What If Dirk Played For The Milwaukee Bucks?

Jason McIntyre who is a fantastic writer for The Big Lead posted a question on Twitter yesterday afternoon about if people remembered that Dirk Nowitzki got traded on draft day. As a Milwaukee Bucks fan, I sure as hell do, the Bucks traded Nowitzki away for Robert 'Tractor' Traylor, that's like dealing Kate Upton for Kristie Alley. My buddy Bails pointed out that the Mavs were the only team who went overseas to scout Dirk so this trade was pretty much inevitable, but here is my question… why the hell didn't the Bucks scout Dirk? If you think about Dirk is perfect for Milwaukee. He is German and Milwaukee is a German-based city. The man would have had a beer named after him by the third year plus so many more endorsements from the Brew City.




Whenever we talk about these what-if situations, people always wonder if a player would be the same if he played elsewhere. My answer would be yes for Nowitzki because I truly believe he is a top 20 player of all time right now, and will climb up that ladder if the Mavs win the NBA Finals. I think a majority of the NBA teams could have drafted Dirk, and he would have been a great player. I believe 1998 was the last year that the Bucks picked in the lottery for a long time because Ray Allen hit his stride, Sam Cassell was brought in, and Glenn 'Big Dog' Robinson had already been in his prime at the time of drafting him. Nowitzki would not have any pressure in Milwaukee, and been allowed to grow in the first couple years. Let's also remember the Bucks missed out on Paul Pierce who was drafted a spot below Dirk, got to love the Bucks in the NBA Draft! 


If the Bucks kept Dirk, they would have easily been in the NBA Finals. The 2001 team that should have been in the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first place if it wasn't for David Stern playing the role of Vince McMahon guaranteeing the Philadelphia 76ers and Allen Iverson would be playing the Lake Show. It was a screw job, and everyone who watches basketball knows that. Sorry my rant is over about that, but Dirk would have played the four with a monster lineup that would have been the best team in the Eastern Conference. 


That team would have had Cassell-Allen-Big Dog-Nowitzki-Tragic Johnson with Tim Thomas coming off the bench as a vital sixth man. The other question I have, would Ray-Ray have played in Milwaukee for another 10 years? The naïve side of me that has purple jersey hanging in my childhood bedroom would like to think that could have been a possibility. To me, Dirk would have been the first basketball superstar the city of Milwaukee has seen in over 30 years. They had some great players in the 80s and in the 90s but no one at the level of Dirk. I do hope that Brandon Jennings or Andrew Bogut becomes that guy for a franchise that seems to be stuck in neutral.


The other side of this would be what if Dallas never got Dirk? I still think they find their superstar somewhere down the road because with Mark Cuban's money, they really were able to afford anyone. They might have kept Steve Nash and paired him up with another player. It's fun to play these sorts of games and wonder what if sometimes. Because these dreams will never be realities, rather just a wish that something better would have happened for your team. 

 
-Charlie.