Recently there has been some talk about Raptors GM Glen Grunwald being offered this deal in 2001, which (obviously) he passed on. At the time Nash was on the verge of becoming one of the NBA's top point guards and Disco was emerging as one of the top scoring big men in the game. Both were considered soft, physically weak, and poor defenders. Carter looked like he was going to become the most explosive scoring guard this side of Kobe Bryant and AD was the workhorse on which a lot of our success hinged at the time. In case you are wondering, TMac had left Toronto for Orlando at this point, prior to restricted free agency becoming part of the CBA.
Interesting trade. Nash and Dirk didn't win championships when they were together. Nash never has, and Dirk finally won one with a stacked team at the age of 33.
Carter and AD didn't fare much better... But i think this is revisionist history, obviously this is better return than what we actually got for Carter but who knows what would have happened to Dirk/Nash's careers in Toronto.
Hard to see how it wouldn't have worked out for us. Nash was always going to become what he is now, minus the team that got built around him enabling his MVP success, and Dirk would've thrived in the East. I think we'd have done about as well as the Nets. Goofy Toronto fans would've been hugely pissed at us moving Carter.
