Alternate Universe: hypothetical trades from the past that would never happen

[bdm860]

For those of us who like to contemplate completely hypothetical situations (like putting Hakeem on the Knicks instead of Ewing which is very fun to think about IMO) here's the purpose of this thread:  pick any player and swap him with another (doesn't matter if it's fair or realistic) and try to contemplate the outcome over a period of time and maybe how it loosely effects the rest of the league.  And you only have to focus on how it effects one of the teams, not both. 

Also more fun if you don't pick say Shaq from 2000-2003 and add him to a team (like Kings or Spurs) that struggled to get past him.  Or don't trade Jordan for Hornacek and say now the Jazz win and the Bulls don't.  So don't take guys from championship teams to make other teams better.  It doesn't have to end up in a championship pairing, but what would happen if certain pieces were put together, what would work, what wouldn't.  Either post a new idea, or comment/tweak an existing one.

Here's mine: 

Switch Kevin Garnett with Tyrone Hill on the 2001 Sixers Finals team. 

Sixers starting lineup:
PG - Eric Snow
SG - Allen Iverson
SF - George Lynch
PF - Kevin Garnett
C - Dikembe Mutombo

My thoughts
2001 - It gives the Sixers another guy who can score, but doesn't need/want the ball so the offense can still be centered Iverson.  Garnett's "lunch pail" attitude fits right in with what made that particular Sixers team work, so you're not taking anything away from the chemistry, only adding to it.  The combination of Garnett and Mutombo along with George Lynch gives the Sixers one of the best defensive front courts of all time.   Iverson is still putting up around 30ppg (maybes 2-3ppg less) and Garnett is putting around 18ppg, but loves that he's not depended on for offense.  Still not enough to get past the Lakers, but the series goes 6 and is much more competitive. 

2002-2004 Sixers make another run in 2002, knocking out the C's in the first round (sorry no 4th quarter comeback vs the Nets for us in the ECF).  Battle the Nets in the ECF the next 2 years, maybe going 1-1, maybe 2-0, still can't get past the Lakers though, but the Finals would be a lot more interesting.  They also don't trade away Mutombo, choosing to stick with the defensively dominate Garnett/Mutombo frontcourt (even though Mutimbo is aging and nowhere near as effective) while still letting Iverson dominate the ball.  2004, after a classic 7 game series with the Pistons in the ECF ends in a loss, the Sixers hold on for 1 more year.  Mutombo has been traded, and the tinkering through the years has left the team not as effective as it was back in 2001.  First round flameout in 2005, then they blow it all up in the offseason. 

Since no midseason trade by Philly for Chris Webber in '05, maybe a straight swap of Garnett for Webber in the offseason.  Sacramento clearly comes out the winner (like the Kidd/Marbury trade), but still is only a midtier playoff team in the West for the next couple of years. 

What do you guys think (not so much about the later part, obviously so many variables, just kind of threw that in for fun), but I just think Garnett would be such a perfect fit on that 2001 Sixers team.  Definitely would give the Lakers a lot more trouble, maybe even win it all.  And that Garnett/Mutombo pairing would be awesome defensively.  Iverson doesn't have to change his game, still gets to dominate the ball, but still gets some offensive help from Garnett.  I just think this is win/win for Philly.

Your thoughts?

[bdm860]

So my idea for this thread never took off I guess well here's one more try at it, another situation I always wondered how it would turn out.

05-06 season:
Suns just came off a 62 win season and a trip to the WCF, but Amare Stoudemire had knee surgery before the season started and only played 3 games all year.  Suns still won 56 games and returned to the WCF though without Amare.  Now back up to the start of the season (or anytime before the trade deadline), Suns knowing Stoudemire is out (and with knee injuries you always wonder if the player will ever be the same) decide to ship out Amare straight up for Allen Iverson (I always wondered how Iverson would do in the backcourt next to Nash playing that run-n-gun style).  So now the Suns starting lineup look something like:

PG Steve Nash
SG Allen Iverson
SF Shawn Marion
PF Boris Diaw
C Kurt Thomas

Or maybe go super small:

PG Steve Nash
SG Allen Iverson
SF Raja Bell
PF Shawn Marion
C Boris Diaw

Key Bench
Thomas/Bell
Eddie House
Leandro Barbosa
Tim Thomas

Phoenix originally averaged 108 ppg (and 110 the year before with Stoudemire).  Add in Iverson, who scored 33ppg in '06, do you think they could get up 115 or 120ppg?  I think adding Iverson (who was still in his prime) would make Phoenix even more exciting than they were during that time, but I could see problems.  The Nash/Iverson backcourt works well on offense, but what about on defensive, too much liability, too small.  With this change, I don't think the team does any better, and they still ain't getting to the Finals.  In fact Phoenix went to 7 games against the Lakers in the first round, and without Raja Bell's constant D on Kobe the Suns probably don't get out of the first round (even though Bell is still on the team, it would be tough to have Nash, Iverson, and Bell, all log significant minutes I think), but maybe this super offensive team thrives.  I dunno, just always wondered how Iverson would fare on those Phoenix teams.  Don't think they'd be able to get it done in the playoffs though, but who knows, maybe they could just run everybody else off the court.

It would be fun team for a couple of years, but then Kerr would come in and break everything up trying to tinker too much and make a splash, I think you'd get pretty much the same results.

Any thoughts?

[Fafnir]

I think Allen Iverson would have hurt those Pheonix Suns team's offense, not helped.

[Fan from VT]

Love the first idea. Not the second.

For the first, 2000-2001 was the Lakers' best team of the shaq/kobe era, and the 2000-2001 Sixers were the ONLY team to win a playoff game against them. Considering that 2000-2001 KG was making the playoffs in the then far-superior western conference basically by himself, I think that does that trade happen they go to 6 or 7 games vs. LA in '01, then make the finals the following 3 seasons winning at least one title. KG was incredible, and he would add so much to those sixers teams while taking nothing away.

[Roy H.]

Can I swap Michael Jordan with Danny Ainge starting in about 1985?

PG:  DJ
SG:  MJ
SF: Bird
PF: McHale
C: Parish

74 wins, minimum. 

[RebusRankin]

I think KG helps them beat the Spurs in 03, possibly the Lakers in 02, very likely the Lakers in 04