When I was young, I suffered through Sacramento Kings' seasons with Joe Kleine as a starting center because the three-point shot was underutilized and a big center was mandatory.
The Modern Day NBA values skill, whether due to rule changes, analytics, Steph Curry, Billy Donovan/Rick Pitino, Vance Walberg/DDM, European influences, or common sense. Often, skill = small because taller players are not allowed to handle the ball or shoot at young ages. When taller, bigger players cannot exploit mismatches on the interior, height loses its impact, especially in the NBA which has all but passed a rule outlawing second shots (teams rarely send more than one player to offensive glass).
If you cannot exploit a smaller defender, the system discourages you from pounding the offensive glass, and you have to chase smaller attackers around the three-point line, negating some of your defensive prowess, your effectiveness is limited, and often replaced by a smaller, more versatile player.
Now that the modern-day NBA has accepted that skill beats size, size is diversifying and developing skills. No longer do we view a 6'8 player who dribbles and passes as an anomaly, and we expect our 7' to shoot competently. As more taller players develop all-around skills, the skilled, taller player has advantages due to versatility, defensive length, and more.
The teams listed above did not employ traditional centers; Milwaukee's Brook Lopez is a three-point shooter; Philadelphia's Joel Embiid plays like a 1990's SF; Marc Gasol shoots 3s and initiates the offense; and Denver's Nikola Jokic is a point-center. Utah's Rudy Gobert is the only starting center without a new-age game, but he's a great compliment as a rim-running lob threat with defensive mobility.
Furthermore, their size comes because players like Simmons, Giannis, Kawhi, Siakam, and others have size and skills to play multiple positions. These teams are not sacrificing skill to add height; they're building around skilled players who have size and versatility. Skill is king, but when the skilled player has more size, he is that much more valuable in today's NBA.
