All-time players legacies you believe would have been viewed completely differently if drafted by a different team

[coastalmarker99]

Some great examples of how differently we would view players on this board had they been drafted to a better team or to a worse team is.


Bill Russell to New York in the 1956 draft as there would be a big difference from being coached by Red to Vince Boryla

Wilt to Boston in the 1960 draft.

Lebron to the Pistons or Memphis in 2003 as he gets to play with Gasol as his running mate for the first seven years of his career with the Goat gm in West running the show.


Kg to the 76ers in 1995.

Magic to the Bulls in 1979.

Curry to the Wolves in 2009.

Rick Barry to New york in 1965.

[Homer38]

LeBron to Memphis is interesting...

[Colbinii]

Kobe to Charlotte for starters would have been very interesting.

Wade or Carmelo to the Pistons is an interesting idea.

Curry to the Wolves is an interesting one--the fit with Love would have been tremendous offensively.

[falcolombardi]

LeBron to Memphis is interesting...

Memphis didnt own their pick if i am not mistaken but him, pau and battier would be really good

Add some guard shooters and if possible good defenders to those 3 and you would make a fantastic team

[Homer38]

LeBron to Memphis is interesting...

Memphis didnt own their pick if i am not mistaken but him, pau and battier would be really good

Add some guard shooters and if possible good defenders to those 3 and you would make a fantastic team

Their number 1 pick was protected in 2003

Watch on YouTube

[Stalwart]

I think Carmelo to the Pistons completely changes his legacy as he most likely wins a chip pretty early in his career.

Webber to the Magic in 93

Jordan to the Rockets joining Ralph Sampson. And Olajuwon to the Blazers joining Clyde Drexler

[tsherkin]

LeBron to Memphis is interesting...

Memphis didnt own their pick if i am not mistaken but him, pau and battier would be really good

Add some guard shooters and if possible good defenders to those 3 and you would make a fantastic team

Does this matter for a fantasy hypothetical, though?

EDIT: What I mean is, are we holding ourselves to what COULD have happened? OP is a little vague on that.

[FuShengTHEGreat]

Had Rick Barry been selected #1 in the 1965 draft he ends up having a more storied career than Larry Bird and is the greatest SF ever until LBJ comes along.

[prolific passer]

Bob Pettit goes #1 to the bullets i think in 54 and then gets traded to the lakers to team up with a prime Lovellette, Mikkelson, and Slater Martin.

[henshao]

After Hakeem and Jordan win the title in their rookie year alongside second year Drexler, and the resulting dynasty forms, who do you think gets the lion's share of the credit?

[falcolombardi]

Hakeem being drafted by the blazers could have changed the 80's and 90's conpletely

Terry porter, drexler and hakeem (maybe can even get buck williams still) Pretty much would be a top contender every year between 1985-1996

Could easily lead to a scenario where winning more rings leads to hakeem being seen as better than jordan

[prolific passer]

Lakers draft Nique instead of Worthy.

[OhayoKD]

After Hakeem and Jordan win the title in their rookie year alongside second year Drexler, and the resulting dynasty forms, who do you think gets the lion's share of the credit?

jordan literally won rookie of the year over hakeem in a year where hakeem won close to 50 and jordan went below .500

Fair or not fair jordan is taking most of the credit

[penbeast0]

The ATGs would still be ATGs; it's the guys whose games were impacted by playing next to ATGs that would be most affected.

Ralph Sampson becoming more of a traditional center without Hakeem next to him is impacted far more than Hakeem would be on another team.

Kevin McHale or James Worthy as a 1st option might have scored an extra 5 ppg which would certainly impact how they are viewed.

How would Pippen develop without Jordan? Would Sam Jones be viewed as an ATG without Russell to make the team a winner? Would Manu be seen for his flaws instead of his strengths if drafted to a losing team?

[henshao]

Hakeem being drafted by the blazers could have changed the 80's and 90's conpletely

Terry porter, drexler and hakeem (maybe can even get buck williams still) Pretty much would be a top contender every year between 1985-1996

Could easily lead to a scenario where winning more rings leads to hakeem being seen as better than jordan

I'd never really considered Dream going to another franchise, although obviously possible. He had strong ties to the Houston area so I wonder how he would have done in Portland or elsewhere...I doubt he would have been quite as franchise-loyal if things didn't go his way

[Colbinii]

Hakeem being drafted by the blazers could have changed the 80's and 90's conpletely

Terry porter, drexler and hakeem (maybe can even get buck williams still) Pretty much would be a top contender every year between 1985-1996

Could easily lead to a scenario where winning more rings leads to hakeem being seen as better than jordan

I'd never really considered Dream going to another franchise, although obviously possible. He had strong ties to the Houston area so I wonder how he would have done in Portland or elsewhere...I doubt he would have been quite as franchise-loyal if things didn't go his way

I dont see a reason Hakeem wouldn't be loyal if he is winning 3/4/5 Championships.

Keep in mind Hakeem was wanting out of Houston at points prior to winning in 1994.

[prolific passer]

Hakeem being drafted by the blazers could have changed the 80's and 90's conpletely

Terry porter, drexler and hakeem (maybe can even get buck williams still) Pretty much would be a top contender every year between 1985-1996

Could easily lead to a scenario where winning more rings leads to hakeem being seen as better than jordan

I'd never really considered Dream going to another franchise, although obviously possible. He had strong ties to the Houston area so I wonder how he would have done in Portland or elsewhere...I doubt he would have been quite as franchise-loyal if things didn't go his way

I dont see a reason Hakeem wouldn't be loyal if he is winning 3/4/5 Championships.

Keep in mind Hakeem was wanting out of Houston at points prior to winning in 1994.

More like 93 but in Portland he would have at least Kersey, Drexler, and Porter off the bat.
Would he have developed his game like he did in Houston from 93-97?

[Colbinii]

I'd never really considered Dream going to another franchise, although obviously possible. He had strong ties to the Houston area so I wonder how he would have done in Portland or elsewhere...I doubt he would have been quite as franchise-loyal if things didn't go his way

I dont see a reason Hakeem wouldn't be loyal if he is winning 3/4/5 Championships.

Keep in mind Hakeem was wanting out of Houston at points prior to winning in 1994.

More like 93 but in Portland he would have at least Kersey, Drexler, and Porter off the bat.
Would he have developed his game like he did in Houston from 93-97?

Its impossible to predict how a player would develop due to the butterfly effecf.

[prolific passer]

I dont see a reason Hakeem wouldn't be loyal if he is winning 3/4/5 Championships.

Keep in mind Hakeem was wanting out of Houston at points prior to winning in 1994.

More like 93 but in Portland he would have at least Kersey, Drexler, and Porter off the bat.
Would he have developed his game like he did in Houston from 93-97?

Its impossible to predict how a player would develop due to the butterfly effecf.

True. 85-92 Hakeem was a beast physically. 93-97 Hakeem was a big who played like a guard.

[Owly]

LeBron to Memphis is interesting...

Memphis didnt own their pick if i am not mistaken but him, pau and battier would be really good

Add some guard shooters and if possible good defenders to those 3 and you would make a fantastic team

Does this matter for a fantasy hypothetical, though?

EDIT: What I mean is, are we holding ourselves to what COULD have happened? OP is a little vague on that.

As per above (in post 5, if via video at circa 15:50) Grizzlies owned their pick if it landed first, that was the limit of the protection, it was LeBron or bust for them. Grizzlies had 6th worst record so they weren't "owed" landing this pick ... but they were still in with a chance down to the final 2.