Just realized how much the Cold War and injuries ruined the Blazers... Drexler drafted in 1983. Kiki Vandeweghe joined in 1984... Kersey and Bowie drafted in 1984. Porter joined in 1985... Blazers had the rights to Petrovic and Sabonis in 1986. ... Bowie got hurt in 1986-1987. Duckworth traded for in 1986. Cliff Robinson joined in 1989... and they would all have been in or near their primes during the Bad Boys era and Bulls first run. Only issue is that they may be missing a 3-and-D type player. All-Stars: Duckworth, Drexler, Porter, Vandeweghe, Robinson Hall-of-Fame: Drexler, Sabonis, Petrovic PF Vandeweghe SF Drexler C Sabonis SG Petrovic PG Porter 6 Duckworth 7 Kersey 8 Robinson 9 Bowie
Yeah, Portland has to be the most unlucky team in NBA history. The Bowie draft was probably the biggest blunder. And don't forget Greg Oden and Brandon Roy.
Bowie was hurt in college but his initial pro injury was a freak injury being tangled with Jerome Kersey. I wonder how modern medicine could have helped him and Ralph.
That's something we will never know. The Bowie pick was a huge blunder mostly because they could have drafted Jordan. It's like picking Marcus Morris over Kawhi Leonard X10. Although most people believed that Jordan was the better player, even without knowing how he would become, they chose Bowie because they needed a big man. That's the folly of drafting need over talent. But the biggest bad luck was Roy. He could have been MVP material for years to come. The Sabonis delay was huge too, but at least they knew the odds.
Not to mention Bill Walton. They win the title in 77 are on pace to set the lead record for wins the next year and Walton gets hurt and then they shoot him up to play in the playoffs he snaps his foot on an uncontested rebound and never plays again for Portland and deals with foot problems the rest of his career.
God speed to nba, worldwide. The Phoenix game 7 dunk by drexler early was huge. If Charles Barkley was sore then I'm sure the drexler dunk showed a crisp freshness for rockets. Additionally, kenny smith made the first rockets layup against Phoenix in game 7. That Kenny Smith spinning layup and drive to the basket to start the game in a game 7! The rockets were fresh and crisp with everything in that Phoenix game 7.
