NBA What if the bulls traded Jordan for Olajuwon?

[Fedorgasm]

How many rings would each player have?

Let's say the bulls knew Jordan was great, but after losing to the bad boy pistons twice in a row, they become convinced that they need a dominant center to win a ring. It's not that far-fetched, as Jordan wasn't considered the goat yet, and the game was dominated by big men at that time. Plus maybe they think Jordan gets so beat up by the pistons that they're worried about his longevity. And the Knicks are getting better every year so they'll have to contain Patrick Ewing. Plus they get Vernon Maxwell in the deal so they're not helpless at the SG position.

Why would Houston trade Olajuwon? Well, they were having trouble getting past the Lakers in the West, but Kareem just retired so stopping Magic Johnson was now a higher priority than having a great big man to battle Kareem. Jordan could wear out the Lakers back court with his scoring, and also help guard magic when needed. Plus Jordan is an absolute superstar at this point who could sell tickets, whereas Olajuwon, though he was playing well, didn't even make the all-star team that year. And the rockets get Bill Cartwright in the deal so they won't be helpless at center.

Everything else remains the same with both teams.

So the bulls would have:
PG: BJ Armstrong
SG: Vernon Maxwell
SF: Scottie Pippen
PF: Horace Grant
C: Hakeem Olajuwon
Notable backups: John Paxson, Craig Hodges
Coach: Phil Jackson

And the Rockets would have:
PG: Kenny Smith
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Buck Johnson
PF: Otis Thorpe
C: Bill Cartwright
Notable backups: Sleepy Floyd
Coach: Don Chaney

 

[volodya]

How many rings would each player have?

Let's say the bulls knew Jordan was great, but after losing to the bad boy pistons twice in a row, they become convinced that they need a dominant center to win a ring. It's not that far-fetched, as Jordan wasn't considered the goat yet, and the game was dominated by big men at that time. Plus maybe they think Jordan gets so beat up by the pistons that they're worried about his longevity. And the Knicks are getting better every year so they'll have to contain Patrick Ewing. Plus they get Vernon Maxwell in the deal so they're not helpless at the SG position.

Why would Houston trade Olajuwon? Well, they were having trouble getting past the Lakers in the West, but Kareem just retired so stopping Magic Johnson was now a higher priority than having a great big man to battle Kareem. Jordan could wear out the Lakers back court with his scoring, and also help guard magic when needed. Plus Jordan is an absolute superstar at this point who could sell tickets, whereas Olajuwon, though he was playing well, didn't even make the all-star team that year. And the rockets get Bill Cartwright in the deal so they won't be helpless at center.

Everything what remains the same with both teams.

So the bulls would have:
PG: BJ Armstrong
SG: Vernon Maxwell
SF: Scottie Pippen
PF: Horace Grant
C: Hakeem Olajuwon
Notable backups: John Paxson, Craig Hodges
Coach: Phil Jackson

And the Rockets would have:
PG: Kenny Smith
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: Buck Johnson
PF: Otis Thorpe
C: Bill Cartwright
Notable backups: Sleepy Floyd
Coach: Don Chaney

I think Houston would need Bill Wennington included in the trade to really make it worth it.

 

[Fedorgasm]

I think the Hakeem bulls team looks much stronger than the Jordan rockets team does. No doubt due to the bulls having a better GM at the time.

I see Olajuwon dominating the Lakers Vlade Divac in the 1991 finals, and kicking the ball out to the 3-point assassins like Paxson and Hodges would work even better than it did when Jordan did it since Hakeem posts up more. We know Phil Jackson's triangle offense works great with a star big man because we saw that with Shaq.

Plus their defense would be an absolute nightmare for opposing teams. Having the best defensive center was way more valuable than having the best defensive shooting guard, since the center defends everyone at the rim. And Scottie is the best defensive SF at the time and he's so versatile that he can guard Magic or Worthy, depending on where he's needed. Vernon Maxwell is a great defender too and Horace Grant was very very good.

I see the dream bulls mopping the floor with the Lakers, most likely in fewer games than it took Jordan's bulls.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Ok so the dream bulls would beat the Lakers in 1991, but the question is would the Lakers even make it to the finals if they had to face Jordan's rockets?

I think the answer is probably yes. I don't think the Air-Rockets would even get past the Lakers. Kenny Smith is the second best player on that team, with Otis Thorpe after him. Nobody on that team is a truly great defender other than Jordan. And he would have to guard the best players on the opposing team whereas on the bulls they usually made Scottie guard the best players, which allowed Jordan to save more energy for offense.

