The Official "What If" Thread

[CelticPride]

This is a thread talk about some talents where you just have to ask, " What If?" I'll get it started off.


What if Brandon Roy was healthy? I think he would be a top tier sg right now tbh.

What if Greg Oden was healthy. Would be better than Drew Bynum IMO

What if Len Bias played? Would he be the equivilant of MJ?

Just post some.

[ojandpizza]

IMO Len Bias wouldn't have liven up to half of the hyped up expectations that surrounded him after he died.. Not saying he wasn't a great player, but he wasn't at that "all time greatest ever" peak people wanted to claim he coulda been..

Grant Hill is my biggest "what if".. A young Grant Hill IMO had a better all around game than Scottie Pippen did. And to see him now still being productive last season despite being so old and dealing with a million injuries its sad to look back and think what could have been.

Another is Ralph Sampson.. A great inside force before Hakeem arrived in Houston and then even played well with Hakeem.. I mean how many 7'4" guys can play power forward? He could literally block a shot and then beat everyone down court and get a dunk.. Reminds me of how a young KG looked in Minnesota. Really wish we could have saw him develop more with time.

[24]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

Penny Hardaway, Reggie Lewis, Jay Williams.

[st0rmb11]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

IMO Len Bias wouldn't have liven up to half of the hyped up expectations that surrounded him after he died.. Not saying he wasn't a great player, but he wasn't at that "all time greatest ever" peak people wanted to claim he coulda been..

Grant Hill is my biggest "what if".. A young Grant Hill IMO had a better all around game than Scottie Pippen did. And to see him now still being productive last season despite being so old and dealing with a million injuries its sad to look back and think what could have been.

Another is Ralph Sampson.. A great inside force before Hakeem arrived in Houston and then even played well with Hakeem.. I mean how many 7'4" guys can play power forward? He could literally block a shot and then beat everyone down court and get a dunk.. Reminds me of how a young KG looked in Minnesota. Really wish we could have saw him develop more with time.

Agree with you on Len Bias. I think his "legend" has been overblown a bit in the 25 years since his death. He wouldn't have started right away because of Bird & McHale. He would have back them up, and had the opportunity to learn under them, but I don't think he would have been on board for that, based on what I've read and heard from him and what he thought of himself. He would have wanted to start, and could have possibly clashed with teammates and coaches in Boston. (just my opinion).

Disagree on Grant Hill, to a degree. Yes, he was well on his way to being one of the 50 greatest players ever. But, he was not a better all-around player than Pippen. To me, he was more like a young LeBron James. Solid passer, great attacker, solid shooter, great finisher, very good rebounder. But, he wasn't the defender or facilitator that Pippen was. Still, by his final healthy season, he was really rounding his talents into a complete game.

No comments on Sampson. I think he was vastly overrated. His college numbers weren't even that standoutish. They were really good, but not as good as previous dominant centers, like Kareem, Walton, etc.

Some of my biggest what-ifs (excluding draft picks), are...

Penny Hardaway

Chris Webber

Tim Hardaway (he still went on to put up huge numbers, but before his knee injury, he was a top 5 point guard).

David Thompson

Pete Maravich - people tend to forget, he only played 7 or 8 productive, semi-full seasons before he ravaged his knee.

Bill Walton - he was well on his way to leading Portland to multiple NBA titles.

Larry Bird & Kevin McHale - I know they both had productive careers, but both were cut short in production by injuries.

Shawn Kemp - he could have been one of the best power forwards ever, but just lost motivation.

I don't really look at draft picks as what if because you can never tell exactly how a guy will turn out, and you have to look at what the team needs.

For example, sure it's easy to look back and criticize Portland for taking Bowie over Jordan, but you have to remember - in the previous draft, Portland had taken Clyde Drexler. Why would they follow that up by taking another super athletic shooting guard?

[Jdoug312]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

What if Benji Williams hadn't have gotten killed? Would he have overshadowed Jordan? What would he have accomplished?

What if Kobe hadn't have gotten traded his rookie season? How would his legacy have changed? Would people still compare him to Jordan? Would Iverson have won an NBA Championship?

What if Scottie Pippen didn't go to Chicago? Would Jordan have won 6 rings? Would he have won more than 1? Would people still consider him the best without those 6 rings?

