Originally Posted by
Revering4Blue
Great job! Some thoughts on this post:
Step 1 - Even though the Nets still managed to qualify for a short-lived stay in the playoffs in '86, the end was coming for that core after Michael Ray Richardson was banned from the league midway through that season. But they somehow in that summer of '86 believed that drafting the late Pearl Washington (Great College player, but an NBA bust, and I did NOT see that coming) and signing Orlando Woolridge, which cost them an '89 lottery pick, while Woolridge missed a considerable amount of time with drug issues, would stabilize that core. And the rest is history. And given that Williams, three year later, only netted them Sam Bowie, who did play well as a Net and Mookie Blaylock, who they traded away for minimal return after drafting Kenny Anderson, they held on to him too long as you alluded to.
Natt, however, IIRC, was viewed as an injury risk circa Summer of '86. So, I'm not sure that Natt and picks alone would have gotten it done. But it could have been reconfigured with additional players and picks, and not necessarily all 1st rounders, with a '90 pick swap or '91 pick swap - the idea to snare Mutombo, assuming the Nuggets go a different route with another impact player in the '89 draft, with Lever remaining healthy '91 - '95 or so in this alternate universe.
Step 2 - That would have been a great trade for both teams, actually. Hanzlick, IMO, would have been a nice addition to the Pitino-era Knicks. And Tucker would have allowed them to go bigger in the '89 draft and avoid Lichti, who still may have been a solid pro if not for a bad car accident before his rookie season in which he was badly injured and he also had to suffer through the major trauma of losing his girlfriend in that accident.
Step 3: Love this! In addition to unlocking Adams' talents in Moe's system. His signing also would have allowed the Nuggets to deal Mike Evans while he still had some value. Higgins, too - especially when you consider how Nelson utilized him with the Run TMC teams in the Bay Area -- would have made a ton of sense. He would have seamlessly replaced Elston Turner in the rotation, after Turner signed with Chicago that Summer.
Step 4: Ah, the drug draft of '86. The draft in which talents such as Rodman, Duckworth, Price and Hornacek somehow fell into the second round, even though, IIRC, the USA today '86 mock had Rodman going to the Nuggets with one of their picks. What may have been. "Safe" picks from major programs, from that era who failed to distinguish themselves in the NBA is a really good topic for another time. Full disclosure: At the time, FWIW, I liked the Maurice Martin pick, but I was "meh" on the Alarie pick. The Alarie pick would have been a lot worse had he not been dealt in the Fall of '87 with Darrell Walker to Washington for Adams and Jay Vincent. That deal directly led to the '88 divisional crown.
Fallout - Not much to really add here. All solid moves. While I agree with Divac in '89 and Payton in '90, it would have been interesting to see how the late Cliff Robinson would have performed in Denver with that core, especially if the '90 pick becomes '91 and Mutombo is selected as I mentioned.
Many Nuggets fans, and rightfully so, point to the Mutombo, Abdul-Rauf (talk about a player whose game would have fit even better in today's NBA landscape) core as the chief example of a Nuggets core not living up to it's potential due to lapses in upper management. But the Nuggets core that you've chosen, even though they rebounded from Natt's injury by capturing the '88 divisional title in an absolutely loaded year for the division, fell off a cliff after that season and it could have been avoided, prolonging Moe's tenure.