So now Jordan is on a team that's arguably worse than the teams he was on when he failed to get past the pistons. So even if he did by some miracle get past the Lakers, he would certainly lose to the Dream Bulls in the finals.

Conclusion: Hakeem gets his first ring in 1991. Jordan does not.

 

[Sweater of AV]

Makes no sense. MJ spent years working to mold the Bulls into that team and helped mentor Scottie and Horace. No chance the Bulls pull the rug out from under him considering he was clearly the best player in the league and they knew they were on the verge of multiple ships.

People always want to play "what if" with the GOAT and create nonsensical scenarios. Just appreciate his greatness and what he gave to the game.

 

[volodya]

Makes no sense. MJ spent years working to mold the Bulls into that team and helped mentor Scottie and Horace. No chance the Bulls pull the rug out from under him considering he was clearly the best player in the league and they knew they were on the verge of multiple ships.

People always want to play "what if" with the GOAT and create nonsensical scenarios. Just appreciate his greatness and what he gave to the game.

Yeah but imagine how many ships they get if they have the twin towers (Hakeem and Luc Longley) playing side by side

 

[Fedorgasm]

Yeah but imagine how many ships they get if they have the twin towers (Hakeem and Luc Longley) playing side by side

Don't forget Will Perdue

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

Interesting, I have no idea how history would have unfolded. But thanks for a creative thread.

Although, Hakeem may have won more rings with the Bulls.

 

[Fedorgasm]

For the 1991-92 season, I see it going pretty much the same way. The dream bulls would have pretty much the same roster, and would face Clyde Drexler's blazers in the NBA finals.

The dream bulls are way better in the front court, while the blazers have a better back court. The biggest difference will be on defense, where the dream bulls are absolute monsters, and they take the series in 6 games.

The Air Rockets have pretty much the same roster as last year. Jordan very likely leads the league in scoring since the team lacks a second offensive star. He carries them to the playoffs where they were eliminated by the Blazers.

Hakeem gets his second ring.
Jordan has zero.

 

[Fedorgasm]

For the '92-'93 season, things are starting to look up for Jordan's Air Rockets. They now have a Rudy Tomjanovich coaching, and perhaps the biggest change, they now have basketball GOAT and 7-time NBA champion, Robert Horry!

All kidding aside, I think Horry does make them better. He's kind of like a poor man's Pippen at this point in his career. An athletic SF that plays good defense and can hit the 3 if left open. Not nearly as good as Pippen of course, but Jordan finally has a second option besides Kenny Smith to pass to for the 3 when he drives the lane.

These air Rockets have a good chance to make a solid playoff run, as they could easily handle the Clippers and Lakers, and probably the Spurs too. But the Blazers are still good, the jazz are very tough, and the Suns and Sonics are the best in the West. I don't see the Air Rockets making it past those teams.

The dream bulls, however, dominate the Suns due to their giant gaping hole at the center position. The combination of Oliver Miller and Mark West can't do Jack shit against Olajuwon, who is now rounding out into peak MVP form. Barkley is awesome of course but the bulls are able to shut down Kevin Johnson and the Suns struggle to get points from anyone other than sir Charles.

Without Jordan taking all the shots, Pippen also carries more of the scoring load, averaging 22 points instead of his typical 18 when playing with Michael. Also, Pippen is now their primary slasher, driving to the basket to break down defenses.

These suns aren't built for defense and they struggle mightily to stop Hakeem and Pippen.

Dream Bulls win in 5 games.

Hakeem now has completed the threepeat.

Jordan still has zero rings.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Now the '93-94 season is where we must speculate A LOT. This is the season where Jordan retired to go play baseball.



For the purposes of this discussion, I'm going to assume Jordan doesn't leave to go play baseball. One of the reasons he left was he already won 3 rings and wasn't feeling joy anymore, only relief when he won that last one. But that wouldn't have happened in this scenario, so I think Jordan would still be driven to keep chasing his first ring.



Now the good news is that the Rockets continue to get better. They add Sam Cassell and Mario Elie, so now they have a plethora of 3-point shooters for Jordan to kick out to, as well as being very solid defensive unit now.



