The "what if" moment that changed every NBA team forever

Milwaukee Bucks: What if the Bucks hadn't traded Dirk Nowitzki and had traded for Steph Curry?

The Miwaukee Bucks made two huge franchise-altering decisions. The first was their decision to trade the draft rights to Dirk Nowitzki for Tractor Trailer Taylor in June of 1998. That is among the worst trades in league history, and it ensured that the Bucks would be stuck in mediocrity until the arrival of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even then, the Bucks nearly managed to pair him with superstar Steph Curry before he was a two-time MVP and four-time NBA champion.

In 2010, the Bucks traded the former number one overall pick, Andrew Bogut, in a deal that included Monte Ellis, but it was nearly Curry who was included. Just three seasons later, he would win the first of his back-to-back MVP awards. Things ultimately worked out for the Bucks, with them breaking a 50-year title drought in 2022, but even going one for two in these two trades would have dramatically altered the trajectory of their franchise.

It's hard to say whether Milwaukee would have built around Dirk as Marc Cuban did but given how terrible the East was for most of the 2000s, he could have led them to multiple NBA Finals. It's also unclear whether Giannis would have developed the same way with Curry also on the roster, but a pairing of Curry, Khris Middleton, and Giannis would have been a serious problem, to be sure.