What if Jordan played in this era, with the Lebron, Durant, Kobe, and Rose of the world?

[ojandpizza]

Penny Hardaway, Reggie Lewis, Jay Williams.

Yes! Reggie Lewis!

[ojandpizza]

Agree with you on Len Bias. I think his "legend" has been overblown a bit in the 25 years since his death. He wouldn't have started right away because of Bird & McHale. He would have back them up, and had the opportunity to learn under them, but I don't think he would have been on board for that, based on what I've read and heard from him and what he thought of himself. He would have wanted to start, and could have possibly clashed with teammates and coaches in Boston. (just my opinion).

Disagree on Grant Hill, to a degree. Yes, he was well on his way to being one of the 50 greatest players ever. But, he was not a better all-around player than Pippen. To me, he was more like a young LeBron James. Solid passer, great attacker, solid shooter, great finisher, very good rebounder. But, he wasn't the defender or facilitator that Pippen was. Still, by his final healthy season, he was really rounding his talents into a complete game.

No comments on Sampson. I think he was vastly overrated. His college numbers weren't even that standoutish. They were really good, but not as good as previous dominant centers, like Kareem, Walton, etc.

Some of my biggest what-ifs (excluding draft picks), are...

Penny Hardaway

Chris Webber

Tim Hardaway (he still went on to put up huge numbers, but before his knee injury, he was a top 5 point guard).

David Thompson

Pete Maravich - people tend to forget, he only played 7 or 8 productive, semi-full seasons before he ravaged his knee.

Bill Walton - he was well on his way to leading Portland to multiple NBA titles.

Larry Bird & Kevin McHale - I know they both had productive careers, but both were cut short in production by injuries.

Shawn Kemp - he could have been one of the best power forwards ever, but just lost motivation.

I don't really look at draft picks as what if because you can never tell exactly how a guy will turn out, and you have to look at what the team needs.

For example, sure it's easy to look back and criticize Portland for taking Bowie over Jordan, but you have to remember - in the previous draft, Portland had taken Clyde Drexler. Why would they follow that up by taking another super athletic shooting guard?

On Sampson - to be fair nobody's college numbers really matched up to Kareem or Walton.

Most people I know when they hear "what if" they automatically blurt out Penny Hardaway as fast as they can. Before Sampson left Houston he was just as good of a pro as Penny was, if not better..

He didn't bring the excitement Penny did, obviously, but as far as production goes he was pretty damn good.

[BringTheHeat]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

What if Jordan never retired?

What if Shaq never left LA?

And best of all, what if Detroit drafted Melo, Bosh, or Wade?

[SteelersFreak]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

Some Mavs-themed questions:

What if Jason Kidd had've stayed in Dallas instead of going to Phoenix?
What if Steve Nash and Dirk had've stayed together?
What if Cuban had've resigned most of the championship team?


What if LeBron stayed in Cleveland?
What if Jay Williams never got into his accident?

[Dice]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

I don't really look at draft picks as what if because you can never tell exactly how a guy will turn out, and you have to look at what the team needs.

For example, sure it's easy to look back and criticize Portland for taking Bowie over Jordan, but you have to remember - in the previous draft, Portland had taken Clyde Drexler. Why would they follow that up by taking another super athletic shooting guard?

I can. Portland is a perfect example of when you have a top-5 pick, you don't draft by need. You draft the best available player. In 1997, the Spurs didn't care that their all-star center, David Robinson, was coming back the following season. They had the first pick and Tim Duncan was the best player in the draft, so they took him.

Portland could have easily moved Drexler to the SF and Jordan at SG. I cannot think of any reason why that would have not been feasible.

[ojandpizza]

Agree with you on Len Bias. I think his "legend" has been overblown a bit in the 25 years since his death. He wouldn't have started right away because of Bird & McHale. He would have back them up, and had the opportunity to learn under them, but I don't think he would have been on board for that, based on what I've read and heard from him and what he thought of himself. He would have wanted to start, and could have possibly clashed with teammates and coaches in Boston. (just my opinion).

