What is up, fellow thermonuclear afers. I am Dampa Valley coming at you
with our fourth installment of the MBA What If Project. Before we dive into
it, please please let me remind you to continue rating, reviewing, and
most importantly, subscribing following whatever you call it this podcast wherever you might consume
it if it's your first time checking us out. All these episodes are not
as short. We normally do more in depth dies, but this just felt
like some quick, digestible content I could put out during the dead of NBA
summer slash but whatever it is in advance of training camp at this point.
It also coincides with when I'm traveling, as I've noted time and again.
But please, it mean the world if you throw us the permanent subscription,
tell people about us, join our discord I keep forgetting everyone. The links
to that are in the podcast description. We think. I think you'll have
a lot of fun coming hanging out with all of us in discord, but
just following this podcast along. Like I said, the Pacific Division will now
be up in our MBA what If Project, And just as a reminder,
this is something I already worked on and got permission to provide an audio version
of it from Wacher Report where I talk to people who follow cover or root
for every team, and we're talking about smart people, awesome people, and
I asked them what their biggest what if was for the team that they cover.
I took their responses packaged it into this massive article. It's now being
released as an audio version. I know these could sometimes be tough to follow.
I know I'm also a fast talker at times. I did practice for
this. I think it's still just useful, some quick content that we can
get through in the heart of September. So why not let's dive right in
here. The Golden State Warriors are up next in our what if exercise good
luck winnowing down there what if options? What if they didn't collapse in the
twenty sixteen finals, would Kevin Durant still board the bandwagon that summer? Or
what if they didn't overcome a three to one deficit of their own against the
Oklahoma City Thunder that same postseason? What if the Warriors never swap out Mark
Jackson for Steve Kerr, Or what if it David Lee injury didn't create the
original runway for Draymond Greene to take on a more prominent role. What if
the Warriors traded Klay Thompson for Kevin Love. What if the Warriors select LaMelo
Ball at number two in twenty twenty over James Wiseman. What if Chris Cohen
never sold the team the Joe Lake cub and Peter Goober. Naturally, I
was more than happy to shift the onus of this decision onto my cherished colleague
co host of this podcast, Bleacher Reports, Grant Hughes. Here's what he
wrote to me. If we accept that Stephen Curry is the person most responsible
for transforming the Warriors from laughing stock to a glamor market powerhouse, which we
should accept that because it's true, then we have to choose the moment that
would have removed him from the organization Entirely. It could have been him and
not Monte Ellis who went to the Bucks in a package for Andrew Bogit in
twenty twelve. Hughes continued to explain that, judging by the fan response at
the time, most might have even preferred that Curry had been the one to
go. The home crowd relentlessly booed Governor Joe Lake up in the aftermath of
the trade. If only they'd known then that the next seven years would include
three titles and five finals trips, a remarkable run of success driven by Curry,
who'd win a pair of MBA MVPs in the process. Basically every other
sliding doors moment in the relevant portion of Warrior's history hinges on that one transaction.
Remove Curry from the equation via that trade, and the Dubs would have
been led by Ellis, who never averaged over twenty points per game following the
trade, and if we're being honest, was always a glorified six man masquerading
as a starter. In that alternate reality, there are no Splash Brothers.
Raymond Greene wouldn't have had an all time shooter and op ball mover to minimize
his weaknesses and play to his strength. The seventy three win season surely never
would have happened, and k D would neither arrived nor depart. The whole
course of Warriors history would have gone in another indisputably worse direction. Curry saved
the franchise that nearly traded him. I agree with Hughes here, that just
has to be the biggest What if the Warriors with this indomitable, historically great
force, and Curry is the nerve center of it all. The next team
up is the LA Clippers, and they had lots to choose from too many.
