How do you think real gm”s top ten players careers would have gone if you drop or lift them by a pick.

[coastalmarker99]

Say LeBron gets drafted number two to the pistons in 2003 that= undisputed goat Status.

Hakeem goes number two to Portland= more rings than just the two he got or he goes three to the bulls.

Jordan goes number 4 to Dallas that would be wild to see.

Bird goes number 5 or number seven to Portland or Gsw.

Magic to the Bulls

Kareem goes to the suns.

Russell goes to royals

Wilt goes to La or pistons

[Jaivl]

LeBron GOATs harder
Jordan becomes pretty irrelevant
Cincinnati is the greatest dinasty in history thanks to Russell -> the Cavs never exist
Garnett saves the Vancouver Grizzlies from an inevitable demise
Magic continues his anti-Garnett ways of winning tons of rings on the most stacked franchises ever

[GSP]

LeBron GOATs harder
Jordan becomes pretty irrelevant
Cincinnati is the greatest dinasty in history thanks to Russell -> the Cavs never exist
Garnett saves the Vancouver Grizzlies from an inevitable demise
Magic continues his anti-Garnett ways of winning tons of rings on the most stacked franchises ever

How would Mj become irrelevant if he was drafted to Dallas? They were a 44 win team his draft year w/o him.....they were a top 10 team from 1984-88 with Sam Perkins instead of Mj arguably peaked top 5 and gave Showtime Lakers big problems prolly their toughest matchup in conference in that span. Took em 7 games in that span too in the Wcf......They were one of the elite top 3 offenses for a good part of the 80s.....with Rolando Blackman. They had one of the deepest benches in the league too.

They wouldve most likely traded Rolando for a Pf and a really good one considering his emergence and standing at the time as a top guard. Prolly one good enough to win a couple titles with the Harper, Mj, Aguirre, Donaldson core. Chicago was the worst team in the league when they drafted Michael in comparison. He wouldnt have dominated the 90s like he did but he wouldve had far more team success and likely a couple titles in the 80s.

His teammate situation would be hard to project if they became a title team in the late 80s. Hed still be a megastar with his athleticism, playstyle and dominance which hadnt been seen at that level yet. His legacy would be more defined by the 80s most likely and being contemporaries and most likely toppling Magic, Bird and prolly Isiah at least once each. The scoring guards or scoring champs can't lead a team to a title narrative wouldve died quicker if he was on that already potent offense. Wouldve been a Goat offense with him and historically remembered as such with how teams were unable to stop them it wouldve prolly fast tracked the meta for how important and valuable wing players are too. Its hard to know how the 90s would look for them

[Colbinii]

LeBron -- Detroit has a real chance at winning 3-4 finals between 2004-2008 but after that we don't know what happens. They don't bring Allen Iverson in, clearly, but what is their move to improve the roster after 2008? Do they become players for Garnett after 2007 [They had all their picks from 2007-onward]. Overall it is a significantly better start to his career in terms of accumulating hardware than what Cleveland provided.

Jordan -- Portland makes more sense here given the breadth wing depth the Mavericks had. Portland has an outside shot at title in 1988 and 1989 and assuming Duckworth is still acquired in the 1987 season, they cruise to a title in 1990, 1991 and 1992. They have a punchers chance in 1993 but--assuming Jordan takes another hiatus mid-prime, I really like the make-up of the 1996 team with Sabonis and Cliff in weaker era [can they get past the Sonics?] and 1997 and 1998 as well [not quite at the same degree but certainly strong contenders here].

Kareem -- The suns roll through the West, the NBA and the 1970s. I would venture to say 3-5 titles prior to Kareem going to LA.

Russell -- Unsure how this one goes.

Duncan -- pairing him with AI is going to be excellent in the East. Kukoc fills a Manu-like role [don't trade for Mutombo] and the expectation of winning 2-3 Championships is a near given between 1999-2003. The team re-tools with youth [Minus Webber] with Iggy and Korver in 2005 but there is no title favorite seasons after 2003 [though they likely win 1-2]. Hard to project further out than 2005/2006 in terms of roster but if it stays similar Duncan likely ends up with 2-5 Championships.

Wilt -- Unsure how this one goes.

[penbeast0]

Starting at the oldest, Cincinnati was defined for most of a decade by Oscar and Jerry Lucas. That's more top end talent than Russ had in Boston. Lucas was a territorial pick so they could still pull that one off but Oscar was the #1 pick in the draft in 1960. Hard to imagine a Russell led team sucking that hard in that year and although the Royals actually had the #1 pick in Russell's draft year, they wasted it on Sihugo Green who never panned out. But sure, if you get all the same players but add Russell (and maybe deal Embry for something), they should be the best team in the league through 1969 though Oscar might get more credit than Russell as everyone loves a scorer.

Similarly, Wilt going to LA with Baylor, West and company (and with someone other than Butch van Breda Koff as coach), should make that team the most talented in the league for most of the 60s unless you do both in which case the superior fit of the Russell led Royals should still make them the kings of the league (bad pun intended).

[wojoaderge]

Magic continues his anti-Garnett ways of winning tons of rings on the most stacked franchises ever

Gilmore and Theus?