Roster Construction Is Fluid

Regardless of sport, imagine your roster is comprised of four 'categories' of players:

• Lottery picks (high draft picks)
• First rounders
• Second rounders
• Free agents

Highly successful teams have more talent. For example, the Celtics have a trio of 'top three' picks in Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford. Marcus Smart was a sixth. You don't get those guys in free agency out of school.  

Lottery picks don't start middle school as elite. They train, play club and high school basketball, and so forth. There's no guarantee that personal training, club play, and time make you a lottery pick or even a first rounder. But you can move between categories with training and experience. 

You don't have to be a first round pick to become a champion. Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors was a second round pick who has won four championships and been on four NBA All-Star teams. The second round pick became first round talent. 

Draft status depends on many factors including size, athleticism, and skill. In The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis profiles Nobel Laureate Danny Kahneman and his late colleague Amos Tversky. Lewis explains how top NBA picks depend on age (younger is better), college (legacy programs are better), and performance. 

History shows that players evolve. Rachel Johnson spent most of her career as an elite blocker but improved enough to become a "first round" player with improved attacking, averaging nearly ten kills a match during the final three games of the 2012 Melrose title run. Add her to the 'lottery picks' Sarah McGowan, Brooke Bell, and Jennifer Cain and it's easy to understand how Melrose had a 'wagon'. 

Every player on Melrose has improved during the season. But the growth of one in particular parallels the Rachel Johnson story. Roster construction is fluid.