Author Topic: Revisionist NBA history: What if LeBron was drafted by Miami?  (Read 848 times)

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Revisionist NBA history: What if LeBron was drafted by Miami?
« on: January 25, 2018, 10:30:51 PM »

Offline slightly biased bias fan

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With all the mess that is going on in Cleveland it just reminds me that LeBron has to be the best player in NBA history drafted by such a disaster of a franchise. Jordan had Jerry Krause, Phil Jackson and Tex Winter, Bryant had Jerry Buss, Jerry West and again Phil Jackson and Tex Winter, Magic and Kareem had Jerry Buss and Pat Riley and of course Russell and Bird had Auerbach.

So out of that 2003 Draft lottery, Miami Heat were the most professional organisation (polar opposite of Cavs) and if you look at the structure the Heat had and still has, one can make the case that today LeBron would be a better player if he began his career in Miami than Cleveland.

You would say that Riley and James would still have won the 2006 title but how many more titles would they have won together do you think? Would the big three have still come together?

Re: Revisionist NBA history: What if LeBron was drafted by Miami?
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2018, 10:51:02 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Who knows. Maybe LeBron is good enough that the Heat don't trade for Shaq so maybe they don't win a title early. Or maybe LeBron doesn't ever win there because the Heat never have the cap space or draft assets to get him a good enoigh supporting cast, so he ends up leaving and going home to Clebeland in year 7 by doing the Decision to shun the Heat for the Cavs.
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Re: Revisionist NBA history: What if LeBron was drafted by Miami?
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2018, 11:52:18 PM »

Offline LRNation_

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With all the mess that is going on in Cleveland it just reminds me that LeBron has to be the best player in NBA history drafted by such a disaster of a franchise. Jordan had Jerry Krause, Phil Jackson and Tex Winter, Bryant had Jerry Buss, Jerry West and again Phil Jackson and Tex Winter, Magic and Kareem had Jerry Buss and Pat Riley and of course Russell and Bird had Auerbach.

So out of that 2003 Draft lottery, Miami Heat were the most professional organisation (polar opposite of Cavs) and if you look at the structure the Heat had and still has, one can make the case that today LeBron would be a better player if he began his career in Miami than Cleveland.

You would say that Riley and James would still have won the 2006 title but how many more titles would they have won together do you think? Would the big three have still come together?
So if Lebron was drafted by Miami, we need to re-work the lottery for the cavs...
I assume that it would go like this:

Cavs: Melo
Pistons: Darko
Nuggets: Bosh
Raptors: Wade
Heat: LeBron

and the rest goes as follows.

With this, I would like to first point out that the reason he left Miami in the first place was that of his promise to bring Cleveland a championship, and the additions of Kyrie Irving allowed him to quickly achieve that goal. Because he was never drafted by the Cavs in the first place, he would never leave the heat in the first place. Wade and Bosh could easily leave their teams for a much better team with Lebron on it and I see them win 3-4 championships from what they have.
For sure, the cavs would be in a mess, I mean Melo barely had loyalty to the nuggets and with a franchise like the cavs, I barely see him standing there now. Nuggets and Raptors would be in the same situations as the original timeline since Wade and Bosh both leave for the heat.

If Lebron was drafted by Miami, who would know how many rings Bron would have and how good they still would be....

Re: Revisionist NBA history: What if LeBron was drafted by Miami?
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2018, 01:23:59 AM »

Offline mr. dee

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Even without Shaq, that 2003-04 Heat is a pretty solid team. You have guys like Eddie Jones, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Udonis Haslem. It was Odom that made the Shaq trade possible so it's still possible to get him and go for a dynasty with the Lebron-Shaq duo.

Re: Revisionist NBA history: What if LeBron was drafted by Miami?
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2018, 02:10:23 AM »

Offline slightly biased bias fan

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So if Lebron was drafted by Miami, we need to re-work the lottery for the cavs...
I assume that it would go like this:

Cavs: Melo
Pistons: Darko
Nuggets: Bosh
Raptors: Wade
Heat: LeBron


No I'm sorry I think you misunderstood, I meant if Miami won the 2003 Draft Lottery and picked LeBron with the first pick...whoever won that lottery was guaranteed to select James.

Even without Shaq, that 2003-04 Heat is a pretty solid team. You have guys like Eddie Jones, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Udonis Haslem. It was Odom that made the Shaq trade possible so it's still possible to get him and go for a dynasty with the Lebron-Shaq duo.

Yes Miami traded Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and a future first-round draft choice for Shaq so the presence of LeBron was inconsequential in that trade. My thought is that LeBron + Miami location would be a favourite for all free agents, something that he never had in Cleveland. I remember LeBron noting how greatly better Heat's training, player development, tactics all were over Cav's so it would be common sense to think 7 extra years under Riley and Spolstra would make him a superior player.

Re: Revisionist NBA history: What if LeBron was drafted by Miami?
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2018, 08:18:39 AM »

Offline Moranis

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So if Lebron was drafted by Miami, we need to re-work the lottery for the cavs...
I assume that it would go like this:

Cavs: Melo
Pistons: Darko
Nuggets: Bosh
Raptors: Wade
Heat: LeBron


No I'm sorry I think you misunderstood, I meant if Miami won the 2003 Draft Lottery and picked LeBron with the first pick...whoever won that lottery was guaranteed to select James.

Even without Shaq, that 2003-04 Heat is a pretty solid team. You have guys like Eddie Jones, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Udonis Haslem. It was Odom that made the Shaq trade possible so it's still possible to get him and go for a dynasty with the Lebron-Shaq duo.

Yes Miami traded Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, and a future first-round draft choice for Shaq so the presence of LeBron was inconsequential in that trade. My thought is that LeBron + Miami location would be a favourite for all free agents, something that he never had in Cleveland. I remember LeBron noting how greatly better Heat's training, player development, tactics all were over Cav's so it would be common sense to think 7 extra years under Riley and Spolstra would make him a superior player.
Shaq was basically done by the end 2006 so it wouldn't have done much because Lebron didn't really hit his stride till around that season, but the larger point is, I don't know if they make the trade for Shaq with Lebron, because I think Lebron would have had a greater effect on wins than Wade did, such that perhaps the Heat wouldn't have tried to trade all of those players for Shaq.  I've always wondered what Detroit would have looked like had they just drafted Anthony instead of Milicic.  Would they have still acquired Sheed?  Would they still have won that title?  Would they have won multiple titles?  What if games are always fun but so much changes you never really know what might have been. 
2023 Historical Draft - Brooklyn Nets - 9th pick

Bigs - Pau, Amar'e, Issel, McGinnis, Roundfield
Wings - Dantley, Bowen, J. Jackson
Guards - Cheeks, Petrovic, Buse, Rip