Blazers....What If? Draft Edition

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Whyachi said:
What if, in 2019, the Blazers selected Jordan Poole at #25 instead of Nassir Little ?? Traded McCollum sooner ?? Maybe Terry Stotts could have run 4 guard lineups ..

Dame
CJ
Poole
Simons
Nurk
= championship
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I suppose this would be like a "good guy" version of the Rockets that went small-ball, though Nurk is significantly taller than Tucker (I still give the edge to Tucker though).
 
OR-84 said:
I suppose this would be like a "good guy" version of the Rockets that went small-ball, though Nurk is significantly taller than Tucker (I still give the edge to Tucker though).
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the Blazers would launch 70 triples a night. Nobody could handle that. 150 point team scoring average = dynasty
 
e_blazer said:
My favorite “what if” is what if Sabonis had come over to play earlier in his career. I wonder if MJ would still be the GOAT if he’d only won one ring, because the Drexler-era Blazers would have been absolutely insane with Sabas at center.
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getting Sabas over 6 years earlier and drafting Jordan

Porter-MJ-Drexler-Kersey-Sabonis....with Cliff and Ainge on the bench

and of course there was the trade Portland turned down: Kersey and Robinson for Barkley

Porter-MJ-Drexler-Barkley-Sabonis....yikes!
 
wizenheimer said:
getting Sabas over 6 years earlier and drafting Jordan

Porter-MJ-Drexler-Kersey-Sabonis....with Cliff and Ainge on the bench

and of course there was the trade Portland turned down: Kersey and Robinson for Barkley

Porter-MJ-Drexler-Barkley-Sabonis....yikes!
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I need to look more into that botched trade...WTF were the Blazers thinking. I loved Cliffy, but Barkley was a beast.
 
OR-84 said:
Another positional headscratcher for me...James Robinson over Sam Cassell...I MUST be missing something.
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it was said James "Hollywood" Robinson could dunk it from the FT line. The long-lasting quest to redeem the botched Michael Jordan draft was still hammering at Blazers management. The idea of "you can dunk like Mike, we want you to be like Mike" didn't pan out like it was supposed to with James Robinson.
 
Barkley's reputation has been embellished by his years as a broadcaster. He was known as a selfish player. Teammates like Julius & Hakeem disliked his playing style, and played less hard.

Revisionist history reminds me of Paul McCartney. He now takes credit for writing most Beatle songs. When John was alive, it was considered a team effort.
 
jlprk said:
Barkley's reputation has been embellished by his years as a broadcaster. He was known as a selfish player. Teammates like Julius & Hakeem disliked his playing style, and played less hard.

Revisionist history reminds me of Paul McCartney. He now takes credit for writing most Beatle songs. When John was alive, it was considered a team effort.
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Good point. Maybe Clyde vetoed it?
 
Whyachi said:
it was said James "Hollywood" Robinson could dunk it from the FT line. The long-lasting quest to redeem the botched Michael Jordan draft was still hammering at Blazers management. The idea of "you can dunk like Mike, we want you to be like Mike" didn't pan out like it was supposed to with James Robinson.
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I can't believe scouts, GM's, "talent acquisition", etc. can be allowed to be so risky in some instances such as this. I know we see it all the time and it essentially is all risk, but are these jobs like weathermen in where they just are allowed to be wrong constantly, yet still have their jobs? I'm in the wrong profession....
 
jlprk said:
Barkley's reputation has been embellished by his years as a broadcaster. He was known as a selfish player. Teammates like Julius & Hakeem disliked his playing style, and played less hard.

Revisionist history reminds me of Paul McCartney. He now takes credit for writing most Beatle songs. When John was alive, it was considered a team effort.
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Excellent points! Often the "what could be" situation can become overlooked due to talent, but as we know chemistry seems to play the biggest part in why a team becomes most successful. To me it is apparent not only in the NBA, but also at the international level. "Great teams gel while others don't do well" (Did I just make that up?)

Now about Paul, that is nuts and hurts me deep down to hear that. Why did he have to go that route? Just be a legend. Just...Let It Be...
 
jlprk said:
Barkley's reputation has been embellished by his years as a broadcaster. He was known as a selfish player. Teammates like Julius & Hakeem disliked his playing style, and played less hard.

Revisionist history reminds me of Paul McCartney. He now takes credit for writing most Beatle songs. When John was alive, it was considered a team effort.
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Yeah John and Paul wrote approximately the same amount of songs. Paul just wrote most of the big hits. Early on it might have been a team effort, but they only wrote 16 together.
 
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Phatguysrule said:
But Barkley was a MUCH better post presence than anybody we had....
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This IS a tough one. I think Barkley was such a force and he would have helped out sooo much, however, IF it were to be for the rumored Kersey, Porter, and Cliff, plus IF Barkley was not a team player (or caused issues) then it may not be the ideal situation.
Maybe I'm just biased because Cliff was my favorite player growing up. Move aside Clyde.... :)
 
Wizard Mentor said:
It's been a while, but Kersey and Porter were in there.
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I was paying attention at the time and never heard Porter part of the deal. It was Kersey and Robinson and Philly media seemed to think it was pretty much a done deal

in fact, I seem to recall that trade being referenced years later when there was supposedly a a 'done deal' between PDX and Phily in 2017; it was Plumlee for Jahlil Okafor. Philly went as far as holding Okafor out of a couple of games expecting the trade to happen. But at the last minute, Denver counter-offered by adding a first round pick and Olshey backed out of the Philly deal and made the Plumlee for Nurkic trade. A long time Philly sportswriter mentioned it wasn't the first time the Blazers backed out of a trade and pointed at the Kersey/Robinson for Barkley deal....all that IIRC of course

all other things being equal, a Barkley for Kersey/Robinson deal would have very likely made the Blazers even more formidable than they were. It would have hurt depth a little (although it was easier within the CBA to add players), but Blazer starting talent would have been awesome, especially if it was 25 year old Sabonis instead of Duckworth

I suppose it's legitimate to wonder how a Barkley/Buck forward pairing would have worked out, but I think it would have been pretty dominating. Certainly no team would out-rebound Portland and that was back when rebounding was a lot more important. Kersey was probably a little better defender, especially against SF's, but I don't think that would have offset all the offense and physicality Barkley would have added
 
Phatguysrule said:
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That is wild! Reading some comments in that Reddit post though….did he really kidnap and beat a woman in 98? Then the thing about his son(s)…yeah still don’t condone the fan saying all that, but I def think a little less of Mad Max now. Not that I ever really knew him.
 
Phatguysrule said:
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I remember watching that game on TV. When Maxwell went into the stands my first thought was that fan obviously went way over the line. This is why a player can get a fan ejected now. A "fan" like that should be banned from all live sports.
 
The thing I found odd about the fan incident with Maxwell, was that no one else heard the fan say anything about his unborn child.
Fans in general are idiots. No debating that many go over the line and I hate when they do. But that remark was so bizarre that I had a really hard time believing it happened. Does anyone remember it being verified? Someone else had to have heard it for it to be true.
 
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I wasn’t sure where to put this, but thought it was odd and rather F’d up if you ask me. I know it is just the cover picture, but how the hell would Oden be a “What If” story for Miami…?!?! The guy who punched his girlfriend in the face while on that team? That guy? Not the one who was drafted by Blazers with 1st pick? No…alcoholic, lame duck Oden for Miami…yeah…
:blahblah: :blink: :crazy: :breakdance:
 
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