Your team's All-Time "Ones that got away" Starting Five

[Findog]

These are the players that your team got rid of early in their careers before they began to blossom, or traded them away and ended up on the losing side of the trade, or let them leave as free agents and ended up really regretting it:

Mavericks:

PG: Jason Kidd
SG: Dale Elllis
SF: Detlef Schrempf
PF: Sam Perkins
C: Bill Wennington (I honestly cannot think of too many bigs that the Mavs got rid of that we ended up regretting later - Perkins is really the only guy that comes to mind)

6th Man: Steve Nash

[lefty]

scola
scola
scola
scola
scola

Bench: scola

[JoeTait75]

PG: Kevin Johnson
SG: Dell Curry
SF: Johnny Newman
PF: Charles Oakley (draft rights traded for Keith Lee)
C: Brendan Haywood (draft rights traded for Michael Doleac)

[monosylab1k]

I often wonder what Sasha Danilovic would have done with the Nellie Mavs if he had stuck around and not gone back to Europe. He would have fit in perfectly with Nash/Finley/Dirk.

[lefty]

PG: 100% healthy Mark Price
SG: Dell Curry
SF: Johnny Newman
PF: Charles Oakley (draft rights traded for Keith Lee)
C: Brendan Haywood (draft rights traded for Michael Doleac)

fify

Man, what coud have been...

[JoeTait75]

fify

Man, what coud have been...

That's where Charles Oakley comes in. He would have been a perfect bodyguard for Price and the rest of those guys. Teams wouldn't have been so quick to thug it up with Price had Oak been on the scene. The book on that team was: beat them up. They badly needed an enforcer-type.

[lefty]

That's where Charles Oakley comes in. He would have been a perfect bodyguard for Price and the rest of those guys. Teams wouldn't have been so quick to thug it up with Price had Oak been on the scene. The book on that team was: beat them up. They badly needed an enforcer-type.
Good point

[Muser]

I couldn't name a full 5, but it would include Scola + Salmons.

[baseline bum]

G Rod Strickland
G Stephen Jackson
F Hedo Turkoglu
F Luis Scola
C Kevin Duckworth

6 Raja Bell
7 Frank Brickowski

[JMarkJohns]

Love Mark Price. I'm one of te first to mention his name amongst the "next 10" on All-Time lists for great PGs.

However, a 100% healthy Kevin Johnson is better than 100% healthy Mark Price. It's not so great a disparity that you can't utter Price's name, but Johnson was freakishly quick, and as testament to his skill, despite having multiple knee surgeries, KJ skill averaged 19.5 ppg and 9.8 apg during his 9-year prime, and averaged 22 ppg and 11 apg during his healthy 4-year peak.

Anyways, I think he's both the better player and fit for Cleveland in this thread.

[lefty]

Love Mark Price. I'm one of te first to mention his name amongst the "next 10" on All-Time lists for great PGs.

However, a 100% healthy Kevin Johnson is better than 100% healthy Mark Price. It's not so great a disparity that you can't utter Price's name, but Johnson was freakishly quick, and as testament to his skill, despite having multiple knee surgeries, KJ skill averaged 19.5 ppg and 9.8 apg during his 9-year prime, and averaged 22 ppg and 11 apg during his healthy 4-year peak.

Anyways, I think he's both the better player and fit for Cleveland in this thread.

Talentwise KJ was better, but Price had those intangibles that KJ didn't have:

- Leadership
- Heart; how many times did we see Price fight for a loose ball to give the possession back to his team? a lot

Don't gewt me wrong, KJ was great, and he did a heck of a job defensively on MJ during game 3 of the 93 Finals, but Price was a warrior

[baseline bum]

PG: Kevin Johnson
SG: Dell Curry
SF: Johnny Newman
PF: Charles Oakley (draft rights traded for Keith Lee)
C: Brendan Haywood (draft rights traded for Michael Doleac)

Dell Curry over Ron Harper?

[JoeTait75]

Dell Curry over Ron Harper?

I thought Curry better met Findog's "let them get away before they blossomed" criteria. Harper actually had his best years with the Cavaliers.

[dougp]

G Rod Strickland
G Stephen Jackson
F Hedo Turkoglu
F Luis Scola
C Kevin Duckworth

6 Raja Bell
7 Frank Brickowski

Take Hedo off - he's a numbers shooter, and requires being a 1st or second option, with a PF that doesn't play inside with the C. I kept saying he'd suck ass in Toronto, and I was right (this was outside of the forums.)

Move Bell to that F position or add Rodman.

[JoeTait75]

G Rod Strickland

Strickland could make New York's team too. I'm guessing it was that ill-advised behind-the-back pass late in Game 7 of the 1990 WCSF against the Blazers that did him in with the Spurs?

[JMarkJohns]

Talentwise KJ was better, but Price had those intangibles that KJ didn't have:

- Leadership
- Heart; how many times did we see Price fight for a loose ball to give the possession back to his team? a lot

Don't gewt me wrong, KJ was great, and he did a heck of a job defensively on MJ during game 3 of the 93 Finals, but Price was a warrior

For the life of me, I'm not sure how KJ is not described as a leader or having played with heart or warrior. I saw KJ fight through so much shit in his time in Phoenix, first being the complete lack of talent. Players like Chambers, Hornacek, Majerle were never as good elsewhere as they were alongside KJ. He took a team of castoffs to the Western Conference Finals without Barkley. He battled through four knee surgeries, and still attacked the rim. He was as tenacious on defense as his health would allow. Lastly, despite a year and a half removed from the game and after yet another surgery, KJ came back to help the Suns to their only playoff series win in the Kidd era with Kidd and Gugliotta out and Penny injured.

