What if???
My wonderful, beautiful wife loves to play the board game, Clue. I do not. It’s a long, tedious game where you have to continually keep track of who guesses what (“Colonel Mustard, with the candle stick, in the conservatory”). But for her birthday, along with Mother’s Day, my three kids and I always honor her by playing the game.
Another game I don’t like at times is "What if?" It’s not a board game though. It’s when people use hindsight to critique and criticize the decisions of others. “What if you just woulda done this?” You cannot change the past -- unless you have a flux capacitor or a hot tub time machine — and the circumstances at the time that strongly influenced the decision are often glossed over.
On the other hand, one of my favorite quotes is from George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
We should always look to learn from history to better our future. And when it comes to professional sports, "what ifs" make for great discussion and debate.
Cavaliers’ fans have been very fortunate to watch their team make four straight NBA Finals against Golden State. But with three of those (and almost a fourth) ending in losses, LeBron James’ second departure is looking like a strong possibility, and the team’s current mediocre roster, here are some ‘what ifs’ that may have provided the Cavs with a more encouraging future.
WHAT IF CLEVELAND HAD MADE BETTER FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS? LeBron James (2003) and Kyrie Irving (2011) were "no brainer" No. 1 picks. But here are the other Cavalier first round picks that initially played for Cleveland since James arrived. Shannon Brown (2005, No. 25 selection, 408 career games, 7.6 points per game career average), J.J. Hickson (2008, No. 19, 534 games, 9.5 ppg), Christian Eyenga (No. 30, 51 games, 6.3 ppg), Tristan Thompson (2011, No. 4, 519 games, 9.0 ppg), Dion Waiters (2012, No. 4, 13.3 ppg), Tyler Zeller (2012, No. 17 acquired in a draft night trade, 406 games, 7.0 ppg), Anthony Bennett (2013, No. 1, 151 games, 4.4 ppg), Sergey Karasev (2013, No. 19, 95 games, 3.0 ppg).
The NBA draft can be a crap shoot, especially after the first five or so picks. But good NBA franchises hit more than they miss, and great teams are able to find those hidden gems. The Cavs had more strike outs than Carlos Santana, and failed to get enough star value from the high picks of Thompson, Waiters, and Bennett.
EFFECT: All of those missed draft opportunities created a roster talent void during both LeBron eras that Cleveland general managers had to try to fill by trading useful assets.
WHAT IF CLEVELAND HADN’T GIVEN AWAY TWO RECENT FIRST ROUNDERS? In 2014, the Cavs acquired Kevin Love from Minnesota for 2014 No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, and a 2015 first round pick. With Love having just one year on his contract, Wiggins was the best return the Timberwolves were going to get. Cleveland didn’t need to throw in the draft pick.
Last February, the Cavs sent Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye (both on expiring contracts) for Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson, and this year’s No. 25 draft pick. L.A. was happy to dump those two contracts to free cap space for this summer’s free agency. The Cavs should have given up a second rounder at most.
EFFECT: Two lost assets to either find young talent or trade for a veteran.
WHAT IF DAN GILBERT WOULD HAVE KEPT GM DAVID GRIFFIN? David Griffin came to the Cleveland front office in 2010, and became general manager in 2014. He did a good job of making creative trades to surround LeBron with key roster pieces such as Love, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Timofey Mozgov, Channing Frye, and Kyle Korver. James spoke highly of Griffin in the media. After the 2017 season, though, owner Dan Gilbert mysteriously chose not to re-hire Griffin.
EFFECT: Griffin’s wisdom and experience would likely have been very beneficial in dealing with Kyrie Irving’s trade demand last summer, convincing LeBron to stay this summer, and finding useful roster pieces in between.
WHAT IF WE DIDN’T TRADE KYRIE? Initially, Rookie GM Koby Altman was widely praised when he traded Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and Brooklyn’s first round draft pick. The websites of Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports gave Cleveland an A+ for the deal, while ESPN gave an A. But Thomas and Crowder floundered and were eventually traded.
EFFECT: We can say that Cleveland would have been much better off with Irving, but he supposedly threatened to sit out the year to have another knee surgery. He eventually needed the surgery, so he would not have played in the playoffs for the Wine and Gold anyway.
WHAT IF WE DIDN’T OVERHAUL THE ROSTER AT THE 2018 MID-SEASON? George Hill was a mediocre starting point guard during the playoffs (9.2 points per game), and Nance did OK off the bench. Rodney Hood and Jordan Clarkson made minimal contributions.
EFFECT: While those four did little to slow down the Golden State juggernaut, they all provided sparks at times during the regular season. Prior to their arrival, the Cavaliers were in a serious funk. I highly doubt that roster with Thomas, Crowder, and Derrick Rose would have made the NBA Finals. Cleveland, however, should have kept around Dwyane Wade and his playoff experience.
WHAT IF IRVING AND LOVE WOULD HAVE STAYED HEALTHY DURING THE 2015 PLAYOFFS? In spite of losing Love to a shoulder injury in Round 1, and Irving to a knee in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Cavs had a 2-1 series lead over Golden State before losing three straight games.
EFFECT: Another championship banner would be hanging in the rafters of the Q. And maybe two titles would have made Cleveland a more enticing long-term home for both Irving and James.
WHAT IF KEVIN DURANT DIDN’T GO TO GOLDEN STATE? The Warriors were an all-time great team during the 2015-16 season, winning an NBA-record 73 games before falling to Cleveland in seven games. Then they added the second-best player in the world, a seven-footer who averaged 28.2 points and hit 186 3-pointers the previous season. Golden State raised the championship talent bar to a ridiculous height that no one else has been close to matching.
EFFECT: Without having to face Durant, Cleveland would have had a great chance of defending their crown in 2017. If they accomplished that, Kyrie likely would have stayed to try to get a "three-peat."
That’s enough of the "what ifs" for now.
Time to hide before I have to play any more Clue.