Every team has Centers. Denver doesn't have a Center, they have the best player in the world who happens to be their Center. He plays from anywhere on the floor, and often times that's the perimeter. He has to be guarded out to 27 feet, which makes his passing vision that much more deadly. If he wasn't a threat from deep, he couldn't make the passes he does. Simple math, more open space, more places to cut to.
As for the Wolves/Goebert, every season, the team that is opposing Goebert plays a quick, skilled 5 (who is often more of a 4 than a 5). They lure Goebert out to the perimeter, and he is blown by constantly until he is relegated to the bench for the rest of the series. It's not a mistake that his teams have had little playoff success despite multiple all stars/all NBA players. Towns, you can classify as a "center" if you want, but all he does is shoot 3's and play poor defense.
Small is a misnomer here. The idea is to have 5 skilled (shoot/pass/dribble) players on the floor at a time. It used to be that you could only have a max of 4 because no centers could dribble or shoot, but that has changed.
Wemby, Chet, Porzingis, Jokic, etc... all play this way. Perimeter bigs open up the floor for other players to get shots closer to the basket that would have been much more difficult if there was a Center standing in the restricted area all the time.
Our very own University of Connecticut Huskies played "small" this season, and every coach lamented how impossible it was to defend 5 skilled players on the floor at the same time. If you'd like, i can present you with the video evidence.
But you know all this. We've all had this conversation before. Last time, i asked you to find a single reputable person who says its better to be smaller in the NBA. You are welcomed to use the entire internet....i'll wait. Last time, you abandoned the thread because asking you to show your work dismantles your strawman.
