It's not like they are just a bunch of good 7 foot centers in the NBA. I mean, seriously. There are less than five probably.
Starting Centers Over 7 foot: Chris Kaman, Brad Miller, Chris Mihm, Yao Ming, Michael Olowokandi, Joel Pryzibilla, Andrew Bogut, Primoz Brezec, Zydrunus Ilgauskas, Jerome James, Nenad Krstic, Shaquille O'Neal....
How many of those players are actually any good? I mean.. You have Shaq, Yao, and Bogut may become a good player. Krstic still has some potential, and Kaman has potential. But, it's not like 7 foot monsters are easy to find.. Especially offensive monsters.. There's only Shaq and Yao right now, and Yao's soft and Shaq's old and breaking down.
But, you don't need to get a big monster to win, but you need to get lucky.
Heat = Got Shaq for mediocre players, Dwayne Wade became a superstar.
Pacers = Got Jermaine for virtually nothing. Got Artest for little.
Spurs = Got number one pick, picked Duncan, not too many Duncans. Also got lucky with the Parker and Ginobili picks.
Pistons = Got lucky a lot. Got lucky with the Rip for Stack trade. Got a steal and a half out of that one. Chauncey broke out into an MVP candidate this season. Ben Wallace got thrown into the Grant Hill sign and trade. Got Rasheed for virtually nothing, by trading the likes of Bob Sura and Chucky Atkins. Tayshaun was better than anybody expected.
You don't win without luck. I guess, there's some skill behind that luck, you need to do what you're doing. But, luck is really important. The Warriors just haven't got any great draft spots, they've never been bad enough to get a number one pick, but they aren't good enough to make the playoffs.
Do I think they'll make the playoffs this year? Yeah, I think they'll sneak in as an eight seed, only if Baron Davis stays healthy for the entire season, which could be a lot to ask of him.