Disagree on Grant Hill, to a degree. Yes, he was well on his way to being one of the 50 greatest players ever. But, he was not a better all-around player than Pippen. To me, he was more like a young LeBron James. Solid passer, great attacker, solid shooter, great finisher, very good rebounder. But, he wasn't the defender or facilitator that Pippen was. Still, by his final healthy season, he was really rounding his talents into a complete game.

No comments on Sampson. I think he was vastly overrated. His college numbers weren't even that standoutish. They were really good, but not as good as previous dominant centers, like Kareem, Walton, etc.

Some of my biggest what-ifs (excluding draft picks), are...

Penny Hardaway

Chris Webber

Tim Hardaway (he still went on to put up huge numbers, but before his knee injury, he was a top 5 point guard).

David Thompson

Pete Maravich - people tend to forget, he only played 7 or 8 productive, semi-full seasons before he ravaged his knee.

Bill Walton - he was well on his way to leading Portland to multiple NBA titles.

Larry Bird & Kevin McHale - I know they both had productive careers, but both were cut short in production by injuries.

Shawn Kemp - he could have been one of the best power forwards ever, but just lost motivation.

I don't really look at draft picks as what if because you can never tell exactly how a guy will turn out, and you have to look at what the team needs.

For example, sure it's easy to look back and criticize Portland for taking Bowie over Jordan, but you have to remember - in the previous draft, Portland had taken Clyde Drexler. Why would they follow that up by taking another super athletic shooting guard?

I didn't want to get into this simply because I absolute hate getting into Pippen arguments on here lol..

But I think you're either under rating Grant Hill or overrating Scottie Pippen. Hill was close to the most "NBA ready" rookie I've ever watched from a "wing" position. His numbers from his rookie season were better than anything Pippen had until his 5th or 6th season..

Hill's first few years in the league were as good as Pippen's questionable "MVP deserving" season he had in MJ's absence. That's Pippen's best season matched before Grant Hill was even able to reach even close to his prime.

Sure a prime Pippen was a better defense player than a 26 year old Hill. But Hill was a better scorer, he was a better rebounder.. And in my opinion he was just as good of a ball handler and passer if not slightly better.

Hill was never put into the position to handle the ball the way Pippen was. And Pippen gets this over exaggerated playmaker "point forward" label placed over his head. Sure he could dribble the ball up the court and pass it to MJ, almost any small forward in the modern era could do that. Hill actually averaged more assists than Pippen did while being less of a "point forward".. Also with less talent to dish to.

If pre-injury Hill was that good I see no reason to believe a prime Hill couldn't have ended up better than Pippen.. Besides defense I don't even know what other areas he really needed to improve on.

Hill's second season in the league was 20/10/7.. Pippen's "MVP caliber season" was BARELY better than that. 22/9/6 and better defense.

Hill's first 6 (his healthy) seasons he scored at least 20 PPG in all of them.. Pippen only reached that 4 times in his career. Actually Hill's career scoring average is still higher than Pippen's, despite all of his injured half-played seasons.

[The_Answer_I3]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

what if the blazers drafted durant instead of oden? what if iverson would stay in philly? what if tmac never had injury problems? would he be better then kobe?

[Kashanova]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

what if the blazers drafted durant instead of oden? what if iverson would stay in philly? what if tmac never had injury problems? would he be better then kobe?

Depends, I think he would of been a top 5 SG of all time had he not gotten injured.

[bghost]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

What if the T Wolves were put in the Eastern Conference upon inception... would they have gone to the finals in 2004?

would they have won the division more than once?

what if we had drafted Roy originally ? would KG still be here?
what if McHale demanded Rondo in the Garnett trade, does Rondo become the same player he is today?

[Majingir]

Re: The Official "What If" Thread

What if McGrady stayed in Toronto?

Or what if VC never wanted to leave? Imagine a Raptors team with Bosh and VC as the centerpieces. They won the atlantic 2 seasons after VC left. Imagine if he stayed and played on that roster. Raptors could have been a 50+ win team(possibly best in East)


Another one for Raptors...what if they actually had good drafts. They probably have the worst draft history of all NBA franchises.

04-05 Raptors season could have had a starting lineup consisting of Iguodala,Carter,Bosh!

Would have been fun to see AI and VC dunking all the time in games. Raptors would be the 2004-2005 NBA highlight reel team right there