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Jordan.

We were close to pairing Tim Duncan with Grant Hill and TMac…

Hornets getting the number one pick and getting AD after the worst season of all time instead of MKG

Modern: What if we held on to the picks that became Lillard/Brown/Sextontraded for Tatum, or the obvious of the past 2-3 seasons

Historic: what if we didn’t have to sell Julius Erving to the 76ers because the NBA and the Knicks sued because of the territorial rights bs

If you want to go a little older, Len Bias is probably the biggest what-if. He is pretty much a can't miss prospect going to a good Celtics team that still had Larry Bird. He might bridge the gap over two generations of Celtic players.

More recently, if David Lee doesn't get hurt does Draymond ever become a significant contributor to the Warriors? People might forget Lee was legit good. He was an all-star and third team all-nba player. There's a reason Draymond wasn't getting playing time. Lee hurts his hamstring and Draymond enters the starting lineup never to leave. But Lee's not losing that starting job if not for the injury.

Len bias

Knicks- What if John Starks played well in game 7 of the 1994 finals

Milwaukee. Obvious one I can think of is what if they kept Kareem.

The other important one is what if they didn’t do the draft day trade of Dirk Nowitski for Robert “Tractor” Trayor.

Why didn’t the Celtics take Tony Parker 21st overall? Was still on the board and if you wanted him at 11, you would think you would take him at 21

Portland gotta have the most when it comes to what ifs....

what if the royals pick bill russell with the 1st pick

What if draymond wasn't suspended in 2016 finals and curry didn't get ejected so easily

Made/missed shots: KD toe on the line

What if Carmelo tried to layup instead of dunking on Roy Hibbert??

In all seriousness though, half that team was playing injured by that point of the 12-13 playoffs so we wouldn’t have made it far anyway. So maybe the better what if is what if that 12-13 Knicks squad stayed completely healthy? They destroyed the Heatles in their regular season matchups (and the Spurs!), they had as good of a chance as anyone that year

Pretty wild that Auerbach had a say in the Celtics front office in 2001

What if Julis Erving came and played with the Bucks, who drafted him? How many do he and Kareem win?

What if Chris Paul didn't pull his hammy? What if they made just 5 of the 27 threes that they missed?

Injuries: IMO there's 2 viable answers here: Yao going down in game 3 of the 2009 semis vs the Lakers or CP3 going down in game 6 of the 2018 semis vs the Warriors. Both series went to 7 against the eventual champs. Both big "what ifs?". I think the 2018 Rockets would've easily won vs the Cavaliers but the 2009 Rockets would've been a toss up vs the prime Dwight Howard led Magic.

Missed shots: 0-27

Draft Picks: Nikola Jokic was picked 41st overall in 2014 by the Denver Nuggets. Nick Johnson (has to be a 2K generated player) was picked 42nd overall by the Houston Rockets. Imagine the Rockets setting the NBA on fire with a Harden/Jokic pick and roll...

What if MJ never retires in 93

What if Thibs pulls the starters with 2 minutes left and up 14 in game 1 vs Philly in the 2012 playoffs?

For Raptors its gotta be "What if Kawhi re-signed after the Championship?"

They were a good team the next year but were missing a true #1 in the playoffs. Kawhi was healthy those next playoffs.

What if they had traded Kedrick Brown instead of Joe Johnson for Tony Delk & Rodney Rogers?

Pacer fan...2 things...

NBA shoving Ewing to NY Knicks

Malice in the Palace...O'Neal is mvp, Pacers win chip

Damn I'm mad surprised no one is bringing up where the Kings franchise could be right now if those Bibby-Webber led teams had not peaked at the same time as the Kobe-Shaq Lakers. Those were some iconic games back in the early 00's.

For us is what if zaza doesnt injure kawhi. Do we win in 2017? Does the tantrum never happens?

No Knicks suspensions in the 97 playoffs against the heat. Knicks had arguably their best offensive team of the ewing era that year. Went 2-2 against the bulls in the regular season.

As a Raptor fan, the biggest what-if all these years was if T-Mac stayed in Toronto with VC. This would've altered our history so much and I'm not sure if it would've led to an earlier championship, but it would likely mean no championship in 2019. Therefore the biggest what-if scenario to me now is what if Kawhi stayed... I would think we would at least have a high chance of going back-to-back in 2020, however I think age, injuries and playing in Florida the season after would've been difficult to win again in 2021.

Zara not stepping under Kawhi

• Kareem coin flip
• Nash/Horry hipcheck ---> Amare/Diaw suspensions
• Ron Artest put-back
• Paxson for 3
• Joe Johnson broken face
• Mario Ellie Kiss of Death

Chris Paul to the Lakers

Lakers...

