If Rose hadn't been hurt, the Bulls would be starting 4 guys they drafted (Rose, Butler, Deng, Noah) with Taj coming off the bench OKC has drafted KD, Westbrook, and Ibaka, and initially got good with Harden, whom they drafted San Antonio drafted Duncan, Parker, Manu, Kawhi Leonard Portland drafted Aldridge, Lillard, Nic Batum Indy drafted Hibbert, George, and Lance Stephenson While that's not a huge list of homegrown guys, and many of those guys were drafted after the teams got top 5 picks (KD, Westbrook, Rose, Duncan, Aldridge)... But that's what happens, you still have to pick the right guys when you're at the top of the draft. And those are, after Miami, probably 5 (in this hypothetical non-injured DRose scenario) of the 6 or 7 next best teams Bulls - Got good when they got Rose. Not when they draft top 5 every year for 7 straight years. Spurs - Got lucky that D Robinson got hurt in the year Duncan came out. OKC - Got lucky Durant didnt go #1 that year. A core of Oden/Westbrook/Ibaka would challenge for an 8 seed. Indy - Traded Jermaine Oneal for Hibbert. Otherwise a good example of taking mid first roudners and adding quality vets in free agency. Other than Spurs (and lets be honest they lucked into one of the greatest players of all time)these teams have 0 titles and 2 final appearences. Other teams of note: Heat - 3 titles purchased through free agency. Celtics - free agency Mavs - Won in dirk's 13 year with FA vets Chandler/Kidd/Terry/Marion/Stevenson LA - Shaq and Pau. Superstars with veteran supporting casts win in the NBA. Not young players and not through the lottery. Hibbert was essentially picked by Indy, because the trade of O'neal to Toronto was completed as soon as he was picked. Toronto picked him for the Pacers. And while other than the Spurs there are no titles, the Heat are (and have been) a serious Lebron injury away from being just another also-ran. And the argument wasn't about title winning teams, You asked what good teams did so through the draft, and I named 5 top teams that have pretty much done just that. Yes, they have supplemented their drafted players through free agency and they have picked at the top of the draft to get their big time stars, but that is exactly what teams like Philly are hoping to do. If Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins gets drafted by the 76ers or whoever and becomes a star, then they can add some pieces beside them and be competing for a title.