Youth Movement NBA: The Future Is Now

Our own Nathan Grubel dives into his latest project for No Ceilings: a closer look at the development of young NBA players and what lessons can be learned to project in the NBA Draft.

It’s a Youth Movement in the NBA, and we’re all witnesses…

It’s no secret that in order to win an NBA championship, it requires years of hard work, dedication, chemistry, and an entire organization that’s on the same page.

Winners aren’t crowned overnight. Fighting through adversity season after season is how champions make their metal in the league.

But there’s been a trend in the NBA for a bit now that’s under-discussed in mainstream media coverage. 

NBA stars are emerging and reaching great heights at younger ages than ever before.

Go through the Top 20 leaders in points per game last season. Seven of those players were age 25 years or younger, and if you extend to the Top 50, you’d find 21 others in that same bucket.

Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Maxey, Trae Young, Zion Williamson, Victor Wembanyama—that list will contiue to grow, as there are plenty more young talents on the horizon from the 2024 draft and in classes coming in very, very soon (looking at you, Cooper Flagg).

In terms of collecting talent, there are three main avenues to doing so in the NBA. Organizations can draft players, trade for players, or acquire them in free agency. 

While championship contenders are filled with guys from each of those categories, there’s generally one constant throughout the NBA’s history: drafting young stars to build the culture and foundation of a team is paramount.

Let’s just take a brief look at the NBA teams that have won a title over the last 10 years, and see if there are important threads to be pulled from each result.

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2014-24 NBA Champions

2014 NBA Champions: San Antonio Spurs

o   Tim Duncan – Originally drafted by the Spurs (1997 Draft, Pick 1)

o   Tony Parker – Originally drafted by the Spurs (2001 Draft, Pick 28)

o   Manu Ginobli – Originally drafted by the Spurs (1999 Draft, Pick 57)

o   Kawhi Leonard – Traded for him on Draft Night (2011 Draft, Pick 15)

2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022 NBA Champions: Golden State Warriors

o   Stephen Curry – Originally drafted by the Warriors (2009 Draft, Pick 7)

o   Klay Thompson – Originally drafted by the Warriors (2011 Draft, Pick 11)

o   Draymond Green – Originally drafted by the Warriors (2012 Draft, Pick 35)

o   Andre Iguodala – Key Acquisition by the Warriors (2004 Draft, Pick 9)

o   Kevin Durant – Key Acquisition by the Warriors (2007 Draft, Pick 2)

o   Andrew Wiggins – Key Acquisition by the Warriors (2014 Draft, Pick 1)

2016 NBA Champions: Cleveland Cavaliers

o   LeBron James – Originally drafted by the Cavaliers, returned as FA (2003 Draft, Pick 1)

o   Kyrie Irving – Originally drafted by the Cavaliers (2011 Draft, Pick 1)

o   Kevin Love – Key Acquisition by the Cavaliers (2008 Draft, Pick 5)

o   Tristan Thompson – Originally drafted by the Cavaliers (2011 Draft, Pick 4)

o   JR Smith – Key Acquisition by the Cavaliers (2004 Draft, Pick 18)

2019 NBA Champions: Toronto Raptors

o   Kawhi Leonard – Key Acquisition by the Raptors (2011 Draft, Pick 15)

o   Kyle Lowry – Key Acquisition by the Raptors (2006 Draft, Pick 24)

o   Pascal Siakam – Originally drafted by the Raptors (2016 Draft, Pick 27)

o   Fred VanVleet – Undrafted, originally signed by the Raptors (2016 Draft)

o   Marc Gasol – Key Acquisition by the Raptors (2007 Draft, Pick 48)

o   Jonas Valanciunas – Originally drafted by the Raptors (2011 Draft, Pick 5)

2020 NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers

o   LeBron James – Key Acquisition by the Lakers (2003 Draft, Pick 1)

o   Anthony Davis – Key Acquisition by the Lakers (2012 Draft Pick 1); Acquired by trading original draft picks Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball

o   Kyle Kuzma – Originally drafted by the Lakers (2017 Draft, Pick 27)

o   Alex Caruso – Undrafted, originally signed by the Lakers (2016 Draft)

o   Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Key Acquisition by the Lakers (2013 Draft, Pick 8)

o   Dwight Howard – Key Acquisition by the Lakers (2004 Draft Pick 1)

2021 NBA Champions: Milwaukee Bucks

o   Giannis Antetokounmpo – Originally drafted by the Bucks (2013 Draft Pick 15)

o   Khris Middleton – Key Acquisition by the Bucks (2012 Draft Pick 39)

o   Jrue Holiday – Key Acquisition by the Bucks (2009 Draft, Pick 17)

o   Brook Lopez – Key Acquisition by the Bucks (2008 Draft, Pick 10)

