So Nash shows up in Vancouver and an NBA exhibition game packs the joint. Makes a guy wonder . . what if? As Matt Sekeres wrote in today’s Globe, with a crystal ball and some better decision making there’s no reason the NBA shouldn’t have remained on the West Coast. If they had known the Canadian dollar would have rebounded to par, would they have left? If they had somehow, someway managed to pick up a second first-round pick in the middle of the 1996 draft to use on Nash, would they have needed to? What if the NBA hadn’t written such an onerous expansion agreement, in particular locking the Raptors and Grizzlies out of the top pick in the first couple of seasons? As Nash has said before, what if another general manager, not Stu Jackson, had been running the show, maybe things might have been different.
But looking back, one element that can’t be overlooked is this: During the years they were picking the highest and needed stars the most, the NBA draft was incredibly weak. Even when you go back and dissect who should have been picked where, Vancouver’s draft prospects weren’t that good.
Picking No. 6 in 1995 they got Bryant Reeves. Were they unwise to pick him there? I don’t think so. Were they unwise to sign him to a $65-million extension? Yes. Was it his fault he ate himself out of the NBA? Yes.
They got Shareef Abdur-Rahim No. 3 in 1996, and while he’s not a Hall-of-Famer, he was a productive NBA player. The problem was he was miscast as a franchise player.
1997: Antonio Daniels? A nice role player at No. 4, and when you look at what else was available – Tony Battie, Ron Mercer, Tim Thomas and Adonal Foyle were the next four picks – not a bad choice. Revisionist history would suggest Tracy McGrady at No. 9 was the right call here, but that would have been a huge stretch then.
1998: Mike Bibby at No. 2? Well, Raef Lafrentz went No. 3, and the Golden State Warriors thought so little of Vince Carter (taken No. 5) they traded him to Toronto for Antawn Jamison (taken No. 4) and paid money to grease the deal. Bibby has gone on to a really nice career, the problem is he’s just not the impact player you want picking No. 2.
1999: A huge blunder taking Steve Francis at No. 2; his teary pout was a pox on the franchise. But look at the alternatives: Baron Davis? Underachieving flake. LaMar Odom? Flake. Jonathan Bender? High school kid, always hurt. Wally SZzzzz? Rip Hamilton went No. 7, but no one was projecting him as a No. 2 pick at the time. Before he got hurt Francis was a huge talent. Unfortunately for Grizzlies fans he was an immature weirdo.
2000: Yes, Stro Swift was a waste of a No. 2 pick. Total underachiever. But remember that Darius Miles went No. 3. Marcus Fizer went fourth, Mike Miller went No. 5 and DeMar Johnson went No. 6 and then came Chris Mihm. Seriously, what could any GM do with that?
These were horrible draft classes.
The Raptors made it in part because they play in a bigger market and in a better building and in no small part because of the shared ownership with the Leafs, which meant corporate box-holders got Raptors suites along with their Leaf suites, they couldn’t pick and choose. And also they caught a break when they got Carter, who got better faster than anyone imagined. When they got McGrady; same thing.
