This post spawns from last night's game against the Sacramento Kings. No real stats in this article. Just a reference to the last 10 years of #1 through #3 seeds in the Western Conference. Not every elite team wins a championship, so the top 3 seeds is a pretty good barometer to see what we need to do to get to that level. I'm going to list the top three teams, along with their top two players.
Top 3 Seeds in Western Conference and their Top Players
| Year | 1st Seed | Player A | Player B | 2nd Seed | Player A | Player B | 3rd Seed | Player A | Player B |
| 14-15 | GSW | Curry | Thompson | HOU | Harden | Howard | LAC | Paul | Griffin |
| 13-14 | SAS | Leonard | Duncan | OKC | Durant | Westbrook | LAC | Paul | Griffin |
| 12-13 | OKC | Durant | Westbrook | SAS | Duncan | Parker | DEN | Lawson | Iguodala |
| 11-12 | SAS | Duncan | Parker | OKC | Durant | Westbrook | LAL | Bryant | Gasol |
| 10-11 | SAS | Duncan | Parker | LAL | Bryant | Gasol | DAL | Nowitzki | Terry |
| 09-10 | LAL | Bryant | Gasol | DAL | Nowitzki | Kidd | PHX | Nash | Stoudemire |
| 08-09 | LAL | Bryant | Gasol | DEN | Anthony | Billups | SAS | Duncan | Parker |
| 07-08 | LAL | Bryant | Gasol | NOH | Paul | West | SAS | Duncan | Ginobli |
| 06-07 | DAL | Nowitzki | Howard | PHX | Nash | Stoudemire | SAS | Duncan | Ginobli |
| 05-06 | SAS | Duncan | Parker | PHX | Nash | Stoudemire | DEN | Anthony | Camby |
As the above table shows, a top 10 player in the league is needed to attain top 3 status in the Western Conference during this time. Two top 20 players are usually needed to advance to the Finals. In the last ten years, Golden State, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Los Angeles, and Dallas have all advanced to the Finals. Curry, Thompson, Duncan, Parker, Ginobli, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Bryant, Gasol, and Nowitzki.
Those are the kinds of players we need to hope to find, but that still leaves room for the Chris Pauls and Blake Griffins and Carmelo Anthonys of the world.
I bring this up because so many people have been against trading for a guy like Blake Griffin or a guy like Demarcus Cousins. Well, Griffin is on this list twice already, and Cousins is on the Kings, who just beat the crap out of our team last night. The Kings...
The title of this post is "I really hope we develop a Top Ten Player." The table shows why, because of the 30 total seasons above, 26 of them would have what I consider a top ten caliber player on their roster, and the only 4 that don't? The 13-14 Spurs that out-teamed everyone, and the three Denver Nuggets seasons...yikes.
Nothing is going to change for the Nuggets unless we develop a top ten player out of our players or draft picks, or we say "What the Hell" and trade for one. I'm sick and tired of the "No Superstar" Nuggets, because we have decades of evidence to know how the story ends even if we get into the playoffs.
So Tim, either find a way to accumulate 3-5 top 50 players in the NBA, develop a superstar, or trade for one with all of the assets we have accumulated. If the goal is to win an NBA championship, then the 2004 Detroit Pistons are probably a poor model due to probability and sample size.
Your move.
