What if : Jordan or Olajuwon?

[syfy9]

Back to the 1984 draft. You are the Blazers GM. The Rockets were stupid enough to pick Bowie 1st overall. You have a choice of Jordan or Olajuwon. Who do you pick?

If you pick Jordan...

• You still have Drexler and will be forced to play one of them out of position.
• The team will soon have Duckworth, Kersey, Porter, etc
• Olajuwon goes to the Bulls, and they later draft Pippen + They get Phil Jackson as coach.
• Jordan won't get any career ending injuries but the rest of the team could possibly.

If you pick Olajuwon...

• You replace him over Bowie.
• The team will get Porter, Kersey, Duckworth(He'll play PF), etc.
• Jordan still goes to the Bulls and they make the same team they originally had w/ Pippen and Coach Phil.
• Olajuwon is guaranteed to not get injured, however the rest of the team is.

What Blazers team would be better?



Fast Forward to where Bird and Magic are old, and Jordan/Olajuwon approach their prime (1990-1991 Season). These are the teams.

MJ's Team :
Terry Porter, Danny Ainge
Michael Jordan
Clyde Drexler
Jerome Kersey/Buck Williams
Kevin Duckworth, (Decent backup center)

Will this team conquer like the Bulls did? I think overall Pippen > Drexler. You still have, however, a lot more offensive help. This could possibly be one of the greater offensive teams to play the game.


Hakeem's Team :
Terry Porter, (Some Ainge caliber 6th man)
Danny Ainge
Clyde Drexler
Kevin Duckworth, Jerome Kersey
Hakeem Olajuwon, Duck Williams

Is this the Jordan stopper? Will this team triumph the Bulls? It's has incredible depth with Kersey/Williams, and two 7 footers manning the middle. Great scoring guards, and a scary team to go against.


What do you guys think?

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I'll pick Hakeem the Dream.

MJ is the greatest ever, but I think I'd pick Olajuwon here, just because of one thing, Kareem. I need someone who can defend Kareem and make him defend. I would worry about the Celtics, Pistons and/or the Bulls later, I'd need to get over LA first.

[Celtics4ever]

Not a blazer fan so who cares.   I hope both of them do poorly.

[Eja117]

I would have gone with Hakeem, and since they triumphed when they were much older I think I would have done fine.  Jordan was great but you can't teach height and Drexler was already great.   

[RebusRankin]

Olajuwon

[bopna]

Back to the 1984 draft. You are the Blazers GM. The Rockets were stupid enough to pick Bowie 1st overall. You have a choice of Jordan or Olajuwon. Who do you pick?

The Blazers I understand could not have drafted Hakeem because Olajuwon went first to the Rockets.  They only had a choice between Jordan and Bowie which at that time was a no brainer to pick Bowie since they already have a very good SG in Drexler. had they knew Jordan would be the BEST player on the planet If I were a GM then I would have instead flip Drexler and trade him to Chicago for their no. 3 pick which would be Jordan and Chicago, we never gonna know might agree then since MJ was good, but probably not Drexler good. And Bowie would be with the Bulls.....All in Hindsight I guess.   

[Moranis]

If Bowie went 1 and I'm the Blazers with the team I have in place, I take the Dream. 

[Roy H.]

At the time, Hakeem.

In hindsight?  Jordan.  Jordan won six titles beside Pippen.  I'm sure he could have done equally well alongside Drexler, especially with a deep team around him.  Can I assume the Blazers later get Cliff Robinson, too?

Porter / Ainge
Jordan / (Ainge)
Drexler / (Kersey)
B. Williams / Kersey
Duckworth / Robinson

I'd argue that that team is as good or better than the Bulls dynasty teams.  Who knows, maybe the Blazers hold on to Drazen Petrovic in this alternative world, and that changes the course of NBA history.  

I love Hakeem, but with Jordan's resume', he needs to go #1.

[dark_lord]

At the time, Hakeem.

In hindsight?  Jordan. 

bingo

[byennie]

Hakeem was awesome... more so that I think most people realize. But y'all are overthinking this. You take Jordan, the best player of all-time who completely dominated the league alongside Pippen and a host of of role players. Hakeem may even be the 2nd best choice of that decade, but I think anyone who would pass over Jordan with the benefit of hindsight is nuts.

[guava_wrench]

So many potential jobs is someone knew the future.

[Roy H.]

MJ's Team :
Terry Porter, Danny Ainge
Michael Jordan
Clyde Drexler
Jerome Kersey/Buck Williams
Kevin Duckworth, (Decent backup center)

Will this team conquer like the Bulls did? I think overall Pippen > Drexler. You still have, however, a lot more offensive help. This could possibly be one of the greater offensive teams to play the game.

Don't sleep on that team's defense either, though.  Between '90 and '93, the Blazers were top-four in defense (defensive rating) all four seasons.  Adding Jordan only makes them better.

[ChefEricT]

This is kind of a silly question.  Best player of all time or a top 10 center.  I'll take the best of all time.  Especially since in your scenario, you end up having Drexler out of position anyway.

[ACF]

Not a blazer fan so who cares.   I hope both of them do poorly.

 

[Roy H.]

Especially since in your scenario, you end up having Drexler out of position anyway.

Yeah, the lineup for the Hakeem team would be:

Terry Porter, Danny Ainge
Clyde Drexler
Jerome Kersey
Buck Williams, Cliff Robinson
Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Duckworth

That's a great team, just not as great as a Jordan team.  However, I do think there's a chance that that team takes at least one title from the Jordan Bulls.