Bill Simmons: "What If Portland took Paul in 05"..

Post #1 » by **Spykes** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:09 pm

2a. What if Portland had taken Chris Paul with the No. 3 pick of the 2005 draft?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh ... you forgot about this one, huh?

On the day of the draft, Portland traded that pick to Utah for the following package: The No. 6 pick (Martell Webster); the No. 27 pick (Linus Kleiza, eventually traded to Denver); and a 2006 No. 1 (which turned out to be the No. 30 pick, Joel Freeland). I'm going out on a limb and saying Portland would love a do-over on this one.

Just for the hell of it, let's say the Blazers took Paul. They're still a lottery team the following season, although probably not as bad, so maybe they end up with Rudy Gay at No. 8 instead of Aldridge at No. 4. They're definitely better in '07, maybe a fringe playoff team, so let's take Oden away from them and give them the No. 12 pick (Thaddeus Young) that year. Which foundation would you rather have if you're a Portland fan?

Scenario A: Oden, Aldridge, Webster, Roy, Travis Outlaw, Jarrett Jack, Joel Przybilla, the rights to Rudy Fernandez.

Scenario B: Paul, Roy, Gay, Outlaw, Przybilla, Jack, Young, the rights to Rudy Fernandez.

Hmmmmmm. Paul and Roy as your backcourt for the next 12 years? Would that have even worked when both guys need the ball in their hands? (Possibly.) Would they have had enough size? (From the looks of it, no.) Would they have played more like a Golden State-type style, and would it have worked? (With the talent on hand, I say yes.) Anyway, if Portland takes Paul, that sets off a crazy chain reaction: New Orleans ends up with Deron Williams instead of Paul; Utah never gets its franchise point guard; Oden and Aldridge land in other cities; maybe Roy doesn't turn into a franchise guard playing second fiddle to Paul; and maybe Paul isn't quite as driven because he's not as ticked off for the next few years after three teams passed on him. I have to say, I like the way it worked out.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/080310

farzi · Post #2 » by **farzi** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:19 pm

I'll take Oden, Aldridge, Roy over Paul, Roy, Gay, but thats just me.

Yadadimean · Post #3 » by **Yadadimean** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:40 pm

Why does he assume we would have been able to turn the #8 pick into Roy AND Gay? I think its likely that we would have been able to get one of them, but definitely not both.

Yadadimean · Post #4 » by **Yadadimean** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:41 pm

oh yeah, and Roy, LMA, Oden>>>>>>>>>>>>>Paul, Roy.

Post #5 » by **Billy** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:04 pm

I'd have to take that Oden/Aldridge/Roy lineup over Paul/Roy/Gay as well. But a lot of that still depends on Oden. If he is able to meet even 1/4 of his expectations you might take a lineup with him in it over 95% of the league.

breaker91 · Post #6 » by **breaker91** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:20 pm

I liked his What if about a potential Minny-Chi trade. In addition to getting Chandler, he had the Wolves picking LMA from Chicago's pick and taking Roy.

SoHo · Post #7 » by **SoHo** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:27 pm

Without getting Aldridge or Oden would we really have sent Zach to NY? I'm inclined to believe we wouldn't have.

I also don't understand the Thaddeus Young pick if your team already has Roy, Gay, and Outlaw on the bench why take another young wing player? I assume Simmons thought he would be BPA.

Red Robot · Post #8 » by **Red Robot** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:32 pm

So it's like trading Oden, Aldridge, Webster and Jack for Paul, Gay, and Young? I'd probably make that trade. Paul is arguably MVP, and the other two look great. That's setting aside the wins Portland would already have accumulated the last two seasons, and a likely playoff spot this year. On the other hand, I of course don't know how good Oden will be. He has the potential to be worth more than Paul, Gay, and Young combined, so hopefully he comes in and proves me wrong.

Oh, and another problem is that Simmons assumes the Blazers would have the foresight to pick Gay and Young instead of say, Thornton and O'Bryant.

SoHo · Post #9 » by **SoHo** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:38 pm

Red Robot wrote:Oh, and another problem is that Simmons assumes the Blazers would have the foresight to pick Gay and Young instead of say, Thornton and O'Bryant.

Don't underestimate the genius of KP. Although I must admit before that draft taking a center (O'Bryant) to go with Roy and Paul probably would have looked real nice compared to another swingman in Gay.

Discovery69 · Post #10 » by **Discovery69** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:43 pm

Ahh the what if game..... well I remember back then the immediate need was a new backcourt and I think you would of saw Chris Paul and Pritchard wanted a SG in the worst way at the time.

2005 Chris Paul & CJ Miles

I think Portland would probably have lost as many games and again drafted in the top 4. Chicago was really going to pick Tyrus Thomas at #2, but decided to try to get more from Portland since they knew Charlotte was selecting Adam Morrison. In '05-'06 Chris Paul was still trying to figure out things and CJ Miles was still a work in progress.

2006 LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy & Sergio Rodriguez

Given that Zach Randolph still dominated the ball in the '06-'07, I think Chris Paul would of done fine with his assists, but maybe struggle on his shot as Randolph did the most shooting. This team would still have struggled a lot and let's just say the Blazers didn't get Oden, then Durant or Horford would of been OK as consolation prizes.

Also, keep in mind from my insiders there was serious discussion of Zach Randolph & players to LA Laker for Andrew Bynum & Kwame Brown ending contract. Since Bynum was still an unknown, it never happened.

2007 Kevin Durant / Al Horford & Rudy Fernandez

Chris Pual, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge & Joel Przybilla
Sergio Rodrguez, CJ Miles, Travis Outlaw

OR

Chris Paul, CJ Miles, Brandon Roy, Al Horford, LaMarcus Aldridge
Sergio Rodrguez, Travis Outlaw, Joel Przybilla

Red Robot · Post #11 » by **Red Robot** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:44 pm

SoHo wrote:Don't underestimate the genius of KP.

Here's a scary thought: what if picking Paul meant that Nash was still GM?

b_roy7 · Post #12 » by **b_roy7** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:26 pm

Yadadimean wrote:Why does he assume we would have been able to turn the #8 pick into Roy AND Gay? I think its likely that we would have been able to get one of them, but definitely not both.

He assumes we would've done the Boston deal all the same since it doesn't affect the #8 pick in any way. Same goes for Rudy.

I like my Blazers the way they are thank you. And we'll end up getting Paul anyways, so no need to fret. :clap:

Voodoo · Post #13 » by **Voodoo** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:03 am

Red Robot wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Here's a scary thought: what if picking Paul meant that Nash was still GM?

You beat me to it, if we got Paul we wouldn't have gotten KP as GM and without KP we wouldn't have Roy. We would have Paul, Zach, Miles and possibly Gay. Thats not a terrible lineup but I will take Roy, Aldridge and Oden over that any day.

kumquat · Post #14 » by **kumquat** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 1:23 am

How does Bill Simmons even have a job?

Post #15 » by **BlackMamba** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:52 am

what if i was a billionare among billionares...

i think the team with paul would be a lot different and maybe not in the right direction, because most likely zach would still be around because there would not be someone like aldridge to cover his absence.

then, would the blazers could have pulled that trade with the celtics for roy?

Voodoo · Post #16 » by **Voodoo** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 3:34 pm

BlackMamba wrote:what if i was a billionare among billionares...

i think the team with paul would be a lot different and maybe not in the right direction, because most likely zach would still be around because there would not be someone like aldridge to cover his absence.

then, would the blazers could have pulled that trade with the celtics for roy?

On the plus side though, this atleast means that the Celtics probably wouldn't have gotten KG or Allen though

.