What if, Sir Pepper throughout the Lob City era, specifically for the
La Clippers the Josh Smith game, anyone but the most important among them,
happened away from the court. As SB Nations Sabrina Merchant astutely pointed out,
Here's what she wrote to me, what happens if the Vstiviano audio is never
released? Getting out from under Donald Sterling and under competent let alone. Actually,
good ownership is the single biggest reason why the Clippers have been a championship
contender and will continue to compete in the years to come. This is just
something that I'm not even sure people's minds immediately go to, but I agree
with Sabrina that this is the direction we have to go. Chris Paul came
to the Clippers even with Sterling in the fold, but it would be a
gross oversight to say the former team governor wasn't a detriment to the organization's livelihood,
or for that matter, a racist stain on society. Smaller market teams
were generally more committed to spending on players and franchise personnel than the Sterling era
Clippers. That is a start contrast to how they run under current team governor
Steve Bomber and his willingness to bankroll steep luxury, tach payments and soon to
be record breaking payrolls. Attributing the arrival of Paul Georgian Kwai Leonard to Bomber
alone goes way, way, way too far. But would both players be
as interested in joining the Clippers if Sterling were in the fold? That's more
debatable. What is an up for argument is how much more respective and innovative
the Clippers are as an organization without Sterling and as much credit as the NBA
received when it exiled him. The league only made the call after the audio
was released of Sterling's racist rant to v Siviano, suggesting that without those recordings
the organization could be much worse for wear today. Kudos to Sabrina for being
for remembering to point that out. It's clearly the biggest what if for the
Clippers. Next up, the Los Angeles Lakers. We know where this is
headed. Basketball reasons. Those two words alone are enough to send Los Angeles
Lakers fans down a rabbit hole of what could have been of who was stripped
from them. In twenty eleven, as the NBA merged from a lockout,
the Lakers agreed to a three team trade with the Houston Rockets and then New
Orleans Hornets that would have landed them Chris Paul in exchange for Palcosol Palcosol excuse
me for the pronunciation there, and lamar odom. Then NBA Commissioner David Stern
in the league, which was managing the Pelicans at the time, eventually scuttled
the deal. CP three went to the Clippers, and the Lakers began a
long downward spiral that spawned what if moments galore, many of which are the
direct result of or could have been avoided if this story trade went through.
Just ask Jabari Ali Davis of nineteen Media Group, because I did, and
this is what he told me. I've heard all of the reasoning and ultra
annoying relitigation of the events. Only thing I'll state is, regardless of where
you stand on the outcome, the series of events that transpired reportedly during and
after those negotiations was peculiar. Peculiar to say the least. Beyond pairing a
prime CP three with a still really good Kobe Bryant, the Lakers could have
conceivably turned around and also brought into talent like Dwight Howard at the time.
Now, there's definitely a conversation to be had about just how terrible the fit
Dwight would have been with both Kobe and CP three's personalities the same video games.
Jabari noted, but even if the Lakers wanted to move on and recalibrate,
they still would have had a prime Dwight to then deal for parts to
solidify the roster around Kobe and CP three. And since we're now in purple
and gold, make believe land the Lakers would have wound up would have wound
up making the catastrophic Steve Nash deal, Nor would Kobe have had to play
himself into the ground until his actual achilles exploded just two years later. This
was enough for me all that from Jabari, but he wasn't done. He
continued diving even deeper into purple tinted glasses. Kobe also probably sits atop the
scoring list by the end of it, as the duo plus whatever consortium of
talent the Lakers put around them wins a tiler or two along the way,
It completely changes the conversation surrounding CP three's career and it puts an end to
the greatest Laker debates. Personally, I'll push back on Jabari saying Kobe definitely
would have bagged the all time scoring crown just because Yo, Father time comes
for everybody. It is intriguing to think about how differently CP three's legacy would
be viewed by the lazy hot takesters had he nabbed a title in this alternate
Lakers universe. And not only do I think this is the right pick,
I really probably think it's it's the only what if pick for the Lakers.
