It was an eventful, tumultuous year in the NBA. What can we take away from the highest levels of basketball in 2019?

Well, for starters, we were reminded once again that the mighty can fall

Back on January 1, the Golden State Warriors were cruising, 2/3 favorites to win the title according to Vegas oddsmakers. And it made sense: they had Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant, perhaps three of the five best shooters of all time. But they also had Draymond Green, a former Defensive Player of the Year, and DeMarcus Cousins returning from Achilles surgery. It was an all All-Star starting lineup.

It wasn’t to last, though, as injuries changed everything for the Warriors. Cousins went down first — perhaps that wasn’t a surprise, but it was still unfortunate. Then, in the Warriors’ second round series with the Rockets, Durant went down, missing their clinching Game 6. He returned in the NBA Finals, but tore his Achilles less than 12 minutes into his return in Game 5. Finally, Klay Thompson tore his ACL late in Game 6.

Now, the Warriors are one of the worst teams in the league, thanks to those injuries — and more to Steph Curry and Draymond Green — and the departure of Durant, Cousins, Andre Iguodala, and others. Golden State owner Joe Lacob bragged about being “light-years ahead” of the rest of the NBA in terms of their off-court management, but the last year of reality has been harsh on the defining team of the decade.

The team is the star

Yes, Kawhi Leonard was absolutely sensational in the 2019 playoffs, leading the Toronto Raptors to the NBA Title with averages of 30 points and nine rebounds per game. But as much as anything, the Raptors beat opponents with team play — especially on the defensive end — led by players from low draft positions.

Take second-leading scorer Pascal Siakam, the 27th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft from New Mexico State. Or 2006 No. 24 overall Kyle Lowry. Marc Gasol was taken 18th in 2007... in the second round. Danny Green was just earlier, taken 46th overall in 2009. Fred VanVleet was undrafted, and set the Finals on fire with his 3-point shooting and ability to score.

General manager Masai Ujiri won the title by correctly identifying the way these particular players would be able to contribute to a collective whole. As much as the NBA is about its stars — and Kawhi is certainly one of them — it still takes a team to win it all.

Unprecedented player movement

About 40% of the NBA’s players were free agents in the summer of 2019, which naturally led to a lot of change. Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, and Kemba Walker were the All-Stars that changed teams in the summer, changing the landscape of the NBA.

But as much as the movement mattered, some of the league’s best moments in the offseason were the surprising trades of players under contract. Kawhi didn’t look like he’d be going to the Clippers, and reports had him selecting between the Lakers and Raptors, until the Clippers were able to jostle Paul George free from Oklahoma City with an unprecedented haul of seven first-round draft picks. Likewise, we’ve never seen two players at the same position with the resumes of Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul just straight up traded for one another, without any other players involved (though there were picks).

With shorter contracts, a rising salary cap, and less patience for mediocrity among current general managers than ever before, it’s probably fair to think this trend will continue.

NBA Heliocentrism

I love this term. Remember, heliocentrism, in the scientific context, is the model which explains our solar system, where planets rotate around a central star — the Sun.

In the NBA, more and more teams are rotating their entire mode of play around their central star to a degree we’ve never seen before. Among the top 10 players all-time in Usage Percentage — simply, the percentage of a team’s possessions that end in a shot or a turnover by that player — three come from the 2019-20 season, and seven come from this decade. For the Houston Rockets (James Harden) or Milwaukee Bucks (Giannis Antetkounmpo) or Dallas Mavericks (Luka Doncic), everything revolves around giving the ball to one player over and over again and letting them do what they do best.

And honestly, it’s worked! Those three teams named above with their star in the All-Time Usage Top 10 are the three best offensive teams in the league this season. And Kawhi Leonard, Trae Young, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, DeAngelo Russell, and even Bradley Beal are in the All-Time Top 100.

One player using all these shots used to be for scoring stars on average teams: the non 2010s players in the Top 10 are Kobe Bryant’s 45-win 2006 Lakers, Michael Jordan’s 40-win 1987 Bulls team, and Allen Iverson’s 43-win 2002 Sixers. Now, it’s 50-and-60-win teams that are being led by their stars to that extent.

Will these heliocentric teams be able to win in the playoffs? That’s a question we’ll have to wait until 2020 to answer.