Positionless basketball killed the traditional center, and nobody is coaching bigs to space the floor anymore
Look at a box score from 2005 and a box score from now and the biggest structural difference isn't the three-point volume, it's what's happened to the center position. Back-to-the-basket bigs who could only score in the post are basically extinct in a rotation that matters, and the ones still getting minutes are either switchable defenders who can guard perimeter players or stretch bigs who can knock down a three. Here's my actual gripe though. That shift happened at the roster construction level way faster than it happened at the development level. Teams still draft seven-footers who were dominant at the college or international level purely on size and touch around the rim, then get surprised two years later when that skill set doesn't translate to a league where switching defenses force you to guard on the perimeter and floor spacing means you need a jump shot to stay on the court. The scouting caught up. The actual coaching of young bigs, teaching them to shoot threes and defend in space from day one instead of bolting it on later, still hasn't.