A funny thought occured to me while listening to Sam Smith at halftime tonight. In the 1984 draft, we faced a choice: a reliably great big man or a potentially great guard. We made the safe, prudent choice. We picked Olajuwon and left Jordan to the Bulls. We got 2 titles, they got 6. Fifteen years later, the Bulls paid us back. They made the safe, prudent choice. They took the reliable big man, Elton Brand, and left Steve Francis to us. Thank you, Chicago.
Thats an interesting way to look at it, even though the Bulls didn't directly do us a favour, since we never actually drafted St. Francis -- the point is well taken. And while Brand is destined to become a good -- possibly great player -- his potential is simply overmatched by the infinite potential that Stevie encompasses, and for that matter, Odoms' as well. But when you mentioned us doing a favour for the Bulls by not selecting MJ (man, is there even a word in the English language that measures the mistake the Blazers made by taking Bowie?), sure it was a favour when you look at it from the Chicago side. But as dumb and naive as this may sound, I would not have traded the glory, excitement and awesome memories Dream gave us for even the greatness of Michael. Of course, we can draw out 'what-ifs' scenarios all night, because if Micheal played his career out in Texas and Hakeem with da Bulls, the entire frabic of the NBA's history would be altered and also trigger an entirely new path of ensuing events. My apologies for getting off track, all I'm meaning to say is that no matter how high the # of rings Chicago owns is, I am perfectly content with the way things have panned out. Azim da Dream [This message has been edited by Azim da Dream (edited December 21, 1999).]
I have to agree with you Azim da Dream. I wouldn't trade all the great years Hakeem has given this team for anything. Although... I have heard (I believe it may have been in Dream's autobio.) that the Rockets could have traded Sampson for pick# 2 and Clyde Drexler back in '84. Just imagine that! Dream, Jordan, and Glide all on the same team in their prime. That unit would rack up the rings!
The thing I will always wonder is how many more championships would we have won if Ralph had stayed healthy? I would take those two over the spurs twin towers any time. Also if Steve is this good now how great is he going to play when he learns how to be an NBA player?
Anybody know how many points/assists/rebounds per game the legendary pt guards had their rookie years? It would be interesting to compare this with Francis' stats.
I dont know. But I know Francis is the only rookie since JORDAN leading the rookies in scoring and assists.
Exactly how many next Jordans is it now.....Kobe, Carter, Francis.....who else? I think Francis will be a great player, but he won't be the next Jordan. Unless he changes his name, he is merely going to be the next Francis. Maybe he will be great or maybe just good, but he is going to be the next Francis.
I think the rockets played perfectly in that draft, by taking Olajuwon over Jordan. Jordan always had the luxury of being surrounded by good players and having a good coach. On the other hand, Olajuwon had a constant change of teammates and coaches. Who knows, if Jordan was a Rocket, who knows if he would've ever won a championship?
I'm fine with Dream over Jordan. Either would have been great. What kills me is we could have had Dream and Clyde together for all of those years in their prime. That is the only thing I regret. I know Sampson's injury could not be foreseen but Clyde and Dream. I would have loved it! We would have had more than 2 rings I think. Clyde nearly got a couple on his own in Portland. The only player better than Clyde was Jordan at the time in my opinion.
"reliably great big man" - that's how you're describing Hakeem at the start of his career, right, because that is certainly not how I would describe Hakeem over the duration of his career, especially not at his peak?! [This message has been edited by oakdogg (edited December 22, 1999).]
