When's the last time a conference finalist replaced 4 starters in an off-season?

[No Nickname]

I imagine there may have been times where a team had a bunch of old dudes that "rode off into the sunset."  But for the most part, teams that make it to the conference finals are competing for a championship (yeah, I know we weren't getting past Cleveland or Golden State, but you do have to think you're closer than an 8th seed).

So how often has a team in the championship hunt just blown it up and replaced four starters? 

It should be noted that no team in the history of the NBA has had as many assets and had as much cap room as the 2016-17 Boston Celtics.  Seriously, that's a once-in-a-lifetime situation where you fleece a team as badly as Danny fleeced the Nets and you fall into a trade that nets you an All NBA 2nd Teamer for peanuts (IT), you get two All Stars in free agency in two years (Horford and Hayward), and you have enough high draft picks and tantalizing players (Crowder, Zizic, and the Nets 2018 pick) to get another All-Star (Irving).

Heady times we're living in!

 

[action781]

I don't know, but the next time it happens will probably be next offseason with the Cavs!   

[Moranis]

I don't know, but the next time it happens will probably be next offseason with the Cavs!   

unless they trade 2 of Thompson, Love, and Smith tjey aren't replacing 4 starters next summer no matter what James does or what happens with Thomas

[csfansince60s]

Great question...TP.

An equally interesting question: "When was the last time a conference finalist returned only 4 players from their whole team???"

[mr. dee]

Lebron changing his jersey from Heat to Cavs

[slamtheking]

I believe the 2003-2004 Lakers of Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton had a turnover of 4 starters going into the 2004-2005 season

[action781]

I don't know, but the next time it happens will probably be next offseason with the Cavs!   

unless they trade 2 of Thompson, Love, and Smith tjey aren't replacing 4 starters next summer no matter what James does or what happens with Thomas

I think they'll aggressively try to trade all of the above if Lebron leaves.

[LilRip]

What makes our situation even more unique is that we didn't just replace 4 starters to blow it up and rebuild (like the Lakers or Cavs in recent memory). We replaced 4 starters to reload for another run! And we're probably closer to contention than last year too! That's crazy.

[tstorey_97]

Sorry for Off Topic,,,examples listed here are/will be teams that are more closely linked to descriptor..."conference finalist."

I understand the Celtics were "conference finalists." I disagree you could rate the team at the level implied by "title."

Celtics have had great difficulty getting over .500 against the following teams...

Cav's
Spurs
GSW
OKC
Rockets
Raptors

If we brought in Las Vegas and asked them to set up a money line for a 7 game series last June with any of these teams. I don't see the Celtic's "conference finalists" taking national money without Vegas' coming up with points.

Celtics vs Cav's last six games 1-5...Cav's went out west and got destroyed in the finals.

When was the last time the Celtics beat the Spur's?
Westbrook kills the C's
Raptors are better than .500 against C's the last two years.

The roster was composed of players whom played their hearts out against more talented teams. It was a joy to behold and now? Management is preparing to make a title run.

Last year's roster was not dominant based on their performance against teams with winning records. "Conference finalist" in name only.

[fairweatherfan]

Without looking, the 98 Bulls? They lost Jordan/Pippen/Rodman at minimum.