What is up, fellow thermonuclear A efforts, I am Damp Valley coming at
you with another installment of the what If series here at Hardwood Knox. Just
as a brief refresher, I pulled people who follow cover root for every single
NBA team and asked them what their biggest what if would be for that franchise.
Their responses I turned into a Bleacher Report article, the link to which
I will try and put in the descriptions. You can check out the full
version there, but I'm providing an audio version for each division as just ordered,
this quick digestible content that hopefully you can enjoy. I know audio versions
of articles can be tough, but I did practice, and I think these
are turning out fairly. Okay, Before we get started, just the quick
reminder, if you haven't checked this out before he is, consider throwing us
that permanent subscription Apple Spotify, follow us there, download every episode, throw
us ratings and reviews. Those help out a ton. Also consider shouting us
out on Twitter, recommending us to people you know, or just bumping the
promotions that I'll put out on Twitter. All of that stuff helps just a
boatload. It's time, though, to get into some more NBA what ifs,
and we're gonna go with the Northwest Division here and first up in the
Northwest, the Denver Nuggets. Jamal Murray's torn left ACL in April twenty twenty
one was my immediate and truthfully only pick when looking at the Denver Nuggets is
franchise trajectory. I was wondering if I was just trapped in the present.
It turns out, though, that Adamadez, the VP of Created Production at
DNVR Sports, agreed with me. This is what he wrote on the subject.
To me, Murray's injury in twenty twenty one is number one because he
was playing the best and most consistent basketball of his career. In the months
leading up to it, Aaron Gordon appeared to solidify the starting lineup, and
we all know the heights Nikolaiokis was retreating. Equally important the runs Murray's injury
has been especially wide open in the NBA. The Bucks and Warriors are both
great teams, but not quite the same juggernaut as the twenty seventeen Warriors.
Lastly, the hardest part of the Murray injury lies with not knowing what the
Nuggets have in their Big four as much as I believe it is an incredible
mix of talent and fit, we simply don't know how they'd fair in a
playoff series against the league's best, smartest, and most versatile teams. So
it's an injury that's already cost Denver two playoff runs and could very well cost
the Nuggets a third if the team just isn't as good as everyone thought it'd
be, or if the fit isn't as perfect as it appeared in those six
glorious games between the Gordon acquisition and the Murray injury. For me, Dan,
no alternative sinks in quite like this one. You could go into the
distant past and find more than a few. You could gobble up the low
hanging fruit and roller Well, what if the Nuggets never drafted Nikolyokas at number
forty one in twenty fourteen, But some variation of that question can resonate for
every single squad who bags a star. Madas did, however, include George
carlsw ten cancer diagnosis and David Thompson's drug addiction as not bowl alternatives when we
were having this discussion, and both are definitely worth in honorable mention there as
well. Minnesota Timberwolves are next up on our NBA what if exercise. Congratulations
are order for Minnesota Timberwolves fans. The ever thoughtful Derrick James, formerly of
a Wolf among Wolves and Knis Hoopis And also he currently just started a new
substack on the Wolves. He it's a newsletter, Derrick James Substack. Check
him out on Twitter where you could follow it. It's at Derrick James MBA
spelled exactly as it sounds. But he did not go with the franchise's decision
to pass on Steph Curry twice in two thousand and nine. On the one
hand, no, I still think we need to acknowledge it because it's a
pretty big deal. And to Derek's credit, he did. This is what
he said to me. Let's remember that then Timberwolves general manager David Kahn and
then coach Kurt Rambis were not the nurturing types. Look at how it played
out with Johnny Flynn, one of the players who they selected before Curry.
Flynn had a below average to average rookie season and had hip surgery around the
beginning of his second season. When he returned, the team did not seem
to have the patience for him. Given that Curry had a smattering of ankle
issues early in his career, the Rambis conduo likely would have mishandled that situation
too. Remember, many people were on shore what position Curry was in the
NBA, and though he was bigger than Flynn, he still wasn't huge by
NBA standards. Curry would also have been playing in Rambis's triangle offense, a
system that often involves a point guard giving up the ball early. This to
me tracks it would be harder to stomach steps success if it came after he
had warned a wolf's jersey as opposed to his never wearing one at all.
