"What If"...?

[WillyJakkz]

A funny thing happened... After going into the CSL History Vaults, I got locked into reading the trade chatter threads from every year (couldn't sleep last night and continued this morning) but the take away was and still is incredibly cool.

It is amazing to me how the "valuation" of players evolve both positively or negatively but more importantly I was looking at some of the trades that occurred (or didn't occur) for some teams and how they affected the entire landscape of these franchises and perhaps the League itself so I decided to do a quick "What If" write-up which of course you GM's can add to as well.


The LA Lakers traded Kobe Bryant to DEN in a house cleaning move which subsequently led to Blazers GM becoming bored thus in a straight swap trading Nicolas Batum to DEN for Kobe Bryant which in turn led to Nicolas Batum being traded in a straight swap for Klay Thompson. Jestor and LA could very well have had Klay Thompson Walter Tavares core...or could they as what's more interesting is that BOS made a play for Klay prior to DEN getting him by offering Larry Sanders Kyle Anderson and a 1st. What's more maddening is the Rajon Rondo Drug Scandal which caused him to miss the entire season after being signed by the Lakers which could have meant Rondo Klay Tavares core... Ouch... No telling where these teams may be in their build had things worked out differently but "What If..."


The Oklahoma City Thunder once had a Kevin Durant Kevin Love duo with Roy Hibbert manning the post and Greivis Vasquez running the point... But the question is "What If" that Love Durant duo stayed intact?


The Orlando Magic... suppose the Pacers CONTINUE to say "No" to the Aaron Gordon Zach LaVine Giannis Antetokounmpo Harrison Barnes for Paul George offer as they had continually turned down for most of that season (upon Giannis being acquired by ORL)? The persistence (or pestering) of ORL and a change of heart after winning a title by goikiri then said "Yes" to the deal but had he continued to decline the offer, where would ORL be in their building phase with a roster of Giannis Ross Barnes Gordon Oden? Would the "Draft Gods" finally release their curse on a young ORL team and yield the #1 overall pick to them? Would the Pacers have retooled enough to win yet another title? "What If"?

There are many "What If" scenarios (this is all time would allow so please feel free to participate and tell your story.

Enjoy!

[Mattybriand]

If the Paul George trade doesn't happen good chance Mattybriand doesn't get hired as Indy GM

[Dennis]

This is an epic article Willy. I love to see posts about our history. We definitely can say that Bern ruined the Thunder when he managed them. But so did dapralbe with Atlanta and goikiri with Indiana.
OKC, Indiana and Atlanta became bottom feeder since those 3 GMs ruined their core. The sad thing about the story is, that all 3GMs left right after they did their mistakes. The reason I always try to help new joiners to evaluate offers by Musie and co :p..

I have to add "What if Doug didnt trade Dragic to Boston? Would they still suck?".

[lakeshowak7]

Man this brings me back to when I created that OKC team.

Rubio/Matthews/Durant/Love/KG.

[emplep7]

This is an awesome idea Willy. Good call looking through the trade chatter/rumor threads.

What if we had pulled the trigger on a Lebron trade last year for TT, KCP, +? I still don't think I would have won the title...

[Dennis]

This is an awesome idea Willy. Good call looking through the trade chatter/rumor threads.

What if we had pulled the trigger on a Lebron trade last year for TT, KCP, +? I still don't think I would have won the title...

you would have!

[andrei]

What if we let CSL die back in Jan 2015...
What if we rejected that awful KD deal...
What if the Super Draft did not happen...

[Dennis]

What if we let CSL die back in Jan 2015...
What if we rejected that awful KD deal...
What if the Super Draft did not happen...

You, Jon and I would have had way more leisure time the last few years, haha.

[Rizzo]

Great article. For a lot of the trades it's almost time to start evaluating their winners and losers.

[Jestor]

Too many pieces to say how we would have turned out. I don't think the Kobe to Kay chain would have happened though, but you never know.

[dapralbe]

This is an epic article Willy. I love to see posts about our history. We definitely can say that Bern ruined the Thunder when he managed them. But so did dapralbe with Atlanta and goikiri with Indiana.
OKC, Indiana and Atlanta became bottom feeder since those 3 GMs ruined their core. The sad thing about the story is, that all 3GMs left right after they did their mistakes. The reason I always try to help new joiners to evaluate offers by Musie and co :p..

I have to add "What if Doug didnt trade Dragic to Boston? Would they still suck?".

curious dennis you want that i said the real true about a lot of things and part of our history? and destroy you?. i discovered a lot of things about a long time. is better that you have silence.

[dapralbe]

in other hand great article willy, you remember part of csl history. and yes goikiri help you after won the title, because you are a friend. if i wanted paul george i could easy get a trade for horford, and create a dinasty with other atlanta, but we don't wanted big trades between both for a good development of the league.

[Mattybriand]

in other hand great article willy, you remember part of csl history. and yes goikiri help you after won the title, because you are a friend. if i wanted paul george i could easy get a trade for horford, and create a dinasty with other atlanta, but we don't wanted big trades between both for a good development of the league.

The goal for everyone should be make a dynasty or win a championship NO EXCUSES

[dapralbe]

yes matty was my fail, i don't like excuses, i always said that i did mystakes, but you know that i said a lot of tricks and things for a good league with polemics and without them, i enjoy the league is part of article what if.....

[Sun Scorched]

What if we let CSL die back in Jan 2015...
What if we rejected that awful KD deal...
What if the Super Draft did not happen...

Ah yes.... the myth of the super draft continues! Article to follow.

[WillyJakkz]

in other hand great article willy, you remember part of csl history. and yes goikiri help you after won the title, because you are a friend. if i wanted paul george i could easy get a trade for horford, and create a dinasty with other atlanta, but we don't wanted big trades between both for a good development of the league.

Yes I recall you saying you had an opportunity to acquire Paul George. I wonder how your team would've turned out with Paul George as your main guy.

I don't think I remember you being the gm of a team built around a perimeter player, only bigs.

[Jaboo]

Very interesting article. Definitely a lot of "what ifs" out there

[8timechamp]

What I would do to have KD on my team. Hmmm