Agent Zero reveals an interesting ingredient that sets the base for all successful dynasties.
When reflecting on any great NBA dynasty—whether it's the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, the Los Angeles Lakers at the turn of the century, or the Golden State Warriors of the past decade—the prevailing belief among basketball fans is that these dynasties were built through patience and perseverance, often requiring the franchise to hold onto its key pieces despite initial struggles.
However, Gilbert Arenas recently explored an intriguing point. Such legendary dynasties are not built only through patience but also entail one marquee star, at least, who is extensively underpaid. Consequently, this allowed a franchise to build a solid championship-caliber team over time.
Arenas on how great dynasties are built
In the latest episode of his podcast, "Hibachi" became visibly frustrated when his fellow panelists failed to grasp his point. The former Wizards star stressed that had the Warriors paid Stephen Curry at a level commensurate with his value early in his career, they might never have been able to string together rosters that won four championships in eight years.
"Dynasties are made off of bad contracts. If I can get one of your stupid a**es to sign some bad deals. It helps my franchise build… I got you for four years, under $44 million. If you become a two-time All-Star, two-time MVP. Cool. When your four years come in, I can make you a high offer. But right now, I got you for pennies on a dollar," he said.
"And in the next four years, I can keep adding players," Arenas added. "I just said that - BAD DEALS CREATE DYNASTIES!... I might have to pay you after four years, but today I got you for cheap… If Steph Curry was Steph Curry earlier, he would sing a rookie max, it would've handicapped them at the back end."
As Arenas correctly mentioned, before Steph signed a lucrative five-year, $201 million extension (in 2017), he had already been a two-time All-NBA First Team selectee and a two-time MVP. Yet in the 2015-16 campaign, Curry merely made $11 million annually and was the fifth-highest-earning player. This allowed the Golden State Warriors to acquire quality role players and even ultimately offer Kevin Durant $54 million for two years.
Similarly, when examining the Bulls of the 1990s, they could afford to bring in quality players like Toni Kukoc off the bench because they always had financial flexibility. This was mainly because they were paying Michael Jordan less than $4 million in each of his first eleven seasons. Ultimately, when it became clear that they needed to compensate their marquee players appropriately to retain them, Chicago quickly adjusted, paying Jordan $30 million in the 1996-97 season as well as increasing Dennis Rodman's salary from $2.5 million to $9 million.
Arenas feels Brunson has made a similar sacrifice
Just like Curry and Jordan made financial sacrifices in the past, Jalen Brunson has made a similar selfless move this offseason by forgoing over $100 million to allow the Knicks the flexibility to improve the roster around him. According to Gil, this decision will eventually benefit New York in the long run, and its effects are already evident, given how NY acquired Mikal Bridges and Karl Anthony Towns.
"Like New York, what Brunson did, that's considered a bad deal," Gilbert added. "That's going to help them in the future because they have so much money saved."
Even though fans may not readily acknowledge it, historical examples suggest that the financial sacrifice made by at least one superstar is key for any franchise to be able to string a solid roster that could regularly compete for a championship. Only time will tell if JB's sacrifice will prove equally rewarding for the Knicks.
