Josh Smith recently spoke about how the arrival of Al Horford helped the Atlanta Hawks come out of their losing ways.

The Los Angeles Clippers selected Michael Olowokandi in the 1998 Draft, which could have made a player like Paul Pierce a superstar with the team.

Julius Randle did this before. He played center in the NBA. He played it regularly, in fact, as a young member of the Lakers.

From an existence as two destitute neighbouring clubs, to the unloved, money haemorrhaging enterprises in a foreign territory ...