"They did everything wrong, including drafting all of these players who have since established themselves as solid starters in this league, without which they would never have had enough assets to swing the AD trade that won them a title." Say what you will about that mid-2010s fallow period, but they drafted extremely well. It's not like they got the best player every draft, but when they finally found themselves drafting at the top of the board they hit on nearly every pick (Russell, Randle, and Ingram have all made All Star teams, and Ball is an integral part of a contender this year), as well as picked up solid contributors in the late 1st (Hart, Kuzma) and the 2nd round/undrafted (Clarkson, Zubac, Caruso).