Superteam or Not? Analyzing 10 So-Called Teams
The idea of superteams isn't new. Just the label.
Well before Twitter, the 1927 New York Yankees never received such superlatives despite Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig dominating. With free agency yet to develop, none of Larry Bird's Boston Celtics teammates faced scorn for chasing rings.
So what constitutes a superteam? Must they fight crime like the Avengers or Justice League? Need only champions apply?
The real superteams don't refer to themselves as such. They don't need a free-agent signing bonanza to draw headlines. Franchises such as the New England Patriots and San Antonio Spurs have harnessed their powers for years.
Those consistent powerhouses are not the clubs frequenting this space. This is about the teams who entered a season with a new look and hordes of new followers. Everyone—often the teams themselves included—confidently predicted success.
For many, it never came. For others, it happened a year or two later. Not every script is finished yet.
Let's look back at some of sports' branded "superteams" over the last five years.
2010-11 Miami Heat
1 of 10
"Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven..."
LeBron James would likely take back that line if he could. While he has represented the Eastern Conference in six straight NBA Finals, he set the bar a tad high upon joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat.
Perhaps the first true superteam assembled via free agency, onlookers echoed James' expectations. By the championship-or-bust barometer, the first year was a failure.
Expected to dominate the 2010-11 season, the Heat only won 58 games. For all their star power, the San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls still finished with better records. Yet none of that mattered when Miami cruised to the Finals, winning each series in five games.
Only the Dallas Mavericks stood in their way. While Dirk Nowitzki had a well-assembled supporting cast, none received megastar branding. After they sealed the upset in six, Bill Simmons—RIP Grantland—reflected on observers waiting until the final moments for Miami to find an extra gear:
"With Dallas leading Miami by two (53-51) at halftime of Game 6, Vegas favored Miami by 4½ points in the second half. You know what that means? To the bitter end, even after evidence mounted that LeBron James wasn’t ready for this level of scrutiny or that Miami was a modern-day version of Mike Tyson (the big, bad bully who morphed into an exceedingly beatable bully as soon as you stood your ground and socked them in the mouth), a majority of people still believed they were going to figure it out. They did not.
"
Five years ago, critics took out their pitchforks in delight to celebrate the superteam falling short to the loyal superstar and perfect assortment of talent. But the Heat's Big Three grew more experienced and comfortable with each other and won two titles in four tries before James went back home.
Super Rating (Scale of 1-10): 8
2011 Philadelphia Eagles
2 of 10
How much must Vince Young regret labeling the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles a "dream team"?
The Eagles fortified their roster with an offseason spending spree, signing cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie as well as defensive end Jason Babin. And yes, they also brought in Young as an insurance plan for quarterback Michael Vick.
"From Nnamdi to Cromartie, to Jason to myself," Young told the media during the summer, per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. "I know they are going to do some more things. ... It’s just beautiful to see where we’re trying to go."
It was ugly seeing where they went. All the talent led to an 8-8 finish, snapping a streak of three consecutive postseason appearances. Asomugha abruptly lost his status as a shutdown corner. In six games replacing an ineffective and injured Vick, Young surrendered 11 turnovers.
For what it's worth, they ended the disappointing season on a four-game winning streak and held a plus-68 point differential. The New York Giants, meanwhile, won the division and Super Bowl despite a minus-six scoring margin.
According to NJ.com's , center Jason Kelce is the only one of 23 offseason acquisitions (via free agency, trade and draft) still on the team. The Eagles didn't learn their lesson, as they spent the last offseason pressing reset on DeMarco Murray and other failed moves made by Chip Kelly.
Super Rating: 4
2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers
3 of 10
Even if it takes a year or two, a true NBA superteam usually delivers. When putting multiple basketball stars on the same side, a deep playoff run without a title represents failure.
Let's not forget about the 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers, whom many expected to push Miami to the limit in a highly anticipated Finals clash pitting James against Kobe Bryant. How could the Black Mamba, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard deliver any less?
San Antonio swept them out of the first round in four double-digit losses.
By the time the playoffs rolled around, they were no longer anyone's idea of a superteam. Bryant pushed his body beyond its limits to salvage a playoff spot, playing over 40 minutes in eight straight games and the full 48 minutes twice. He paid the price, tearing his Achilles right before the playoffs.
The intense competitor forced his hand by guaranteeing a playoff spot late in the season. He recalled the declaration to ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes near the end of his retirement tour.
"I felt like the die had to be cast, even for my teammates," Bryant said. "It had to be understood—we're doing this thing. It's not a wishy-washy thing. It's, 'No, we're doing it.' Sometimes, when you're putting it out in the public like that, those things have a tendency to manifest themselves."
A certain championship contender on paper, the Lakers never clicked on the court. Nash, a former back-to-back MVP, averaged only 6.7 assists in 50 games. Despite Defensive Player of the Year Howard clogging the paint, they allowed 101 points per contest.