So there's that element. And then also James did go Derrick. James did
go on to explain that he had to go to the Kevin Garnett era for
his pick. This is what he wrote on that we know. Garnett's extension
changed how teams operated, but it also made building around him difficult. Talented
free agents like Kendall Gill and Lafonso Ellis came and left often because the team
could no longer fault them. But the problem wasn't Garnett's contract. It was
the illegal Joe Smith contract. In two thousand that cost the team four first
round picks originally five, but two thousand and three's was restored. Sure these
would be middle late first but the team's worth their assault find value later in
the draft. Between two thousand and two thousand and five, the Wolves drafted
only eight players. Of those, none of them played three hundred NBA games,
So maybe the Wolves were unlucky to draft well anyway, but at least
they would have had a chance. While the passing of Curry is one of
the most discussed what ifs, Derrick James continued the illegal Joe Smith contract and
the consequences probably matter more because of how much better the early two thousands teams
were than the late two thousands teams. The two thousand and four Western Coverence
Finals would have been different if Sam Cassell didn't hurt his hip in the previous
round and a young ascending player or two may have buoyed the Garnett era for
a few more years and prevented some of the tensions that soured the Icon's relationship
with the franchise. And I think it just makes sense to go with this
one in the end, because you're dealing with it's to talk about, Well,
what if Steph was in Minnesota? Would you have still become Steph Curry
with the Blazers. That's too hard of a question to answer. It still
can be at the top of your what if I totally I totally get that,
but I think that Derek ultimately went with the right choice. Next up
in the Northwest Division, we have the Oklahoma City Thunder. This one was
obvious to me. For a franchise that hasn't even been in its current market
for two decades, The Oklahoma City Thunder sure are brimming with what ifs noe
moments from the Seattle SuperSonics were not considered for this exercise. Everyone's favorite what
if on a national level remains the same more than a decade later. What
if the Thunder never traded James Harden to the Rockets. That's merely the tip
of the spear, though. What if they don't blow at three to one
lead against the Warriors in twenty sixteen? What if Kevin Durant never left?
Does Al Horford go to Oklahoma City still in his prime? In a world
where Katie returns to the Thunder, move Russell Westbrook to shift up the star
pairing what if various injuries didn't muck up multiple playoff runs following the thunders twenty
and twelve finals appearance. And yet, even with all of that and more
upper consideration, the answer feels obvious for a different choice. I ax Brandon
Rubar of Delhi Thunder. This is what he wrote to me. There's a
reason why Patrick Beverly is Thunder public enemy number one. The thunders all time
best team was in twenty and thirteen, the year they made the finals and
traded Harden. They finished sixty and twenty two, were the West number one
seed, and had the number one offensive rating, number four defensive rating,
and one of the all time best net ratings. The Thunder were primed to
return to the finals for a rematch versus the Heat. If Oksey wins it
all that season, then the Harden trade narrative, Katie's future, and Westbrook's
legacy are all flipped, and that Thunder team is held in higher regard.
This is me now, Dan. Generally, I'm not a fan of speaking
in absolutes. Did Beverly cost the Thunder a title? We can't be sure,
but Russ's meniscus injury was the first and a string of ill time setbacks.
Sirgebaka's calf strain loomed over the two thousand fourteen postseason, Katie missed significant
time with the Drones Jones fracture the following year. Fun In totality, it
seems fair to say that injuries probably cost the Thunder at least one championship,
and in the end so much more. Also shout out to Bev and Russ,
who as of this recording, are teammates at the moment. The next
team up, the Portland Trailblazers. I spoke with Wacher Reports Bryant Knox for
this one, and when I approached my esteemed editor about partaking in this project,
he answered my question with another one to ask, what if the Portland
Trailblazers, you have to start with the prerequisite where the hell to begin?
