RealGM

What ifs to ponder

What if ...

The Portland Trailblazers kept PG Fat Lever, drafted Charles Barkley in 1984, and had Arvydas Sabonis play his 1st season in 1987? How would this "version" of the Trailblazers fare against the Lakers, Celtics, and Pistons of the '80s?

F Jerome Kersey
F Charles Barkley
C Arvydas Sabonis
G Fat Lever
G Clyde Drexler
6 Terry Porter

What if ...

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted F Dominique Wilkins with the first pick in the 1982 draft? How much better would the "Human Highlight Film" have made showtime? What would Wilkins have done against the Pistons in the Finals?

F Dominique Wilkins
F A.C. Green
C Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
G Magic Johnson
G Byron Scott
6 Mychal Thompson

What if ...

The Atlanta Hawks were able to keep Dr. J in the '70s? How effective would the Dr. J-Pistol Pete-Lou Hudson trio have been? Would Dr. J have led the Hawks to the Finals during the '70s?

F Dr. J
F Jim Washington
C Walt Bellamy
G Pistol Pete Maravich
G Lou Hudson
6 Herm Gilliam

mmm, let's see.

(1) Much as I love Fat Lever, he was pretty much a system player. Doug Moe had a real talent for finding guys with unusual skills and maximizing them in that freeflowing Denver motion offense. Not just Fat, but think about the following players coming up in another system . . . Michael Adams, TR Dunn, Bill Hanslick, Kiki Vandeweghe (as a PF!) . . . Lever never showed his rebounding talent or his postup skills in a Portland style offense where he was expected to stay outside and play the traditional PG role, they were pretty unexpected in a 6'3 guy, Terry Porter fit the role much better. Not really psyched about an interior defense of Sabonis and Barkley either. Finally, I know Barkley is a great great post scorer, but with Lever and Drexler needing to work inside and Kersey's limited range too, that's an offense that will clog up as even the 7'3 Sabonis relied on his inside play against most NBA centers, only taking the big shotblockers outside.

Nique is another badly overrated player. He provides some rebounding (not that much different from Worthy) and mediocre percentage volume scoring primarily in isolation offenses at the cost of selfish play and again, a very weak defense. While he would be spectacular in the open court with Magic, so was Worthy and he never showed any signs of being a player who would sacrifice his offensive game for team play. Worthy was the right choice (or Cummings who I think was a better fit than either for his first 6-8 years before the knee blew).

As for the last team, Erving would certainly improve any team he played on and that team has some serious talent. It also has 4 starters who are primarily scorers; if I were the Hawks there, I'd move Maravich for some combination of solid glue/defense player and a decent draft pick. Maravich was one of the few players in NBA history that could compete with Doc for entertainment value but it came at a cost in (here it comes again) defense and turnovers. Team play and defense win championships more than having a lot of primary scorers. That Hawks team has an extremelly porous backcourt (though before the 3 point shot that wasn't as key).

What if the Raptors resigned T-Mac and Kept VC and his cousin happy?

cjx wrote:The Portland Trailblazers kept PG Fat Lever, drafted Charles Barkley in 1984, and had Arvydas Sabonis play his 1st season in 1987? How would this "version" of the Trailblazers fare against the Lakers, Celtics, and Pistons of the '80s
F Jerome Kersey
F Charles Barkley
C Arvydas Sabonis
G Fat Lever
G Clyde Drexler
6 Terry Porter

I think this would be better as "what if we got to see Sabonis play in the NBA at his peak". Lever and Barkley are peripheral and unnecessary. That Blazers team made it to the finals twice with Kevin Duckworth at center. Imagine a lineup of Sabas, Buck Williams, Kersey, Drexler and Porter. What I wouldn't give to have seen that team play.


Another version: "what if the Blazers had won the coin flip in '84 and drafted Hakeem?" Rings for everyone.

Blazing_royale wrote:What if the Raptors resigned T-Mac and Kept VC and his cousin happy?

T-Mac would've been the no. 1 guy in Toronto, averaging 29 pts, 6 boards, and 6 asts per game and leading the team to the second round of the playoffs more than once, and VC would've been the no. 2 guy, averaging 22 pts, 6 boards, and 3 asts per game and not having to shoulder as much weight. But still, T-Mac and VC would fall short of the NBA Finals until the Raps draft PF Al Jefferson and give him enough playing time to develop.

cjx wrote:What ifs to ponder

What if ...

The Portland Trailblazers kept PG Fat Lever, drafted Charles Barkley in 1984, and had Arvydas Sabonis play his 1st season in 1987? How would this "version" of the Trailblazers fare against the Lakers, Celtics, and Pistons of the '80s?

F Jerome Kersey
F Charles Barkley
C Arvydas Sabonis
G Fat Lever
G Clyde Drexler
6 Terry Porter

What if ...

The Los Angeles Lakers drafted F Dominique Wilkins with the first pick in the 1982 draft? How much better would the "Human Highlight Film" have made showtime? What would Wilkins have done against the Pistons in the Finals?

F Dominique Wilkins
F A.C. Green
C Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
G Magic Johnson
G Byron Scott
6 Mychal Thompson

What if ...

The Atlanta Hawks were able to keep Dr. J in the '70s? How effective would the Dr. J-Pistol Pete-Lou Hudson trio have been? Would Dr. J have led the Hawks to the Finals during the '70s?

F Dr. J
F Jim Washington
C Walt Bellamy
G Pistol Pete Maravich
G Lou Hudson
6 Herm Gilliam

Blazers - I think it's pretty much a given that had Sabonis they probably win a title at least once. Barkley and Lever, it would really depend on how they fit in with the rest of the team.

Lakers - Nique would have made the Lakers worse. Throwing an inefficient volume scorer on to an offense that was already one of the best of all time is a horrible idea. Worthy was a very wise draft choice for them.

Atlanta - Put Erving onto any bad team and they get a lot better. I think this team only has a chance to become really great if Maravich takes on a more true point guard role. All his life Maravich jacked up shots with horrible inefficiency, and hence I find his accomplishments very overrated. However perhaps if he were playing with a talent that was clearly superior to his own those highlight reel skills could be turned to real use.

cjx wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



T-Mac would've been the no. 1 guy in Toronto, averaging 29 pts, 6 boards, and 6 asts per game and leading the team to the second round of the playoffs more than once, and VC would've been the no. 2 guy, averaging 22 pts, 6 boards, and 3 asts per game and not having to shoulder as much weight. But still, T-Mac and VC would fall short of the NBA Finals until the Raps draft PF Al Jefferson and give him enough playing time to develop.

Dont' think it's that clear cut. Remember, nobody thought TMac would become what he is until Carter left and TMac was allowed to take the reigns. A major Carter injury would have provided such an opportunity sure. However it's entirely possible that Carter never drops below 1a if he stays in Toronto.