Assembling those stars also did a number on their bench. That year signaled the beginning of the end for Nash's career, and Howard left Hollywood. Any superteam with James is an immediate title candidate, but the same didn't apply for Bryant.
Super Rating: 3
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2013 Los Angeles Dodgers
4 of 10
After spending many years stuck in the middle, the Los Angeles Dodgers tried to buy a championship under new ownership.
Saving the franchise from Frank McCourt, Guggenheim Partners spared no expense once purchasing the organization. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the team's Opening Day payroll more than doubled from approximately $105 million to $216 million in 2013. The majority of MLB subsidized under $100 million in player salaries.
Accounting for most of the increase, the Dodgers acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett from the Boston Red Sox—who seized the opportunity to wipe their slate clean. While Gonzalez remains one of their sturdiest hitters three years later, Crawford never played more than 116 games for them in a single season.
Two years after twirling a 2.89 ERA, Beckett allowed 30 runs (25 earned) over 43.1 subpar innings. Yet it wasn't all bad because of lesser-paid contributors.
In his third season, Kenley Jansen emerged as an elite late-inning reliever. Taking a back seat to a team of high-profile names, Juan Uribe accrued 5.0 WAR, per FanGraphs. After a 47-47 first half, they reached their potential behind the resurgent Hanley Ramirez and rookie phenom Yasiel Puig.
Slow start aside, they won the NL West and advanced to the National League Championship Series, where Clayton Kershaw endured one of the worst starts of his brilliant career in a season-ending Game 6 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The main takeaway from the 2013 Dodgers: Money can buy a playoff ticket but not a World Series ring.
Super Rating: 7
2014 Denver Broncos
5 of 10
The year after unleashing the most lethal offense in NFL history, the Denver Broncos bolstered their defense with major free-agent signings. While there's too much parity (and too many AFC powerhouses) to have slapped them with the "superteam" label, the reigning AFC champions certainly entered 2014 as a top title contender.
After Denver fell short in the Super Bowl, general manager John Elway reloaded by signing DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward. Although NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal warned against equating big contracts to wins, he noted the unique circumstances in play:
"The Broncos already were going to be the AFC favorites before these moves. Now they look like a colossus, which is great for football fans. The NFL is more interesting with superpowers that have extended runs atop the standings. Expect to hear some "Dream Team 2" labels thrown around. Spending big rarely equates to wins in the NFL, but big-spending teams normally don't have Manning at quarterback.
"
Accomplishing the mission on the defensive front, the Broncos yielded 45 fewer points and jumped from No. 15 to No. 4 in Football Outsiders' Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA). Yet the offense, unable to sustain its scorched-earth 2013, gave back those gains.
Dropping from 13 to 12 regular-season victories ultimately didn't matter, as Elway likely bolstered his defense mainly with the postseason in mind. The Broncos suffered the wrath of a single-elimination playoff bracket, dropping their first game to the Indianapolis Colts.
Denver didn't get the job done in 2014, but these moves helped craft the defensive juggernaut that carried a washed-up Manning to a championship two years later.
Super Rating: 7
2015 Washington Nationals
6 of 10
For all of the statistical advances and advantages from analyzing isolated outcomes over a larger sample size, one would think baseball would be easier to prognosticate. Last year's Washington Nationals once again proved this wrong.
Before the season started, 85 of 88 ESPN.com analysts picked them to win the National League East. Six of 15 highlighted pundits predicted a World Series triumph. When Bryce Harper spoke confidently of their chances in early May, per CBS DC' Chris Lingebach, he wasn't saying anything new.
"We’re such a great team," he said. "We’re the team to beat. Everybody knows that. We’re gonna get hot. Everybody knows that, too."
The brash outfielder certainly did his part, hitting .330/.460/.649 with 42 homers en route to winning NL MVP honors. Signed before the season, Max Scherzer handled his share by registering a 2.79 ERA and 276 strikeouts.
The supporting cast crumbled. Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth and Denard Span all missed significant time because of injuries and struggled when healthy. The bullpen struggled, and midseason acquisition Jonathan Papelbon didn't help matters by choking Harper in the dugout.
They went 35-40 after the All-Star break, twice getting swept by the New York Mets before ceding control of the division. A lengthy report by the Washington Post's Barry Svrluga details the depths of their clubhouse dysfunction under manager Matt Williams, who was fired after the team finished 83-79.
New skipper Dusty Baker has harnessed more of their talent in 2016, as the Nationals took the NL East back from the Mets.
Super Rating: 4
2016 U.S. Olympic Basketball Teams
7 of 10
The United States' winning gold in Olympic basketball gets treated as a formality. Of course a team of NBA or WNBA superstars will dominate the world.
While the men made good on those assumptions, it wasn't as easy as anticipated. During a three-game window, Australia, Serbia and France challenged Team USA in three contests decided by 16 combined points. The 2012 U.S. squad outscored the opposition by 32.1 points per game in London.