Magic Johnson retiring early due to HIV infection.

Shaq and Kobe feuding.

Shaq constantly being out of shape and bad free throw shooting.

The greatest NBA What if of all time is What if Sabonis comes over when he's drafted in 1986?

The Sabas that we got in the mid-90's was ravaged by overuse injuries and the USSR running him into the ground with no rest. His feet were basically in cement and he still crushed people basically being unable to move.

If that run and gun team with Porter, Drexler, Kersey, and Uncle Cliffy that made the finals in 90 and 92 had young Sabas at the 5 instead of Kevin Duckworth it alters many legacies.

He was that good and would've fit in that well with that team.

Shaq + Penny or Duncan + Grant Hill + McGrady

Man.. a celtics fan bringing up what-ifs and not mentioning Reggie Lewis? That dude could ball.

What ifs from my team:

Injuries: Cannot think of many, since I am a pistons fan only since 09 and they have been bad since like 08 so I can think of 3.

1. Cade 's injury last year, which robbed him of a full year of development. Hopefully he comes back a different man

2. Blake's injury that cost him his career

3. Grant Hill's ankle injury. Without Grant Hill leaving for Orlando we do not win in 04 but he was a beast from games I have seen from him.

4. Suspensions:

5. All of Sheed's tech related suspensions

6. Ben's suspension for the Malice at the Palace.

7. Draft Picks:

Darko, Austin Daye, Kyle Singler, Henry Ellenson, Stanley Johnson. Killian Hayes.

4. Deaths:

None? Thank god I cannot think of any

5. Missed shots opportunities

Sheed not guarding Robert Horry in 05 did cost us a ring so that one.

Having bullshit tiny ass Anthony Carter inbounding the ball against long ass fucker Lamar Odum in the conference finals in 09....TWICE.

To me one of the biggest would be if KG would have gotten to LA with Kobe in 2008 and also What if that CP3 trade wouldnt have gotten veto which would have gotten CP3 paired with Kobe and Dwight . Kobe might not ever torn his achilies in that season because Cp3 would have taken more load from Kobe compared to the injured Nash . There was also a scenario Jordan could have ended up in Portland with Drexler making a scary duo and also what if the Piston drafted Melo , Melo would have never ended his career ringless and had a ring before Dwade .

What if the Ball brothers live in a different city?

If Kobe and Shaq had been friends in 2004 like they were post retirement

Under the radar and since I don't see many what-if this trade wasn't voided hypotheticals, the Thunder trader a pu pu latter of nonsense for Tyson Chandler in 2009, but rescinded the trade when he didn't pass the physical because of his big toe.

If that trade goes through, they're rolling out Westbrook/Harden/Durant/Ibaka/Chandler AND removing Chandler from the 2011 Mavs who beat them in the conference finals.

To add further insult, they wouldn't have needed to trade Jeff Green for Perkins to get a big, so they would have also had Jeff Green or used him for a better trade.

Once they matured, rolling that line up into 2012 probably leads to a title and that perhaps makes them less likely to trade Harden? Or maybe less likely to re-sign Ibaka over Harden?

Their owner was still cheap, but if they retained those five guys for five years or so, that's probably 2-3 titles.

What if draymond doesn’t punch anyone in the face

Bird’s back injury.

What if the New Orleans Jazz drafted Magic Johnson? 😂 What if Boogie Cousins never tore his Achilles? 🥴

Not being able to have Tmac, Vince and Bosh play together.

Golden State. What if the NBA called moving screens?

There are some teams with interesting what-if's.

Houston Rockets: What if Yao Ming never had a king's ransom of foot problems?

Los Angeles Lakers: What if the Chris Paul trade wasn't vetoed?

Cleveland Cavaliers: What if Carlos Boozer never backed out of his verbal agreement to stay with the Cavaliers in 2004?

Portland Trail Blazers: What if Arvydas Sabonis was able to join the Blazers in the mid-1980s and not in 1995?

Dallas Mavericks: What if Steve Nash wasn't lowballed by Mark Cuban and stayed with the Mavericks in 2004?

Philadelphia 76ers: What if Kawhi never hit the the 4-bounce game-winner in 2019?

Milwaukee Bucks: What if the Bucks traded Andrew Bogut for Stephen Curry in 2012?

Chicago Bulls: What if Michael Jordan didn't take a hiatus from basketball from 1993 to 1995?

There's likely a lot more what-if's out there, but these aforementioned what if's are what came to my mind as I was typing this.

If the refs weren’t corrupt in 2002 WCF