Great article, but this part is confusing: "Contrary to what many believe, signing the 'big name' free agents to max-contract deals isn’t necessarily a shortcut to the Larry O’Brien trophy. In fact, out of the last six championship teams, there have only been two significant starters that came via free agency; Rasho Nesterovic of the San Antonio Spurs in 2005, and Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010. The past six Finals MVPs came onto their teams by way of the draft." I don't think there's really a huge difference between getting big time players through trades (Shaq or Pau Gasol or Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett) or free agency---either way, it's not through the draft. I mean, both LeBron and Bosh were technically both trade acquisitions, not free agency pickups (The Summer of Free Agency The Summer of Trade Exemptions). Anyways, he goes on to talk about free agents being important to build a foundation, so I get what he's saying. The rest of the article is a great read, too.