2023 NBA Champions: Denver Nuggets

o   Nikola Jokic – Originally drafted by the Nuggets (2014 Draft, Pick 41)

o   Jamal Murray – Originally drafted by the Nuggets (2016 Draft, Pick 7)

o   Michael Porter Jr. – Originally drafted by the Nuggets (2018 Draft, Pick 14)

o   Aaron Gordon – Key Acquisition by the Nuggets (2014 Draft, Pick 4)

o   Kentavious Caldwell- Pope – Key Acquisition by the Nuggets (2013 Draft, Pick 8)

o   Bruce Brown – Key Acquisition by the Nuggets (2018 Draft, Pick 42)

o   Christian Braun – Originally drafted by the Nuggets (2022 Draft, Pick 21)

2024 NBA Champions: Boston Celtics

o   Jayson Tatum – Originally drafted by the Celtics (2017 Draft, Pick 3)

o   Jaylen Brown – Originally drafted by the Celtics (2016 Draft, Pick 3)

o   Jrue Holiday – Key Acquisition by the Celtics (2009 Draft, Pick 17)

o   Derrick White – Key Acquisition by the Celtics (2017 Draft, Pick 29)

o   Kristaps Porzingis – Key Acquisition by the Celtics (2015 Draft, Pick 4)

o   Al Horford – Key Acquisition by the Celtics (2007 Draft, Pick 3)

o   Sam Hauser – Undrafted, originally signed by the Celtics (2021 Draft)

Big Takeaways

What can we gather from those teams? Well, apart from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, each of those rosters had players that were drafted by the same organization and developed over time into star-level contributors. 

Sure, each squad had key acquisitions over the years through trades or free agency, but even looking at the Lakers, the concept of hitting on lottery picks still bore itself out. Anthony Davis was acquired in a trade for #2 overall picks Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram in their respective drafts. Without finding players who could become high-level starters with those picks, Los Angeles may not have been in a position to be as attractive a destination for LeBron James and have the assets to go out and acquire a second star like Davis.

To hammer home the point of drafting well, each of those teams didn’t just rely on lottery picks either to win championships. Of those 42 core players mentioned above, 23 of them were selected with picks 1-14 in their respective drafts, meaning that 19 were selected outside of that range—and a number of key starters were even late first or second-round picks!

There’s more than one way to field a title contender in the NBA. But each of those pathways nearly always involves drafting and developing young building blocks in order to take the next step towards establishing and maintaining a healthy and competitive culture.

Enter Youth Movement NBA

So given how important of a blueprint this is, where does Youth Movement NBA fit into all of this?

When I sat down and thought about where I wanted to go next in basketball, I actually pivoted backward to what got me interested in the sport in the first place.

Learning about the draft and how to scout and find the next young stars who would come in and impact the league in a major way was how I started studying the game and covering it years ago for other media outlets.

Thinking back and leaning in that direction, it dawned on me that this area of coverage is underserved in the basketball community from a consistency standpoint. 

My goal overall is to provide coverage year-round on players with three years of NBA service or less in the league itself, the G League, and other players who are overseas and deserve a chance to come back on a Two-Way or Standard contract. Which players are breaking out as stars on the biggest of stages at young ages? What lessons can we learn from their developments or shortcomings, and how can we apply those evaluating prospects in the draft?

In doing so, I hope to also tell the stories of those who are finding success at lower levels while also discussing observations and insights with coaches and player development specialists who are boots on the ground each day with players looking to make their mark and break through to the NBA.

Each week, you’re going to find a rotating update on NBA rookies, sophomores, juniors, and G League standouts, as well as in-depth analysis through non-contending teams and their young cores. Which players are succeeding, how are they reaching the levels that they are, and what can these teams do to continue to add to their foundations? Who are the young players on other teams, both in the NBA and around the world, who deserve a chance to carve out a larger role for an organization looking to take the next step?

With hopefully more content than that in the pipeline, I want Youth Movement NBA to grow into the best resource it can be for those interested in the draft, as well as those who want to learn more about the young guys on their favorite teams.

We live in an exciting time when it comes to the game of basketball. There’s no better place to learn more about the sport while also being able to have fun and appreciate it than No Ceilings, which is why I couldn’t be more thrilled to bring this column home where it belongs.

Join me as we continue to learn and grow together. After all, that’s what basketball is all about!