And remember this was a strange year in the West. The Sonics were the best team but they got upset by the 8th seeded Denver nuggets. This would give the Air Rockets an easier path to the finals. It's still a toss-up on whether they could get past the other good Western teams, like the Suns, Spurs, Jazz, etc. but since this team was good enough to get Hakeem to the finals, I think it's not a long shot to say they are good enough to get Jordan there too.



And of course the dream bulls breeze through the Eastern conference again and we finally have THE MATCHUP....



Michael Jordan's Rockets vs. Hakeem Olajuwon's Bulls.







And of course the Dream Bulls wreck the Air Rockets in 5 games.


The core of this dream bulls team is still there and they're just as good as they were last year. Even if you believe Jordan is Miles above Olajuwon, you can't argue that the rest of this bulls team is simply better than the rockets team.

Olajuwon = 4th ring
Jordan = 0 rings, but at least he made it to the NBA finals.

 

[Fedorgasm]

In the '94-95 season, we finally see the dream bulls show some weakness. This is the year that Horace Grant felt underappreciated by management and left the team to go to Orlando. They sign Toni Kukoc, a great offensive player, but they definitely lose some defensive toughness and rebounding without Horace. They also sign Ron Harper.

The dream bulls still have Hakeem to block shots and rebound, but they sorely miss Horace Grant. There is a gaping hole at the power forward position that they try to fill with whatever random body they have.

The main question is do these Bulls make it past the Orlando Magic or not?

The real life Bulls lost to Orlando even though they had Jordan back, but Hakeem's real life rockets beat Orlando, thanks to Hakeem outplaying Shaq.

I'm going to say that the dream Bulls would beat Orlando, because Hakeem would likely still outplay Shaq, and they wouldn't miss Horace up front quite as much since they still have the best center in the game.

Now for the Air Rockets we have a very interesting year. This is the year they got Clyde Drexler. Now I know they may not have traded for Drexler if they had Jordan since they play the same position, but I don't want to speculate on which other superstar they would've gotten instead. This is the year the rockets got Clyde, so we're just assuming all that would still happen.

Clyde was frustrated with the Blazers and demanded a trade. He's from Houston and he wanted a chance to win a ring. And since these Air Rockets went to the finals last year, it's not unreasonable to think that Drexler would still want to go to the rockets.

Drexler would probably play at small forward since he's an inch taller than Jordan, but really they would be interchangeable. Jordan played small forward on the wizards so stackhouse could play shooting guard, so it's really not that big of a deal.

Now Jordan finally has some good fortune. Getting Clyde is like when he first got Scottie Pippen... He finally has another star to help carry the team.

The western conference hasn't changed much, Seattle kicks ass in the regular season again, but chokes in the playoffs for the second year in a row, losing to the Nick Van Excel/Cedric Ceballos/Eddie Jones version of the Lakers. The blazers are an easy out without Clyde, and the Suns, Jazz, and Spurs are pretty much the same as last year.

So the Air Glide Rockets make it back to the NBA finals better than they were last year, to face the Dream Bulls who are worse than last year.

This matchup is the closest we've had so far, and I could see it going either way. But I'm going to lean towards Jordan's rockets in 7. Mostly because Jordan would be hungrier than ever for his first ring, and knowing Clyde is getting old he wouldn't waste this chance. Plus Hakeem's Bulls aren't as much of a defensive powerhouse without Horace.

Olajuwon = 4 rings
Jordan = 1 ring (finally)

 

[Fedorgasm]

In the 1995-1996 season, the Dream Bulls address the Horace Grant hole by signing Dennis Rodman. They instantly go back to being the insane defensive powerhouse they were before, except better. Hakeem/Rodman/Pippen make up the best front court in the league, hands down. This is the team that went 72-10 with Jordan and I believe they would do the same with Hakeem. They're so good it doesn't even seem fair.

Since the Air Glide Rockets won it all last year, they decided to keep their existing roster intact. Their big challenge would be getting past the Sonics, who finally learned how to not panic/choke in the post season. But the combination of Jordan and Clyde would prove too much for the Sonics and the Air Glide Rockets would make it back to the finals for a rubber match against their bitter rivals--Olajuwon's Bulls.

This Bulls team, however, is arguably the best ever, and even the mighty combination of Jordan and Clyde can't bring them down.

Olajuwon: 5 rings
Jordan: 1 ring

 

[PeterGriffin]

Interesting thread.

All the lBJ fans tapped out after the eleventh word though.

Want to try swapping Bird out for Johnson?

