what if...

NBA teams could only draft players from their geographical vicinity? This is the question Alex K. asked and answered at DepressedFan.com in February. His Hometown Heroes post goes through each NBA team and finds the current players who would be playing for that team in this fictional scenario. While cities such as Charlotte, Portland, and Dallas have very good teams, lesser-known metropolises like Salt Lake City, Toronto, and Oklahoma City have less talented squads. The big surprise is that the Boston Celtics are comprised of mostly D-League players like Demetris Nichols, Matt Bonner, and Courtney Sims and is anchored by center Marcus Camby.

The New York Knicks team puts this starting five on the floor: PG Ben Gordon (Mount Vernon, NY), SG Ron Artest (Queens, NY), SF Lamar Odom (South Jamaica, NY), PF Elton Brand (Peekskill, NY), and Center Charlie Villanueva (Queens, NY) with Ryan Gomes (Waterbury, CT) as the sixth man. Blogger Bashir G. has this to say about the New York locals, "This team has good talent all around with a lot of versatility and strong defense but no pg. So I could see this team using odom as their Point-Forward to bring up the ball. Gordon is most definitely a pure 2, always looking for his shot so he wouldn't work as the 1. This team has good shooters slashers and every player can create their own shot so this would be an effective team but their 3pt game outside of Gordon is a little suspect because Villanueva, artest and odom are inconsistent from 3." While Blogger Brian makes this suggestion, "I'd take Brand at center, Gomes at PF, bring Charlie V off the bench and hope the defense could hold up."

Would this Knicks team be able to best the 32-50 showing put up by the 2008-2009 Knickerbockers? Would Gordon be able to run the point, or would he make New Yorkers yearn for the days of Chris Duhon, who would be playing for the New Orleans Hornets? Would Starbury be motivated to play for his hometown team, this time if he had no choice? It's nice to think of a Knicks what if scenario that does not involve a certain King. At least this exercise in supposition provides a diversion until Knicks fans can wish for a Spaniard at the NBA lottery.