, being Kyle Lowry (38), Eric Gordon (36), Paul George (34), Reggie Jackson (34), Andre Drummond (31), Joel Embiid (30), Caleb Martin (29), and Kelly Oubre Jr. (29).

Yes, Sixers fans seem to be excited about Ricky Council IV and Jared McCain, but we know that this year is all-business and Nick Nurse isn’t going to give charity-minutes. Also, Daryl Morey hasn’t really cared much about age before. In 2017-18, when they got Chris Paul, they had the oldest team at an average age of 28.8 years old, and the Sixers have had among the oldest teams the last couple years.

So, this doesn’t matter for this year, but looks it’s really all-in on the “now”, but they do have a few guys who may become legit in a year or two.

Suns and Bucks - Intentionally Elderly

The Bucks don’t have a very deep team, but they do have numerous young guys they are praying for every day, hoping they’ll become NBA rotation players. Their main guys are older like the Sixers, in Brook Lopez (36), Damian Lillard (34), Khris Middleton (33), Delon Wright (32), Taurean Prince (30), Giannis (30), and Bobby Portis (29). Their youngest sure-rotation guy, Gary Trent Jr., is only 26!

As for the Suns, they have seven of their nine who are 29 or older as well, with Durant (36), Plumlee (34), Beal (31), O’Neale (31), Nurkic (30), Grayson Allen (29), and Monte Morris (29). Then, the young guns, Devin Booker (28) and Tyus Jones (28), finish up the main 9-man rotation.

These teams, with all their assumed star-power, are trying to maximize this window with solid veterans. Interestingly, neither seems to have any good perimeter defenders who can play offense as well, putting their whole window maximization tactic into question. As good as their offenses could be, can they really rely on Gary Trent Jr. and Devin Booker (Olympic 3&D Superstar, I should add) to be guarding Brunson, Shai and Luka?

Clippers and Warriors - Rich Guys Really Into Reverse Aging

This offseason, the Clippers and Warriors both made the decision to not give into their respective free-agent franchise mainstays’ requests for a blank check for the next 4 years of their careers. With Paul George and Klay Thompson leaving, they each enter into a new emotional era of their team, and hope for the best with the replacements we brought in.

I know 29 is an arbitrary age that I chose to look at above, but the Clippers only have 5 guys older than 29 that will play, with PJ Tucker (39) poised to continue hoping for a trade from the sideline. Batum (36), Harden (35), Kawhi (33), Norm Powell (31), and newcomer Kris Dunn (30) are the elder statesmen of the group, but they don’t really have anyone on the roster younger than 24 other than Cam Christie, who was drafted in the second round this year. As a team with few draft picks in upcoming years, they’re likely going to be unable to find a promising youth development project (we won’t mention Kevin Porter Jr.).

The Warriors are similar to the Clippers in that they don’t have as many 29-and-over guys as the first few teams discussed. Curry (36), Draymond (34), GP2 (32), Buddy Hield (32, we think?), Kyle Anderson (31), and Andrew Wiggins (29) are all bound to play some this year. Also, The Warriors are the most likely of this group to benefit from age-progression for players in their rotation, with Kuminga and Moody only having been on this earth for 22 full years, and Brandin Podziemski for full year less at 21. There’s a question as to whether Steve Kerr’s development process will allow for them to reach their potential, but they decided against trading their youth for Finnish Gladiator Lauri Markannen, so this is their main chance at continuing chasing Curry and Green’s last chance. But we will NOT call it two timelines, okay!?

Heat - Mid-life Crisis

The Heat are at a place that few teams want to find themselves in: the middle. Yes, in 2022, they were #1 in the East and a bucket away from making another finals run. Then, in 2023, they did make another finals run! But, sadly, Jimmy Butler is 35, Terry Rozier and Duncan Robinson are both 30, and I think it’s fair to question the star-upside of their younger players in Tyler Herro (25) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (23), as talented as they are.

Bam is 27, a 2-time Olympic gold medalist, and one of the most plug-and-play players in the entire league. They have chosen to continue loading up on older players, probably hoping that their miraculous development program would continue churning-out players like Gabe Vincent, Caleb Martin, and Max Strus. Well, maybe they should have just kept those guys.

Summary

To rank them this year, I’d probably go with:

1. Sixers

2. Bucks

3. Suns

4. Warriors

5. Clippers

6. Heat

And to rank their futures:

1. Warriors

2. Sixers

3. Suns

4. Bucks

5. Heat

6. Clippers

A Quick MJ Thought

After LeBron’s admirable Olympics at 39.7 years old, Steph’s iconic final two rounds to fetch his first gold medal, and KD becoming the greatest international basketball player of all time, I saw a few toes dipped (or head-first dives made) into how this affects these guys’ legacies.

Dumb question but - is Michael Jordan becoming underrated? It feels like some people are just assuming he’s some regular high-scoring 2-guard that doesn’t have a ton to his game other than taking 35 shots a game, but just happened to be the best of them. Someone respected in NBA circles publicly said, “in a vacuum he has no argument”. Just a quick run-through of his playoff stats, since that’s when things mattered most (this is easy to find for anyone on basketball-reference, so get ready to read some numbers!):

• 33.45 points per game (#1 all-time, 2.5 ppg ahead of the next guy)

  • 33.6 points per game in the Finals (#1 all time for players who played more than 10 finals games, only Rick Barry is ahead for players who played more than 2 series)

• 5.71 assists per game (only 1.5 apg behind LeBron James, 0.5 behind Curry)

  • 6 assists per game in the Finals (same as Steph Curry)

• 28.60 PER (#2 all-time behind Nikola Jokic)

• .2551 Win Shares per 48 minutes (#1 all time)

• 11.14 BPM (#1 all-time)

These aren’t cumulative stats, and LeBron’s longevity is impressive on its own. But I think it’s silly to suggest that Jordan has NO argument, even in a vacuum. Individually, one of the craziest resumes out there, even without just saying “6-0 on the finals!!” And, don’t forget, putting the ball in the basket is the most important skill in basketball.

Or, hear me out… is Jokic the GOAT?