Lebron and Jokic could have teamed up in Cleveland

[ChipotleWest]

The 2014 draft where Jokic went in the 2nd round. Yes this is all hindsight = 20/20.

Lakers drafted Andrew Wiggins and traded him for Kevin Love. It worked out they got a championship but they could have had Lebron + Kyrie + Joker.

Then the Bucks drafted next, they had drafted Giannis a year early and could have teamed up Giannis with Joker, but instead they went with Jabari Parker. They even had a second round pick where he was still available but didn't draft him.

Sixers drafted Embiid next, hard to really blame them although if they could re-do that pick it would be Jokic. But they had 2 second round picks before Denver took Jokic, although Jokic and Embiid together would be weird (but maybe great?)

Could go down the list of teams they all missed out. A lot of players aren't in the NBA anymore.

[Def Leppard]

Would have gotten traded by Bron at some point

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[KrAzY3]

A: LeBron hasn't tended to let young players develop alongside him. Wiggins got shipped out right away, right? Name a player that became an All-Star playing with LeBron that hasn't already been an All-Star? Mo Williams is the only one I can think of and he was already putting up pretty much the same exact stats in Milwaukee. Kyrie was already an All-Star. So the last place I'd want a sleeper like Jokic or Giannis to develop would be with LeBron, because I'd be worried they'd be shipped off for an established star, you know like Wiggins for Love or Ingram for AD (both those players became All-Stars later on).

B: It's also really pointless to use this sort of hindsight, especially when someone is being slept on. It's one thing to question the Pistons picking Darko, when there were questions about Darko, and Wade, Anthony and Bosh were all known commodities and went immediately after that pick. But, even Steph Curry, not exactly slept on, known to the NBA community, he ends up at 7. Minnesota has two picks ahead of Curry and who did they get? Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio! They missed twice!

That also begs the question of development, does Steph Curry become who he is no playing for Minnesota? Does Jokic develop elsewhere? Does Giannis? What about Wade/Bosh/Anthony on a pretty stacked Pistons team, do they get enough playing time to develop? Who knows?

[One Last Shot]

The 2014 draft where Jokic went in the 2nd round. Yes this is all hindsight = 20/20.

Lakers drafted Andrew Wiggins and traded him for Kevin Love. It worked out they got a championship but they could have had Lebron + Kyrie + Joker.

Then the Bucks drafted next, they had drafted Giannis a year early and could have teamed up Giannis with Joker, but instead they went with Jabari Parker. They even had a second round pick where he was still available but didn't draft him.

Sixers drafted Embiid next, hard to really blame them although if they could re-do that pick it would be Jokic. But they had 2 second round picks before Denver took Jokic, although Jokic and Embiid together would be weird (but maybe great?)

Could go down the list of teams they all missed out. A lot of players aren't in the NBA anymore.

Guess what, every single team in the NBA will pick Jokic if they could re-do the draft now as they can easily purchase 2nd round picks from some franchise looking to sell their late draft picks for cash. Every single team will also pick Draymond, Manu, Middleton, Marc Gasol etc. as they are also 2nd round pick. That's just common sense.

[uncleduck13]

Glad it never happened. Jokic never becomes Jokic alongside Bron. Bron’s style of play would’ve hindered him severely

[Swish1906]

Every single team could have bought easy an early second round pick to take him. So every team missed out of him.

Mavs could have paired him with old ass Dirk

[ChipotleWest]

B: It's also really pointless to use this sort of hindsight

Sorry nobody explained the rules to me I didn't know we can literally do hypotheticals all day about the future "will Jokic surpass Lebron?" "will Jokic surpass Kobe?" "where will Lebron play next?" "where will player x be traded to?" but we're not allowed to discuss the past.

[swyftdahoe]

Super glad it didn't happen then. LeBron casts a long shadow.
And Jokic's ascent -- the way it's happened -- has been a joy to witness.

[uncleduck13]

Super glad it didn't happen then. LeBron casts a long shadow.
And Jokic's ascent -- the way it's happened -- has been a joy to witness.

LeBron is the absolute worst player you can think of to pair alongside Jokic as far as I’m concerned. Awful mesh of skill sets

[Mrakar]

Would have gotten traded by Bron at some point

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That is not a joke TBH. As soon as he show some flashes, he would be shipped for "usefull" piece.

[og15]

Every single team could have bought easy an early second round pick to take him. So every team missed out of him.

Mavs could have paired him with old ass Dirk

Even the Nuggets had two first round picks and passed on him until mid 2nd round, hindsight discussion about the team with the first pick picking a 2nd round is not even worth discussing.

[Iwasawitness]

It wouldn’t have worked out as well. It’s like putting MJ and Kobe on the same team. Without Jokic controlling everything you’re taking a lot away from him and not allowing him to be as effective of a player as he could be. Same with LeBron.

[LaLover11]

Jokic can still join him with Lakers after the Nuggets lose this series

[jehosafats]

They would've passed on The Joker because they'd assume he can't switch on defense. Who really knew he was this brilliant maestro center with hints of Magic and The Dream?

[JJ_PR]

The fact of the matter is, 29 teams passed on Jokic, which means that literally any team could've had him for free.

[Iwasawitness]

The fact of the matter is, 29 teams passed on Jokic, which means that literally any team could've had him for free.

Yeah, we could play this game with so many players and so many teams if we wanted. LeBron and Giannis could have been teammates if Cleveland used their first overall pick on him instead… Cleveland could have had both Irving and Kawhi, or Irving and Butler, draft prospects are hard to predict sometimes. Not everything is always going to be clear cut.

[JustBuzzin]

Bron played with Jokic lite.

Zydranus Ilgauskas

[LaLover11]

Bron played with Jokic lite.

Zydranus Ilgauskas

Lol that's funny

And Jamal Murray Lite in Delonte West

[KrAzY3]

B: It's also really pointless to use this sort of hindsight

Sorry nobody explained the rules to me I didn't know we can literally do hypotheticals all day about the future "will Jokic surpass Lebron?" "will Jokic surpass Kobe?" "where will Lebron play next?" "where will player x be traded to?" but we're not allowed to discuss the past.

Jokic went in the second round, every team passed on him!

So you can go ____ and ____ could have ____ and it pretty much all works. Who passed on Jokic? Everyone!

Any team could have picked up the 40th pick pick for peanuts. So if we are going to throw out random hypotheticaly that never came close to happening, what if the Warriors drafted Jokic? They could have picked up the 40th pick super cheap, drafted him and then they'd have a lineup of Green, Klay, Curry and Jokic and would have become unstoppable.

That came just as close to happening as LeBron and Jokic teaming up and Jokic is much less likely to get traded from the Warriors than a young LeBron teammate who is never safe... All those other hypotheticals you just brought up are considerably more likely than the possibility of a particular team drafting a player they deliberately passed on that went in the second round. The Cavs by the way passed on Jokic twice, so they obviously were not that big on Jokic.

Do you have anything to base your hypothetical on? Were the Cavs actively discussing drafting Jokic? I remember the Warriors GM specifically saying they didn't even have that conversation and it's a safe bet the Cavs didn't either.

[LaLover11]

Can't wait to make a thread about Bronny getting drafted in the 2 round and him being a steal