Some teams would be convinced of this; the situation was very mature. A blockbuster was coming.
In the summer of 2018, Masai Ujiri was thinking about the difference between a good team and a great team.
The Toronto Raptors president built Good teams; he even won the NBA Executive of the Year award in his third season as general manager of the Denver Nuggets. He built several teams of 50 wins. He built teams that won division titles. He formed teams that went to the conference finals.
But Ujiri asked himself: Did he really build a great team in Toronto – one that could legitimately win everything?
As he spent days reflecting on what might have been the riskiest move of his career, he finally found the answer and executed the switch for Kawhi Leonard.
At the moment, the NBA has a bloated middle class. There is a large group of teams, perhaps even a dozen, that are on the verge of containment. They have one or two stars. They have a way to maybe make it to the second round of the playoffs or maybe even the finals of the conference, if things go well. They are good; they are not great.
This is where James Harden comes in, and why his future may shape the course of this NBA season.