barring a huge collapse we would've made the playoffs because we were 30-17 when we made the trade (only 17-18 afterwards). a lot of people seem to think the trade really revitalized us in the regular season but it didn't. all of the benefit was in the playoffs. 30-17 actually isn't even that bad but there just wasn't a spark to that team at the time and thus making the trade made sense. and like i said, once the playoffs started is when it really started to mean something.
The trade definitely didn't revitalize us in the regular season. Most people forget we lost the last 3 games. Two of those were against the Jazz, who we beat in the first round (so much for momentum). Our regular season record was fine at the time but the team was stale and out of sync. I thought it was very noticeable. Late in the season Dream missed 8-9 games in a row with a blood clot issue (or something like that). Clyde developed good chemistry with the other players during that time, which came in handy during the playoffs. You are right. It would have been almost impossible for them to miss the playoffs. But things were not all well with the team and that's why they made the trade. You don't break up a championship roster with a 30-17 record for no reason. We started the season on absolute fire (just like the year before) but played barely above .500 after that. I think Rudy realized the problems wouldn't work themselves out and the bold stroke got us another title.
