Best What if Player?

[Sparhawk]

As already mentioned, my first thought was Len Bias.
From a Sixers standpoint, Andrew Toney.

One obscure mention might be Andrei Kirilenko.
He had a fairly long career, but only played in all 82 games in his first season.
Broke his wrist early, had a mental meltdown or two, but I'm not sure he would qualify for being 'injury-plagued'.

But, man, what a stat-stuffer that guy was. Really fun to watch because you just never knew what he was going to do next.

 

[RP-29]

Penny - if Shaq also played his entire career in Orlando.

 

[Scapegoat]

Drazen Petrovic

 

[RP-29]

Dang. Don't jinx yourself.

Another is Greg Oden. He was drafted ahead of KD for a reason and the one semi-healthy season he played was extremely promising. He could have been great.

Imagine Oden and Roy healthy. That could have been Shaq/Kobe lite.

Just beat me to Oden.

Roy gets double points because he also saved children from a drive-by.

Oden and Andrew Bynum were both guys who were cut way too short.

Oden had injury problems and concerns at Ohio State; his body was breaking down from his abnormal size before he even made it to the NBA.

His destiny was realized.

 

[Scapegoat]

As already mentioned, my first thought was Len Bias.
From a Sixers standpoint, Andrew Toney.

One obscure mention might be Andrei Kirilenko.
He had a fairly long career, but only played in all 82 games in his first season.
Broke his wrist early, had a mental meltdown or two, but I'm not sure he would qualify for being 'injury-plagued'.

But, man, what a stat-stuffer that guy was. Really fun to watch because you just never knew what he was going to do next.

A name only remembered by Sixers fans. And I don't know why. He was extremely good.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Oden had injury problems and concerns at Ohio State; his body was breaking down from his abnormal size before he even made it to the NBA.

His destiny was realized.

He had a microfracture in his knee and a wrist injury.

Blake Griffin injured both knees at Oklahoma before getting drafted, then blew out a knee in his first preseason and he's had a fine career.

 

[Sparhawk]

A name only remembered by Sixers fans. And I don't know why. He was extremely good.

PHI lost to BOS in the 81 playoffs, 4-3 with Toney nearly averaging 20 ppg.
Next season, PHI beat BOS in the playoffs 4-3, with Toney scoring 30, 34, and 39 in three of the wins.
He was nicknamed the Boston Strangler.

Only got 5 years out of him, then he was essentially done.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Another guy I think had much more in him than we got to see was Steve Francis, although a lot of it was of his own doing and his family life was about as fucked up as it could be.

 

[The Q]

Another guy I think had much more in him than we got to see was Steve Francis, although a lot of it was of his own doing and his family life was about as fucked up as it could be.

Just out of that draft I'd put Odom and Jonathan Bender ahead of him on a what if list.

Those 2 had the ability to be revolutionary talents.

 

[trojanfan12]

1.) Walton - His first 4 seasons, he was arguably the best center in the NBA and that included a prime Kareem. Led the Blazers to their only title and in '86, managed to be healthy enough to be the 6th man on the Celtics title team.

After him,

2.) Hill
3.) Rose
4.) Penny
5.) Roy
6.) Yao

Agree with @tlance though...Bias and Manigault likely would have been special. Hard to really include them because they never actually made it to play in NBA games,

 

[trojanfan12]

Also Sabonis should be on the list if he had been able to come earlier to the NBA, or still had a healthy body when he got here.

I think it's more about him coming earlier to the NBA. He was already 31 by the time he entered the league, so he was about to start declining anyway. Even with that though, he was damn good. Might be the best passing center ever.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Just out of that draft I'd put Odom and Jonathan Bender ahead of him on a what if list.

Those 2 had the ability to be revolutionary talents.

Mmm maybe this is biased but I never felt too upset about trading Bender for Antonio Davis. Was weary of the HS player unless it was a sure-as-shit pick.

I was more upset they didn't take Rip or Shawn Marion.

 

[The Q]

Mmm maybe this is biased but I never felt too upset about trading Bender for Antonio Davis. Was weary of the HS player unless it was a sure-as-shit pick.

I was more upset they didn't take Rip or Shawn Marion.

I can't believe it on marion. He was a shocker at 9 that year. I recall the mock drafts had him going in the late teen to early 20s.

Bender was fascinating to me. 6'11 PF who could dribble, shoot 3s, explosive. Broke jordan's scoring record at the McD's AA game.

Odom is a guy who was being proposed as a 6'10 point forward. He never really found that role and what he was supposed to be. Fell for character concerns, seems that may have been on point.

 

[thunderc]

Drazen Petrovic

You beat me to this one, this guy was just getting started and would have been a superstar.

 

[trojanfan12]

Odom is a guy who was being proposed as a 6'10 point forward. He never really found that role and what he was supposed to be. Fell for character concerns, seems that may have been on point.

Odom had the talent to be Lebron before Lebron...or at least Magicv2.0. He just never had the drive/character. Still ended up being a nice player, seemed to stabilize a little with the Lakers, but fell completely apart when they traded him.

 

[The Q]

Odom had the talent to be Lebron before Lebron...or at least Magicv2.0. He just never had the drive/character. Still ended up being a nice player, seemed to stabilize a little with the Lakers, but fell completely apart when they traded him.

Exactly. He wasn't a bust, but he wasn't the revolutionary talent he was supposed to be.

 

[CitySushi]

Shaun Livingston looked like he was ready to take a huge leap before his gruesome knee injury. He was only 21 at the time it happened. Don't know if he would have been an all time great, but I think he would have been a really good starting point guard in the NBA for years.

 

[Wamu]

Ralph Sampson & Danny Manning?

 

[handicappers]

Who do you think would have had the best career of the following guys who's careers were derailed by injuries? Feel free to rank them or even add your own to the list.

Grant Hill
Anfernee Hardaway
Bill Walton
Brandon Roy
Derrick Rose
Yao Ming

Greg Oden

 

[Rock Strongo]

reggie lewis

derailed by death