2001-2002 was the continuation of a dynasty.
The Lakers again won the title, sweeping the Kidd-Kittles-Van Horn Nets. Pau Gasol dominated for a terrible Grizzlies team and won Rookie of the Year, while Tim Duncan won MVP for the Spurs.
San Antonio remained competitive in our world, despite losing Tony Parker (3.8 WS) and replacing him with Loren Woods (0.5). They lost 2.9 wins overall, dropping from 58-24 to 55-27 and the second seed in the west.
Pau’s Grizzlies, despite keeping Pau, stayed awful. Pau (7.6) replaced another very good rookie in Shane Battier (4.8) while Mehmet Okur (DNP) took Pau’s place as the big trade acquisition from Atlanta. Okur will become a great player, but didn’t join the NBA until later. Those changes, even boosted by Hedo Turkoglu (5.2) replacing Stromile Swift (3.7), resulted in a loss of 2.9 wins for the Grizz, sending their first season in Memphis to a 20-62 finish and a tie for worst record in the West.
Their Tankathon nemeses were the Warriors, who largely ran in place by replacing a Jason Richardson-Troy Murphy-Gilbert Arenas trio (7.0 WS total) with Joe Johnson, Jarron Collins and Raul Lopez (6 WS).
The big winners of the new season were the Bulls, who plugged Tony Parker’s 3.8 WS into Eddy Curry’s old spot (1.8), while also seeing gains from adding Mike Miller (4.5) over Marcus Fizer (1.1) and Jamaal Magloire (5.7) over Jamal Crawford (0.6). Kenny Thomas (4.4) also proved a nice replacement for Ron Artest (1.4). The Bulls netted 13.1 wins overall, but that wasn’t enough to lift them to the playoffs. They finished 34-48 (instead of 21-61) and were still tied for last in the East.
The next biggest boost happened in Atlanta, where the Hawks rode their new superstar, Shaq (13.2) to a 43-39 record, 10.1 wins above their original finish. Shaq’s production lapped that of DerMarr Johnson (1.7), the original Hawk pick. Meanwhile Todd MacCulloch (5.6) shined replacing Dion Glover (0.9). The only drag was Corey Maggette (3.3), who had the tough task of trying to replace a great Jason Terry season (8.6).
For the second year running, the Lakers saw the steepest decline (-16.7 wins) thanks to Shaq’s empty, enormous shoes. This year, they also lost major production transitioning from Devean George (4.2) to Gordan Giricek, who hasn’t played his first game in the NBA yet. Their 41-41 record (down from 58-24) put them ninth in the West, a game from the playoffs. Kobe probably isn’t happy about that.
You didn’t have to travel far from Staples Center to find the next biggest loser in 2001-2002. That would be the Suns, whose original 36-46 record dipped even further to 24-58 thanks to several key losses. Biggest of all, Shawn Marion (9.8) replacement Richard Hamilton (4.0) played well but not well enough to match The Matrix’s production. DeShawn Stevenson (-0.2) also played nowhere near well enough to replace Jake Tsakalidis (2.8), and Jason Collier (0.4) wasn’t nearly the acquisition that Jake Voskuhl (2.7), acquired via trade from Chicago, turned out to be.
With the Lakers declawed and the Spurs mostly out of the way, the Western Conference belonged to the Kings. Sacramento was already great, and nearly derailed the Lakers with that Webber-Divac-Bibby-Peja-Christie core, but fell just short in the real-life conference finals.
The Kings fielded nearly the same team in our world, going 62-20 instead of 61-21. Their main changes were replacing rookie Gerald Wallace (0.6) with Jarron Collins (3.3), a much more effective first-year player but much worse player in the long run. They also swapped Hedo Turkoglu (5.2) for the ineffective Keyon Dooling (0.0), but that loss was eclipsed by Collins and Stromile Swift (3.7), acquired in the trade that originally sent draft bust Mateen Cleaves (-0.3) to Sacramento.
In the East, no team had a better years than the Pistons and Celtics.
Detroit in real life was just starting to assemble that championship group that suffocated opposing offenses, and in 2002 saw a breakout year from Ben Wallace carry them to 50-32 and second in the conference. In the reboot, Detroit gained a win thanks to the addition of Gerald Wallace (0.6) in Rodney White’s (-0.2) place.
Boston was also already good, posting a 49-33 record behind young Paul Pierce (12.9) and Antoine Walker. The Cs gained two more wins thanks to Troy Murphy (1.4) and Vlad Radmanovic (2.1), who filled bench roles much more ably than Kedrick Brown (0.4) and Joe Forte (-0.1). Even with the loss of Joe Johnson, whose 2 win shares were replaced by Sam Dalembert’s 0.3, Boston rose to 51-31.
The Nets, your original Eastern Conference champs, were still competitive but lost nearly nine wins thanks to several departures, the largest of which (literally and figuratively) was Todd MacCulloch (5.6). Richard Jefferson (4.7) and Jason Collins (3.0) also weren’t around, replaced respectively by Gilbert Arenas (2.7) and Earl Watson (1.5). The one bright spot was Quentin Richardson (5.6), who slightly outproduced a key piece in Kenyon Martin (4.9). Overall, the Nets fell from 52-30 to 43-39.
STANDINGS
East
1. Pistons 51-31
2. Celtics 51-31
3. Pacers 48-34
4. Magic 48-34
5. Sixers 45-37
6. Nets 43-39
7. Hawks 43-39
8. Wizards 42-40
9. Raptors 41-41
10. Bucks 38-44
11. Hornets 37-45
12. Heat 35-47
13. Cavaliers 34-48
14. Knicks 34-48
15. Bulls 34-48
West
1. Kings 62-20
2. Spurs 55-27
3. Trail Blazers 52-30
4. Mavs 51-31
5. Timberwolves 45-37
6. Clippers 44-38
7. SuperSonics 42-40
8. Jazz 42-40
9. Lakers 41-41
10. Rockets 34-48
11. Nuggets 28-54
12. Suns 24-58
13. Grizzlies 20-62
14. Warriors 20-62
NBA Finals:
Kings over Pistons
Protected: Chris Webber
Best Unprotected Player: Peja Stojakovic