Without James, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry in Rio de Janeiro, Mike Krzyzewski's club suddenly looked mortal, particularly on defense. In the end, this is all splitting hairs, as the U.S. trounced Serbia by 30 in the gold-medal matchup.
The women experienced no moments of weakness, instead winning every game by at least 20 points. With Maya Moore, Tina Charles and Brittney Griner joining Olympic veterans Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Tamika Catchings, coach Geno Auriemma arguably had his most loaded roster to date.
Registering 102.1 points per game while limiting opponents to a 37.1 field-goal percentage, they never left the outcome in doubt. As Griner surmised afterword, per USA Today's Sam Amick, the program is poised to keep dominating behind her, Elena Delle Donne and Breanna Stewart.
"I keep talking to E [Delle Donne] about how we’ve got to do what D [Taurasi] and Sue did—that could be us, with Stewie as well," Griner said. "That could be us. … We’re still young. We’re still learning. We just got our diapers off."
Super Rating (Men's Team): 9
Super Rating (Women's Team): 10
2016 Chicago Cubs
8 of 10
The Chicago Cubs dominated during the season, and this should surprise nobody.
A baseball rarity, the perennial preseason favorite exceeded the hype. Per ESPN.com's Dan Szymborski, ZiPS projected them to earn an MLB-best 94 victories. Going back to ESPN.com's preseason picks, 27 of 31 correctly awarded the Cubs their first NL Central title since 2008.
They performed even better than their bullish projections, going 103-58 while scoring the third-most runs and relinquishing the fewest. They may roster this year's NL MVP (Kris Bryant), Cy Young Award winner (Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester) and Manager of the Year (Joe Maddon).
Cubs fans, of course, haven't waited over a century for a regular-season juggernaut. History will remember the 2016 Cubs for how they finish.
This fact is not lost on Ben Zobrist, a 35-year-old who notched an .831 OPS and 4.1 WAR, per FanGraphs, during his first year with the club. He talked about meeting expectations this October to CSN Chicago's Patrick Mooney.
"You know that when you put them together, it’s a 'superteam' of sorts," Zobrist said. "We really have to prove our record right, prove people right that we can do it when it counts. And that’s going to be the most important thing going into the postseason."
An MLB postseason is too unpredictable to confidently foreshadow. Their outcome remains up in the air, but the Cubs certainly looked super through 162 games.
Super Rating: 10 if they win the World Series, 8-9 if they don't
2016-17 New York Knicks
9 of 10
Stop laughing. Let's get this over with already.
Does anybody outside of the New York Knicks organization view the squad as a superteam? Probably not. In fact, most people inside Madison Square Garden probably don't either, but new point guard Derrick Rose put them in the same sentence as the Golden State Warriors in an interview with NBA.com's Lang Whitaker.
"I mean, with these teams right now, they're saying us and Golden State are the superteams," Rose said. "And they're trying not to build that many superteams, and Adam Silver came out with the statement and this and that. And the expectations I think of us, we just want to win."
These comments come from a player who compiled a minus-0.7 Value Above Replacement Player (VORP) last season, per Basketball-Reference.com. Far more concerning, he's currently on trial for rape.
According to Odds Shark, Vegas placed the Knicks' over-under line at 38.5 wins. ESPN's real plus-minus formula, per ESPN Insider Kevin Pelton, projects them to fall short of that low barrier with 34.7 victories.
After missing the playoffs in each of the last three years, some Knicks fans will view a postseason appearance as super. Acquiring high-profile veterans past their prime does not qualify them for superteam billing.
A winning record would be nice, though.
Predicted Super Rating: 2
2016-17 Golden State Warriors
10 of 10
The Golden State Warriors added a top-tier superstar to a team that won an NBA-record 73 games last season. How can they not win it all?
There are two feasible hindrances: injuries and LeBron James. Then again, adding Kevin Durant offers Golden State insurance in the event of one star going down. Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson aren't losing three straight games to the Cleveland Cavaliers if Draymond Green gets suspended again.
They're also different from the 2011 Heat and 2013 Lakers—and yes, this year's Knicks—in one major way. ESPN.com's Zach Lowe examined the significant variance right after Durant made his league-altering decision:
"Shooting makes every fit easier, because great shooters do damage even when they don't have the ball.
This isn't the 2011 Miami Heat, with two ball-dominant wings who couldn't spread the floor when the other guy took his turn.
This isn't the 2004 Los Angeles Lakers -- or the later Steve Nash and Dwight Howard version, either.
"
The Warriors have the last two MVP winners, who happen to also be the two best shooters on the planet. An unselfish distributor, Curry has always shown a willingness to step aside whenever Thompson caught fire. Against Golden State last year, Durant confirmed his status as a passing and defensive dynamo.
How can this not work?
Already a juggernaut, the Warriors replaced Harrison Barnes—who went 5-of-32 during Games 5-7 of the Finals—with a future Hall of Famer. The laundry list of underwhelming superteams suggests proceeding with caution, but Golden State looks more unstoppable than any of its predecessors.
Predicted Super Rating: 10
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