Marvel's "What If-" but for the NBA

[bledredwine]

What if whenever a player is fouled, instead of going to the free throw line, they and the fouler get to duke it out like hockey players?

[Myth]

The Len Bias question is always the biggest for me. Would the Celtics have extended their dominance into the 90s had he panned out to be as great as expected? Would the Pistons even get over the hump? Does it takes longer for the bulls to start their reign?

I always wonder if Len Bias would have been as disappointing as the rest of that draft. It is strange that people act like he was a sure thing, yet he went number 2 to a guy that didn’t shake up the NBA and the players that followed weren’t major superstars either. He of course could have, but even if he survived that night, he was already demonstrating poor decision making. I just find it odd that he him living or dying is often viewed as the thing that separated him from true greatness.

[Snakebites]

What if Kobe Bryant was traded to the Pistons in 2007?

Yes this almost happened.

What if the Rockets had accepted Drexler and the #2 pick in 1984 for Ralph Sampson?

What if the Timberwovles had selected Steph Curry?

[HDMAVS760CA]

Other what ifs. 1993 draft.
If the warriors had the no.1 pick & got Shawn Bradley. Philly woulda drafted Penny if they couldn't get Bradley. And Webber to Orlando. Magic would have the worst foul shooting in the nba at that time I know that. If the bulls or knicks drafted van exel.
What if the suns pulled the deal for Dennis Rodman trading Richard Dumas?
What if Elgin Baylor said F it & gambled on drafting Kobe? He didn't think L.A. would get behind a high schooler.

[scrabbarista]

This thread is a gold mine for a bored 2Ker.

[scrabbarista]

What if this Zion showed up to the Pels day 1 and only improved his body

[Knicks365247]

What if Starks didn’t go 2/18 fg and 0/11 from 3 but shot 50% overall fg and 4/11 from 3, en route to Knicks winning the 1994 championship?
Would the Knicks then repeat in 1995?
What if Knicks draft Haliburton as they needed a point guard, instead of Obi Toppin?

[zike_42]

"What if Tim Duncan joined Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in Orlando?"

This will always be my biggest one. Grant Hill had just come off a 26/7/5 season with the Pistons (but was injured), TMac had 27/8/5 and THEN you add in Duncan at only 24 years old, this could have been huge for the league. Apparently Tim Duncan himself admitted that reason he did not went to Orlando because Doc Rivers said he can't bring his wife to plan.

[Joao Saraiva]

"What If - Scottie Pippen won a championship the year Michael Jordan retired in the 90s".

Tremendous boost for his legacy, and might hurt Michael's a little bit.

Mike would still be a GOAT candidate obviously, but a bit of his aura would go away.

For Pippen he would certainly be in a lot of top 20s and I'll go as far as some people saying he'd be in top 15s of some.

[Joao Saraiva]

What an incredibly long-winded approach to request everyone's greatest "what if" fabrication.

What if LeBron never left the Cavaliers? Yes, the first time.

His career is long so who knows what Cleveland builds. But those moves in 2010 were too bad to be true and Cleveland was stuck with nothing. There is a chance Bron makes a lot of long runs but ends up with no ring showing for it. Maybe some good players join the Cavs but he would waste at least 2-3 years of his prime in there if he stayed, he wasn't beating the Celtics or the rising Bulls all by himself.

[Joao Saraiva]

What if OKC hadn't traded Harden instead of Perkins?
What if Mark Jackson had never been fired from the warriors?
What if no Covid and therefore no bubble?

With the trio intact I can see OKC definitely being bigger candidates in the years after. Not sure if enough for a dinasty, since there were so many good teams but probably in the discussion at least until 2018.

With Mark Jackson the Warriors never reinvent themselves. Curry keeps having the ball in his hands, Draymond never gets a great shot and the Warriors definitely not reach the same height. Kerr's vision for that team was fantastic. I'd say they probably never become a dinasty but still contend and maybe win one or two just cause Curry is too damn good.

No covid and no bubble... I don't see it ending a diferent way. LA was proving they were the better team when it all stopped.

[Joao Saraiva]

What if Kobe Bryant was traded to the Pistons in 2007?

Yes this almost happened.

What if the Rockets had accepted Drexler and the #2 pick in 1984 for Ralph Sampson?

What if the Timberwovles had selected Steph Curry?

I didn't remember any Pistons noise, just him asking out and Chicago being the lead destination. What trade was supposed to happen?

Kobe on that team would be nasty, at least for 2/3 years. Then they were just getting too old.

[jkvonny]

"What if Tim Duncan joined Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in Orlando?"

This will always be my biggest one. Grant Hill had just come off a 26/7/5 season with the Pistons (but was injured), TMac had 27/8/5 and THEN you add in Duncan at only 24 years old, this could have been huge for the league. Apparently Tim Duncan himself admitted that reason he did not went to Orlando because Doc Rivers said he can't bring his wife to plan.

Plane

[DimesandKnicks]

What an incredibly long-winded approach to request everyone's greatest "what if" fabrication.

What if LeBron never left the Cavaliers? Yes, the first time.

I think the better question is what if Carlos Boozer never left Cleveland.

What if Dajuan Wagner regained his health

[DimesandKnicks]

What if the Mavs chose to re-sign Steve Nash? Same question but with Tyson Chandler? And again with Jalen Brunson?

Nash would never be mentioned as a top 5 pg AT

[shrink]

I’m a huge Marvel fan, but this thread is so much better than the show.

They’d do “What if Zion was a zombie?” Givemeabreak!

[Fantastik_Goat]

What if the bulls took the player who was drafted next with all three of their 2001 draft picks.
#2 CHI Tyson Chandler
#3 ATL Pau Gasol
#4 CHI Eddie Curry
#5 GSW Jason Richardson
#30 CHI Trenton Hassell
#31 GSW Gilbert Arenas

2001 Bulls would have
Metta World Peace
Brad Miller
Pau Gasol
Gilbert Arenas
Jason Richardson
Jamal Crawford

Fully reloaded 3 years after MJ

[Jack Dempsey]

What if the Rockets had accepted Drexler and the #2 pick in 1984 for Ralph Sampson?

That's the biggest What if in League history imo. It was Sampson for Clyde Drexler, Fat Lever and #2 (Michael Jordan). Let's talk about a Dynasty.

[Knicks365247]

What if the Rockets had accepted Drexler and the #2 pick in 1984 for Ralph Sampson?

That's the biggest What if in League history imo. It was Sampson for Clyde Drexler, Fat Lever and #2 (Michael Jordan). Let's talk about a Dynasty.

Dynasty wouldn’t even begin to describe them.

They’d win 10 titles.

[ShootersShoot]

2013 OKC core stays together

Wbrook
Harden
KD
Ibaka

Let's say KD never leaves OKC because they decided to retain harden.
They could have rattled off 3-5 chips in a row with that core from 2015 to 2019+