What Could Have Been

Former Maryland Forward Joe Smith was traded from Milwaukee to Denver yesterday. That got me thinking about what would have happened had Smith stayed at Maryland for his junior and senior seasons.

How much better of a team would Maryland have been? The 1996 team was a 7-seed that finished 17-12 in the regular season and got bounced by Santa Clara in the first round. The 1997 team was a 5-seed that finished 21-11 in the regular season and got bounced by Charleston in the first round. How high of a seed could they have been? How far could they have gone? Would it have taken until 2002 for the Terps to win the national title?

How much better a player would Smith have been? Golden State took him # 1 overall in 1995, but his career stats indicate an average player who has never averaged more than 18 points per game in any season. His career has been such that Sports Illustrated called him a bust. Hard to imagine this is the same player that the Timberwolves tried to circumvent the cap with. But think about how much more ready for the NBA he would have been with additional seasoning in the ACC.

Oh, what could have been, for both Smith and the Terps.