Our next team up in this MBA what if exercise the Phoenix Sun. And
I'm sure some people don't know where this is going. Remember that time the
Phoenix Suns could have drafted Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Sam Cooper from the Timeline podcast,
sure does. This is what he wrote to me. To find the
Sun's biggest what iff moment of them all, we must venture all the way
back to the very beginning in nineteen sixty eight, the Suns and Bucks entered
as the league's freshest expansion teams. After difficult inaugural seasons for both organizations,
they participated in a coin flip to determine the rights to the nineteen sixty nine
drafts number one pick, a pick that would surely be used on UCLA standout
lou Alsendor. As the story goes, Cooper continued, the Suns pledged to
tie their destiny to the results of a fan pole, as fifty one point
two percent of Suns fans wished to select heads on the coin flip. That's
precisely what the team did. When the coin came up tails. General manager
Jerry Clangewell drove around the city aimlessly for hours as the gravity of the situation
sunk in lou Alsendor. Later, Kareem Abdul Jabbar went to win three MVPs
and one championship in Milwaukee before packing his bags for La Neil Walk the number
two selection in that draft. He carved out a solid career, starting at
center for several years, but he was never an All Star, much less
an MVP. This is a spectacular work by Cooper. The what if Team
X drafted player? Why discourse is always fickle, usually revisionist history. This
isn't that Kareem to Phoenix was the hope. More recent missed opportunities or bad
luck might take the cake for others, though, What if John Paxson doesn't
hit a championship winning shot against Phoenix in nineteen ninety three. What if Robert
Orrey doesn't hip check Steve Nash in two thousand and seven. What if meta
world piece then Ron Artest didn't buried at game five buzzer beater in the two
th ten Western Conference Finals. What if True Holiday doesn't stripped Devin Booker at
the end of Game five in the twenty twenty one NBA Finals. What if
the Suns don't get absolutely gobsmacked in Game seven of the twenty twenty two semi
Finals. Worthy choices abound for the Suns, and I can't quipal with any
of them, but getting Kareem as hoped would have altered the entire trajectory of
the Sun franchise. Cooper closed with this while simply rostering Kareem brings no guarantee
of championship level success, It's not difficult to envision this version of the Sun's
becoming a powerhouse extremely early into their franchise history. That reputation boost very well
could have created a ripple effect, allowing the organization to strive for even greater
heights in the nineteen seventies and beyond. Or next team up is everyone's favorite,
the Sacramento Kings. Teams with the numerable what if moments that warp the
past, present, and future make it difficult to dwindle down the field to
a lonely flashpoint. In the case of the Sacramento Kings, though Jillian Edge
of Sports Ethos believes the answer is clear. Losing the twenty twenty two Western
Conference Finals, she wrote, no question this team would have had a title.
It might not have stopped them Aloves from loving their money outside of basketball
years later, but I think it puts a different light on the organization as
a whole, and maybe they could have sold them earlier without the drama every
off season of will they moved to Anaheim, Virginia Beach, Las Vegas or
Seattle. I was there for every home game that series and experience emotions,
every emotion possible during that span. The sad thing is the only high to
come close to this since then came off the basketball court, keeping the team
in Sacramento. That was really some great visuals there from Jillian Others, though
they'll gravitate towards the decision to let Marvin Bagley the third at number two in
two and eighteen over Luca don Chich, who went number three. That's a
viable option. So two were the team's decision to fire Rick Adaman, the
decision to fire Michael Malone, the disaster piece that was twenty fifteen free agency,
and a litany of other draft and organizational missteps. But tangible title chances
carry profoundly more emotional tonnage than hypothetical windows contingent upon Rhods not traveled that two
thousand and one two thousand two Kings squad was dominant. They finished with a
top six offense and defense while leading the MBA in point differential per one hundred
possessions. Falling to the eventual champion Lakers is one thing. It's another to
have that law. It's ensconced in controversy specifically claims that Games six was fixed,
even if it wasn't, coming within moments advancing to the NBA Finals,
knowing LA went on to sweep the then new Jersey Nets stings beyond a measure,
because while the King's Corps wasn't immediately dismantled, that season represented a pinnacle
heights and opportunity not only never again sniffed by this nucleus put the entire franchise.
As Jillian wrote to me, the Kings are in year sixteen of no
playoffs and being the punching bag of the NBA. It has been a downhill
slide since that two thousand and two series, both gradual and steep. I
hope you all enjoyed this fourth installment of the NBA would if exercise we're going
through. Please remember to subscribe to this podcast if we haven't done so already,
Join our discord link is in the podcast description, follow us on all
the socials. Links to those are in the podcast description. And until next
time, I leave you all the shout out to the one, the only,
the indelible, Frank the la Kei to chre