On Monday night, Golden State guard Klay Thompson erupted for a career-best 60 points — including 40 in the first half — during the Warriors’ 142-106 (not a typo) drubbing of the Indiana Pacers. The scoring outburst came as a reminder of Thompson’s elite ability, and how his status as the greatest third option in today’s NBA makes Golden State the odds-on favourite to win their second championship in three years.
It was also a haunting reminder of how close it seems the dynamic shooting guard has come to wearing a different jersey at various times in his career. Just earlier this season, trade rumours swirled around the 26 year old with the picture-perfect shot form amid rumblings that he was under-utilized with Kevin Durant now in the fold in Oakland. Before that, there were countless reports of a Thompson-for-Kevin Love deal in the summer of 2014 between Golden State and the Minnesota Timberwolves that, depending on who you believe, came perilously close to happening.
And then there was five years ago on draft night, when the Warriors reportedly came close to trading up into the Top 5 to select a certain Lithuanian big man, a decision that would have re-shaped the landscape of the NBA entirely.
Golden State held the 11th pick in the 2011 draft which featured a strong cast that included Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Bismack Biyombo, Isaiah Thomas and other staples of today’s NBA.
Though Kentucky’s Enes Kanter wound up being the first centre drafted (3rd overall) many scouts had touted Jonas Valanciunas, who had dominated overseas as a teenager, as the top-rated big man.
Valanciunas’ pedigree — a three-time FIBA MVP and a Lithuanian league MVP and champ by the age of 19 — along with his obvious size and potential had caught the eyes of GMs across the league, including arguably the two best talent evaluators in the game: then-Warriors assistant GM (now the head of Golden State’s front office) Bob Myers and San Antonio Spurs GM R.C. Buford.
According to this story from Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski, both the Spurs and Warriors aggressively pursued Valanciunas leading up to the 2011 draft, attempting to trade up with the Toronto Raptors, who held the 5th overall pick, to draft the promising big man.
While Valanciunas has become a very solid (and, at brief times, unguardable) centre who, at just 24 still has plenty of room to grow, it’s safe to say that while both teams failed to find a trade scenario with the Raptors that worked, they’re pretty happy with how things turned out. The Spurs, who were drafting 15th, kept their original pick and stole one of today’s top-3 two-way superstars, Kawhi Leonard (who, it’s worth noting, would go first overall were that draft held today). Meanwhile, after also failing to strike a deal with the Raps, the Warriors watched as the Milwaukee Bucks — considered strong suitors for Thompson and drafting one spot ahead at No.10 — traded their pick to the Sacramento Kings, who landed their prized prospect, Jimmer Fredette (…).
We know how the rest played out: the Warriors nabbed Thompson, who teamed up with Stephen Curry to form the greatest offensive backcourt in NBA history and led the team to a title and the best winning record in league history. The Spurs, who were likely thinking of a succession plan for Tim Duncan while targeting Valanciunas, were able to rebuild a championship contender on the fly around Leonard. It remains to be seen just how close either team came to reaching an agreement with the Raptors, who were simply starved for talent at that point, but there’s no question you can add both failed trades to the long list of NBA What-Ifs.