 

[Fedorgasm]

1996-97 season:

The dream bulls still feature Olajuwon, Pippen, Rodman, Ron Harper, and Toni Kukoc. They are nearly as good as the prior year, except a year older. Olajuwon shows the very first hint of slowing down, as he averages 4.5 fewer points per game than he did in his MVP season. The rest of his stats are as good as ever though. They still dominate the east and win 69 games, with the pressure of breaking win records off their shoulders, they can afford to rest for the playoffs.

Jordan's Rockets are looking for an answer. Their weak front court lost them the championship last year. This is the year the Rockets trade for Charles Barkley.

Sir Charles doesn't average his typical 25 points per game, instead averaging a respectable 19.2. But with Jordan and Clyde carrying the scoring load, he doesn't have to put up big points. What they need Charles to do is REBOUND. And rebound he does. 33-year-old Barkley averages 13.5 rebounds per game this season, which his his highest average since he was 23 years old on the Sixers. He even has one game where he pulls down an incredible 33 rebounds against his former Suns teammates. Many people remember Barkley as washed up by the time he got to the Rockets, but that's not true. In his first year there he was still an absolute monster.

The problem is that the Jazz were on a tear that year. And in real life, Utah beat the trifecta of Hakeem/Drexler/Barkley and didn't even need a 7th game to do it. So the question is, would the trifecta of Jordan/Drexler/Barkley fare any better against that year's Jazz?

I think the answer is "yes... a little"

So the Air Glide Round Mound of Rockets would take the Jazz to 7 and lose, barely. But it's so close that I could also see them winning. But it doesn't matter, since in the finals they would still lose to the Dream Bulls. Why? Because defense. That's why. Drexler and Barkley are great players, but neither are defensive studs.

Not to mention the fact that in order to get Barkley they gave up the GOAT. Yup, I'm talking about 7-time NBA champion Robert Horry.

So when it comes to offense, the teams are close, but on the defensive end, the Jordan Rockets can't compete with the Hakeem/Rodman/Pippen/Harper circle of hell.

Olajuwon: 6 rings
Jordan: 1 ring

 

[Fedorgasm]

For the '97-98 season, we see more signs of Hakeem's age slowing him down. He only plays in 47 games. His FG% is below .500 for the first time in his career. And he averages only 16.4 points per game, down from 23 the prior year.

His teammate, Scottie Pippen, misses the first half of the season due to foot surgery.

They still manage to get past the tough pacers to reach the NBA finals again.

Jordan's Rockets are also showing signs of age. Clyde maintains similar averages to the prior year but his shooting percentage declines. Barkley is still really good but his scoring and rebounding are down from last year.

Thankfully Michael is still Michael.

The Rockets didn't make any significant roster changes so this really comes down to a question of did your team age faster than mine?

And then we have that pesky Jazz team that's playing amazing basketball despite having the same players they always had. Stockton is just being more stocktony. Malone is more Maloney, and hornacek is more horny.

I think Jordan's rockets don't get past the Jazz this year. Jordan plays great defense but Barkley and Clyde don't. And their starting point guard is a guy named Matt Maloney, who couldn't even average 3 assists per game despite having 3 of the best scorers in history.

The Jazz beats Jordan's rockets and reaches the NBA finals to face off against the Dream Bulls.

This is the series where Scottie Pippen injured his back. In game 6 he still played, but he has said many times that if they didn't win in 6, he would not have been able to play in a 7th game.

And since they have a version of Olajuwon that was clearly slowing down with age, he fails to carry the team without Scottie at full strength.

The Utah Jazz win in 7 games, earning Stockton and Malone their first championship rings.

Olajuwon: still 6 rings
Jordan: still 1 ring.

And that's where the story ends. Hakeem continued to slow down, Jordan retired.

Now... Do you think people would still call Jordan the best ever?

His skills were undeniable, the only thing that changed were his circumstances.

 

[Crazy Source]

Don't forget Will Perdue

Bill Cartwright was better than both.

 

[Revolver]

If pippen and PJax were still on the bulls than Hakeem wins 6 and Jordan may have won one or no championships. Probably would have demanded a trade to my lakes mid way through his career.

 

[gspieler]

Kerr
Harper
Pippen
Rodman
Hakeem

Bench:
Kukoc
Trade Longley for solid role-playing SG
Wennington

I think that team wins 70ish.

 

[Streeter]

Jordan's will makes the Rockets better. On paper .maybe Bulls would be better on court Rockets with mj win 7 of 10