Knox is not kidding Brandon WA's career and injury arc, Wesley Matthews's torn achilles
in twenty fifteen, drafting LaRue Martin at number one in nineteen seventy two rather
than Bob McAdoo who went second overall, or some dude named Julius Irving who
went number twelve, losing the coin toss for the right to get Hikimlajan at
number one in nineteen eighty four, and then taking Sambowie at number two ahead
of Michael jordan At who went number three. The list is extensive. Knox
settled on the Blazers, selecting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant at number one in
two thousand and seven. This is what he told me. Owen's career swiftly
diss from fantastically promising to doom to buy injury. One day after the draft,
thousands of Blazers fans rallied downtown around him. A few days later,
the twenty year old graced the cover VSPN the magazine ready to win. Quote
like fifteen championships but five years, eighty two games and three micro fracture surgeries
down the road. The experiment ended on March fifteen, twenty twelve. The
Blazers held a fire sale at the trade deadline, waving Odin. Three months
later, Portland watched Durant lace up in his first NBA finals. This isn't
purely about not being kad either, as Knox and I discussed on the side,
It's about his never getting the chance to fully actualize himself on the court
a what if via absentia. There's another side to this, that ass Knox
told me what if Greg had stayed healthy? I think it's the outcome any
Blazers fan would choose, even over drafting KD. I couldn't bring myself to
roll with that, and just with all of it said, the Kadie element
still looms over Portland like an unending eclipse. And then Knox did close with
this fifteen years later, when Durant hits the trade market and then leaves it,
and Lillard hits Photoshop amid another rebuild, but then signs an extension.
Katie's ghost is alive and well in Rip City, and he's among the most
prominent of the very expansive, very ghastly bunch. I think this has to
be the correct answer in some form, whether it's what if Greg Gordon stays
healthy or what if the Blazer's draft Katie. I think this hits harder than
the Michael Jordan's stuff, for sure, but you could certainly go back to
one of the Blazers many what if draft scenarios. The next and final team
that will be in the Northwest Division, And yes, I'm aware that this
is very topical when you actually stop and think about it, But it is
the Utah, the Utah Jazz. So I spoke with Dan Clayton from Salt
City Hoops about this one. But first, I mean, look, despite
having an historical track record of what if, the Utah Jazz's choice almost had
to skew more recently, how could it not? We just witnessed the unmaking,
with more unraveling likely to come of a core that routinely spent the regular
season not merely thriving but dominating. Quinn Snyder is gone, Rudy Gobert is
gone, Royce O'Neill is gone, Donovan Mitchell is gone. This nucleus was
championship material, and it didn't age out so much as grows stale and implosive.
But what if it didn't? What if it got over the hump,
or what if it at least cracked the conference finals? Is anything different now?
Perhaps? But you first need to identify the moment that could have reinvented
the Jazz's fate, and Dan Clayton found one. This is what he wrote
to me a more recent what if Jermaine to the Jazz's current situation starts with
Edmund Sumner's leg sweep on April sixteen, twenty one. Utah was on a
sixty two win pace before Sumner got tangled up with Jazz star Donovan Mitchell.
The Jazz were forced to be reckoned with a top four offense and defense,
and Mitchell doesn't hurt his ankle that night. Maybe he captures all NBA honors
and earns a Supermac's extension. Maybe Joe Angles doesn't over tax himself over the
final month of the regular season and has more left in the tank for the
eventual Clippers series. Maybe Mitchell standoff with medical professionals before Game one of the
playoffs, a relationship altering moment for sure never occurs. Maybe if he plays
Game one, the Jazz don't need five games to get past Memphis, and
Mike Conley Junior doesn't tweak his own hammy in Game five, forcing him to
miss nearly all of the Clipper series. Most importantly, maybe Mitchell isn't vulnerable
to re injury in Game two versus LA. Through Game two, Mitchell was
shooting fifty five percent on drives in the playoffs, and the Jazz had the
Clippers on the road ropes. After the tweak, he shot thirty percent going
toward the hoop. He just wasn't the same. The Jazz also suddenly didn't
have enough guards who could stay in front of the ball. Defensively, Mitchell
couldn't move laterally, Ingalls was exhausted, Conley was hurt. Whether you believe
those Jazz were true contenders, I do. Clayton inserted the version that literally
limped out of the playoffs was a different team than the one dominating before Mitchell's
injury. They've never been the same since, and look, as we know,
we're never gonna get a chance to see if they ever could have been
the same again. That Jazz team was dismantled, and I agree with Clayton
that was probably just the Flashbowl moment of He didn't look at it and say,
oh, this is the beginning of the end, but that's almost where
it can be traced back toward. I hope you enjoyed this installment of NBA
what Ifs. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe in his podcast
wherever you were getting it until next time. I think with the shout out
to one, he only the indelible a legend unto himself filled with so many
what ifs, such as, what if he won rightfully the past five MVP
Awards. Frank Neila Keene