In a world of position-less basketball, 1 through 5 is a bit passe’. In particular, the 5 position has evolved. It used to be that the biggest men on the court played center, but rules have changed things and players who once would have played the 5 — or the 4 — now play all over the court.
The Nets have, as everyone knows, has a LOT of bigs. FiveThirtyEight’s Jared Dubin counts seven, but says that may not be a surplus.
If you don’t have a game-changing star, the thinking goes, why not simply acquire a group of players who can fill different archetypal center roles and rotate them through the game, depending on matchup and situation?