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Out of these two NBA Finals runner-up teams, which one improves the most with these slight modifications? Would one of them improve enough to win the title over the other with the Larry O'Brien Trophy up for grabs, as well as one of the key players from the winning team take home the NBA Finals MVP?

1993-94 New York Knicks
PG: '90 Derek Harper (18.0 PPG, 7.4 APG, 2.3 SPG) / '87 Doc Rivers (12.8 PPG, 10.0 APG, 2.1 SPG)
SG: '84 Rolando Blackman (22.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 4.6 FT of 5.7 FTA) / '95 John Starks (15.3 PPG, 5.1 APG, 1.2 SPG, 2.7 3PT of 7.6 3PTA) / '98 Hubert Davis (11.1 PPG, 1.2 3PT of 2.8 3PTA)
SF: '96 Anthony Mason (14.6 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 4.4 APG, 3.6 FT of 5.0 FTA) / '90 Tony Campbell (23.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 5.5 FT of 6.9 FTA)
PF: '94 Charles Oakley (11.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 1.3 SPG) / '90 Charles D. Smith (21.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 5.8 FT of 7.3 FTA)
C: '90 Patrick Ewing (28.6 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 4.0 BPG, 6.1 FT of 7.9 FTA) / '86 Herb Williams (19.9 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 2.4 BPG, 3.8 FT of 5.2 FTA) / '87 Tim McCormick (12.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 3.1 FT of 4.3 FTA)

1991-92 Portland Trail Blazers
PG: '88 Terry Porter (14.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 10.1 APG, 1.8 SPG, 3.3 FT of 4.0 FTA) / '84 Ennis Whatley (8.4 PPG, 8.3 APG, 1.5 SPG) / '93 Robert Pack (10.5 PPG, 4.4 APG, 1.1 SPG, 3.1 FT of 4.0 FTA)
SG: '88 Clyde Drexler (27.0 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 5.8 APG, 2.5 SPG, 5.9 FT of 7.2 FTA) / '88 Danny Ainge (15.7 PPG, 6.2 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.8 3PT of 4.4 3PTA)
SF: '88 Jerome Kersey (19.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 3.7 FT of 5.0 FTA) / '79 Walter Davis (23.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4.3 APG, 1.9 SPG, 4.3 FT of 5.2 FTA)
PF: '85 Buck Williams (18.2 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 4.1 FT of 6.6 FTA) / '99 Clifford Robinson (16.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 1.2 3PT of 2.8 3PTA, 3.3 FT of 4.7 FTA)
C: '89 Kevin Duckworth (18.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 4.1 FT of 5.4 FTA) / '86 Wayne Cooper (13.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.9 BPG) / '99 Mark Bryant (9.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG)

I won't go too deep on the comp but the Knicks seem to get more of the bigger improvements. This all otoh, open to being wrong.
Smith, Rivers, Blackman (Harper, Ewing may be considered significant too) versus Davis (quite at leap), (Robinson may be significant if you don't dislike the defensive tradeoff - early career Robinson considered more consistent on that end, maybe some are high on the young springy Williams? But it's not like his low-key defensive rep didn't last and his box input is different earlier but not necessarily better).

Owly wrote:I won't go too deep on the comp but the Knicks seem to get more of the bigger improvements. This all otoh, open to being wrong.
Smith, Rivers, Blackman (Harper, Ewing may be considered significant too) versus Davis (quite at leap), (Robinson may be significant if you don't dislike the defensive tradeoff - early career Robinson considered more consistent on that end, maybe some are high on the young springy Williams? But it's not like his low-key defensive rep didn't last and his box input is different earlier but not necessarily better).

Who would have thought to reunite the Mavs backcourt duo from the mid-to-late 1980s/early 1990s for the Knicks side to go along with Ewing and give Ewing more stars, as well as a more explosive-productive Ewing himself, plus Starks, and better versions of Rivers, Hubert Davis, Tony Campbell, Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, and also Herb Williams and Tim McCormick being more playable than they actually were on the Knicks.

On the Blazers side, there’s also prime versions of Robert Pack, Danny Ainge, Walter Davis and Wayne Cooper to go along with the Blazers’ starters Porter, Drexler, Kersey, Buck Williams and Duckworth plus Clifford Robinson.

Anyway, who takes home the NBA Finals MVP for the winning team?