What is the biggest 'What if ?" in Boston Celtics history..?

[SHAQATTACK]

Len Bias , hands down.......I still ponder this one.

[csfansince60s]

  Len Bias absolutely.  He was supposed to be Jordan's foil(like Bird to Magic).  He was that good and he was coming to a team that was already consistent title contender. 

  The late 80's and early 90's might have looked a whole lot different if Len Bias had ever played in Green.

Completely agree.

Lenny Bias...not even close.

On slight change I would make to the post: Jordan would have been referred to as Bias' foil, he WAS that good.

Also, Bird, McHale and Parrish's careers would have all been extended, and then maybe we don't draft Reggie, and get set back because of that.

[LiamB]

What if Red didn't trade for Russell? The whole franchise would be completely different

[33_Larry Legend_33]

I think many (if not all who understand the impact on that era) will agree that Bias is #1 on this list...  What is more fun to discuss is what would become a "top 10" list of Celtics "what if's" in history...

What if Bill Walton had a couple more healthy seasons? 

(his injury seemed to predicate the Danny Ainge to Sacramento trade a couple/three years later)

What if Red pulled the trigger on a strongly rumored trade of Parish to Seattle for Michael Cage and (in his prime) Xavier McDaniel (whom both would have played next to Bird & McHale)? 

Interesting to ponder...

[KCattheStripe]

To me the death of Bias is by far the biggest.

What if Pitino had landed Duncan and Van Horn, as he thought he might, and put them with Toine?

Would have changed the way we remember Van Horn, and no Celtics fan could complain about Toine jacking 3s because that's what he would have been asked to do.

[Celtics4ever]

Bias and Lewis are up there and died tragically before their time.  What if we had got Tim Duncan?

[fairweatherfan]

What if we don't LOSE a dispersal draft for the folded Chicago Stags and get "stuck" with Bob Cousy?

What if the NBA hadn't forced us to keep Reggie Lewis on our cap for three years after his death?

What if Pitino included Kedrick Brown in the Rodney Rogers deal, instead of Joe Johnson?

[33_Larry Legend_33]

What if we landed the #1 pick and took Greg Oden?

(probably NO Ray Allen...NO KG... And who knows, maybe Pierce would have been granted his wish and traded out of here to a contender).

Hindsight is 20/20, and we see the impact of Kevin Durant, but would Danny have REALLY taken Durant over Oden??  That's not usually how drafts unfold - the supposed "elite" big man in the middle is usually drafted with the top pick.

This could have drastically altered the last few years...

[Eja117]

What if Larry Bird decided to never pick up a basketball ever again and was still cleaning up trash in French Lick???

Wow that's chilling. He'd be like the Good Will Hunting of basketball, only in French Lick instead of Harvard or MIT

[Eddie20]

What if we had won the lottery and drafted Duncan? And by that same token, what if we didn't trade Billups that same draft?

[ManUp]

What if Len Bias and Reggie Lewis didn't die? I think I win this game 

[Inside-Out]

  Len Bias absolutely.  He was supposed to be Jordan's foil(like Bird to Magic).  He was that good and he was coming to a team that was already consistent title contender. 

  The late 80's and early 90's might have looked a whole lot different if Len Bias had ever played in Green.

Completely agree.

Lenny Bias...not even close.

On slight change I would make to the post: Jordan would have been referred to as Bias' foil, he WAS that good.

Also, Bird, McHale and Parrish's careers would have all been extended, and then maybe we don't draft Reggie, and get set back because of that.

Exactly.  The entire 90's era would have been different.

Would Detriot have won back-to-back titles?

Would Jordan have 6 (I doubt this for sure)

Would the Bulls have the best record season (possibly).

And, without all of the titles and with a marketing (as well as on-court) foil, would MJ still even be in the GOAT discussion?

It's Bias/Lewis hands-down.  It affected the entire history of basketball, not just this franchise, IMO, as Jordan's Bulls were the only team to fill the large void created by 90's expansion.  There was no foil, and would have been.

[Frezz]

What if we landed the #1 pick and took Greg Oden?

(probably NO Ray Allen...NO KG... And who knows, maybe Pierce would have been granted his wish and traded out of here to a contender).

Hindsight is 20/20, and we see the impact of Kevin Durant, but would Danny have REALLY taken Durant over Oden??  That's not usually how drafts unfold - the supposed "elite" big man in the middle is usually drafted with the top pick.

This could have drastically altered the last few years...

No doubt in my mind he would have taken Durant.

Which means a team of Rondo, Durant, Jefferson, Perkins and Delonte to build around. Pierce surely would have asked for a trade at that time, probably for a draft pick from the next years draft. Someone like Eric Gordon? Who knows. That'd be quite a team though.

[lon3lytoaster]

What if... We traded the whole team. For Chris Paul?

[slamtheking]

 Len Bias absolutely.  He was supposed to be Jordan's foil(like Bird to Magic).  He was that good and he was coming to a team that was already consistent title contender.  

  The late 80's and early 90's might have looked a whole lot different if Len Bias had ever played in Green.

Completely agree.

Lenny Bias...not even close.

On slight change I would make to the post: Jordan would have been referred to as Bias' foil, he WAS that good.

Also, Bird, McHale and Parrish's careers would have all been extended, and then maybe we don't draft Reggie, and get set back because of that.

Exactly.  The entire 90's era would have been different.

Would Detriot have won back-to-back titles?

Would Jordan have 6 (I doubt this for sure)

Would the Bulls have the best record season (possibly).

And, without all of the titles and with a marketing (as well as on-court) foil, would MJ still even be in the GOAT discussion?

It's Bias/Lewis hands-down.  It affected the entire history of basketball, not just this franchise, IMO, as Jordan's Bulls were the only team to fill the large void created by 90's expansion.  There was no foil, and would have been.

This.  beat me to it.  

I think the other thing to add is that this is probably the one thing mentioned that was completely controllable.  A young man's life tragically ended and a franchise's future wrecked all due to a stupid indulgence by a single player.  

I still think if the NBAPA had agreed to drug testing in the 80's, Bias wouldn't have taken the chance of failing the test and never would have passed away.