For a five year stretch, KJ had three surgeries and played in over 60% of the games. How many players would have one reconstructive surgery and two others and still play 60% of the games? How many would even think about defending Jordan while having to wear a metal knee brace, let alone do it and do a decent job?

KJ was a vocal leader and such put him on Barkley's badside, as he criticized the Chuckster for not practicing hard enough and for partying too much. How many players are willing to call out the reigning MVP for not taking the game seriously enough?

Love Price... and I can't pretend I don't have a bias here, but I'm awfully picky about basketball and I love all the aspects of the game you listed about Price, and my favorite two players are KJ and Hakeem.

[JoeTait75]

KJ would serve Price his ass any day of the week.

Except the days when KJ was in Cleveland and Price kept him nailed to the bench. Price made KJ expendable, flat-out.

[JMarkJohns]

Except the days when KJ was in Cleveland and Price kept him nailed to the bench. Price made KJ expendable, flat-out.

And maybe you can argue that this is what lit a fire under KJ and motivated him? Not sure, but I watched a ton of NBA from 1988 through now and I lvoe both Price and Johnson, and I never saw anything from Price as far as attitude and leadership that I didn't see from KJ, but I saw more ability and a more dynamic player in Johnson than I did Price.

But like I said, they each were great players when healthy.

[baseline bum]

Take Hedo off - he's a numbers shooter, and requires being a 1st or second option, with a PF that doesn't play inside with the C. I kept saying he'd suck ass in Toronto, and I was right (this was outside of the forums.)

Move Bell to that F position or add Rodman.

Rodman? Seriously? The Spurs moved him because he bitched and quit on the team in the middle of what was then the biggest playoff series in franchise history. He pulled the same crap in LA and Dallas too, so I don't think it can all be blamed on Bob Hill either.

I'm not a Turkoglu fan by any stretch, but he was a perfect defensive matchup for Nowitzki. Plus, the Spurs haven't lost too many decent 3s, so he's in by default.

[JoeTait75]

And maybe you can argue that this is what lit a fire under KJ and motivated him?

Absolutely. KJ himself has admitted he was a different player mentally- more aggressive, more assertive- in Phoenix than in Cleveland, where he was just trying to fit in as a rookie.

But even at his best KJ doesn't "own" Price. In his healthy prime Price was just about unguardable. And Price stepped up his own game due to the challenge of KJ coming in as a rookie.

[DUNCANownsKOBE2]

With Phoenix, there are too many point guards, shooting guards and small forwards to count, but little to no PF's and C's on this list, unless D-Rob and Lew Alcindor count since they almost got the 1st overall pick those years.

[JoeTait75]

Price had earned his spot. He was a great player, but once KJ came into his own, he was obviously the better player. The only thing Price had on KJ was that long range shot.

KJ was better, but I don't think by a significant margin. And Price faced far better, more physical defensive teams on a regular basis than KJ did in the run-n-gun West.

[baseline bum]

Strickland could make New York's team too. I'm guessing it was that ill-advised behind-the-back pass late in Game 7 of the 1990 WCSF against the Blazers that did him in with the Spurs?

Nah, Strickland wasn't brought back because:

(1) Red McCombs was cheap. McCombs admits to almost trading David Robinson to NY for Ewing to get out from his contract, and also wouldn't pay a second superstar deal to get Barkley in SA when Philly was asking for pennies on the dollar for him. He saw a much cheaper alternative in bringing Vinny Del Negro's sorry ass to be the starting point guard (a position he could never hold despite pretty weak competition from the rest of the Spurs backcourt in the early to mid 90s :lol)

- and to a lesser extent -

(2) Strickland became somewhat unpopular with Spurs fans after breaking his hand in a bar fight, and then losing to Golden State in the first round. Then he sat out the beginning of the next season for a few games while negotiating a contract. McCombs bet Spurs fans wouldn't be mad to lose the malcontent, which was true for a while, until it became obvious that Robinson's supporting cast was horseshit after he left (although Terry Cummings' injury was also a huge factor for that).

[JoeTait75]

KJ had the better career, and he always busted Price ass when they met.

Got something to back this up?

[JoeTait75]

Do you even know why the Cavs drafted KJ?

Yeah, because Price had a poor rookie year. I don't even think he started over John Bagley as a rookie. The team wasn't sold on Price as the PG of the future prior to the 1987-88 season.

[JoeTait75]

Well, KJ was more physically gifted than Price, there's no question about that. There's a reason why KJ was a lottery pick and Price was a second-rounder.

Ideally, the Cavaliers would have kept both guys and settled for Mark West at PF next to Daugherty. Larry Nance was a very good player, but KJ, Mark West, Ty Corbin, and the draft pick that became Dan Majerle was just too high of a price. The Cavaliers never did resolve the depth issues they created with that trade.

[JamStone]

Billups - but I admit that at the time I had no problem with it because I thought he was well into his decline
Dave DeBusschere
Adrian Dantley - felt bad he didn't get that championship with the Pistons
Rick Mahorn - for sentimental reasons more than anything
Bob Lanier

[jacobdrj]

Carlos Delfino
Grant Hill
Adrian Dantley
Ben Wallace
Chauncy Billups


To be honest, I am not to keen on any one of these selections. However, they are the closest thing I can think of, barring draft mistakes, like the 2003 Darko-For-Pau deal that never happened.

[Smooth Criminal]

I don't have many...uh...Jason Kidd? :lol