What Could Have Been: Vinsanity & T-Mac

The news is riddled with opinion these days. Sports news is no different. We watch shows like First Take because we’re more interested in the hypothetical than the reality. “What could be,” is the common theme on these programs. But the question, “What could’ve been?” isn’t tossed around quite as frequently. That’s where we come in.

For our first edition of What Could’ve Been posts we decided to tackle the pre-historic lizards up North, the Toronto Raptors and how things could’ve been different had Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady stayed together. If nothing else it would’ve been an exciting team to watch. But let’s dig a little deeper here and see if we can’t pull up some of those hypothetical Raptor fossils. I may need some butter with that last corny-ass line.

Vince Carter

Jake: First off, I just want to take a moment... 42 years old... Making Vince Carter the oldest player in the NBA currently and the sixth oldest in NBA history. The fact that we still see weekly highlights of Half Man Half Amazing (still one of my favourite NBA nicknames second only to his other nickname - Air Canada) windmilling in warm up lines and dunking in game is just magical. He's still not committed to retiring, which I think says something about the work ethic, passion and humility he plays with as a player/player assistant coach - the grace to adapt his game and accept lesser roles every year because he knows he still brings knowledge and know-how to the game and to his teammates is honestly inspiring, he's an shining example for players like Carmelo Anthony (who can't fit their egos into a team) to follow. I hope he stays in the game as long as he can and leaves on his own terms before injuries or age make it impossible.

Okay, rant over.

Vince and T-Mac are salivating to think about if they'd stuck together - but cousins being cousins, they couldn't quite work it out on a personal level, despite eventually cooling off after they went their separate ways. Despite the fact that Vince began to gain a reputation as being injury prone, you have to consider that he was averaging nearly 40 minutes a game over the 2001-02 season after his huge six-year extension - combine that with his athleticism dependent game and you've got a recipe for injury disaster - which happened, causing him to miss the final 22 games of the season... Combined with his poor relationship with the front office after they didn't appear to place much emphasis on winning, he was then traded to the New Jersey Nets. But damn... what if that didn't happen? I think if Vince had signed at least one more contract with the Raptors his career could be a whole different story. He absolutely dominated the league after being traded, dropping 27.5 points per game for the rest of the season - showing he still had the talent and drive to get buckets and play winning basketball, in the fact the Nets actually made playoffs runs every year he was there.

If T-Mac had stayed as well then who knows the level of success they would have had. I think he could have led the league in scoring alongside a equally dominant scorer in T-Mac, the versatility at the 2, 3 and even 4 spots could have been devastating to play against. Combined with a point guard like Steve Nash, who the Raptors front office claimed they were targeting... we could have seen the very first "Big Three" in the league. I think Vince's career trajectory would have changed hugely, particularly his relationship with Toronto which was bittersweet until 2014 when they played his tribute video and he had an emotional message for the fans. I actually think that if Vince and T-Mac had stayed together and had a third scoring/playmaking option behind them, along with the right bench players then they could have brought a 'ship to Toronto. I also think that Vince would have left at some point anyway, his relationship with the front office was choppy at the best of times and Toronto's failure to surround him with top tier talent reminds me of Anthony Davis right now - a trade request is going to land on your office desk eventually if you don't keep your star happy. No matter where Vince went, the durability and consistency he's found in his career is remarkable, we're talking about the same guy who gave up his All Star starting spot for MJ, it's not often you get Hall of Famers with that type of humility.

Chad: Thanks to that incredible intro to Vinsanity I’ll get right to the point. I think Vince’s career trajectory would’ve drastically changed had he stayed in Toronto alongside McGrady. Like you mentioned, Vince had some injury issues as did T-Mac, but I believe that had they stayed together they would’ve had enough healthy years to really do something special. The key being that McGrady sticks around. When he left for Orlando I think that left too much weight for V.C. to carry alone. An incredible athlete but never was the Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant type. I like to think of Carter as a better version of Demar Derozan. The original Air Canada to Derozan’s reboot. Derozan alone would’ve never carried Toronto to a #1 seed in the East but with Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka they did something pretty special in an Eastern Conference dominated by LeBron. I see Carter having that kind of success and notoriety playing alongside his cousin, McGrady. And I think that would’ve been enough to keep Carter loyal for the remainder of his career or as long as the Toronto front office would’ve had him. McGrady on the other hand…

Tracy McGrady

Jake: T-Mac had a case of "Kyrie" syndrome - when you take yourself away from the perfect statistical and winning situation to join another team in hopes of being the alpha dog... or not the alpha dog in this case. I read that when T-Mac signed with the Orlando Magic after 3 years behind Vince in Toronto that he knew he was going to play with Grant Hill, who was then injured, causing T-Mac to take on "considerably more scoring and leadership than he anticipated"... Hold on, you left Toronto because you wanted to be the alpha dog and you joined the Magic expecting Grant Hill to be more of a dominant player than you?! What? It really sucks that Tracy McGrady moved, him and Vince could have been a legendary pairing and both handled equal amounts of the scoring and leadership role, but it was T-Mac's stubbornness that led to this entire article. I actually don't have much to say about T-Mac and how his career would have looked if he'd stayed with Vince in Toronto - because it likely would have looked exactly the same as it did, but with a championship too. His time in Orlando and Houston still featured him as a perennial player alongside another star (Grant Hill and Yao Ming respectively), he still put up great numbers and still possessed a playing style almost too early for it's time.

Chad: I see a similar fate for McGrady as I do for Carter in this hypothetical conundrum (Is that the right use of that word?). Having a lot of success in the Eastern Conference and being honored with all-star appearances but like Demar Derozan, never really getting that recognition as a great. I think T-Mac’s numbers would’ve been handicapped by having his older cousin’s light shining so brightly in The Six. Because Vince was better sooner, McGrady’s progression as a player would’ve been largely based on his own determination and drive. Which I think he had. I’ve seen interviews of him talking about competing with Kobe. T-Mac really believed he was as good as Kobe and wanted to destroy him. The problem with this is, I think it was inevitable that McGrady would leave. For the sake of rewriting history, I think he stays in Toronto for one more 4-5 year contract but like Kobe playing under Shaq’s shadow, gets progressively tired of being little brother. Or like you said, he’d end up with the “Kyrie Syndrome.” But I actually think this would’ve been good for T-Mac in the long run. When he left for Orlando and ultimately Houston, he was still a young, raw athlete and never fully figured out the winning part of the basketball equation. Had he spent even just four more years with Vince building a power to be reckoned with in the East, I think he would’ve taken some crucial tools with him on his next two stops that probably would’ve helped his Rockets teams alongside Yao Ming become legit contenders for an NBA title. And how cool would that have been to watch Yao Ming hoisting up the Larry O’Brien Trophy twelve feet above 6’ 8” T-Mac’s head?

Toronto

Jake: Now this could have changed everything. Toronto's constant chip on it's shoulder, the shattered hopes every year vs LeBron, Chris Bosh ever suiting up in purple and red. If Vince and T-Mac stuck it out and developed into their primes alongside each other, eventually winning a championship - then the Raptors might have the level of prestige they currently are looking from the outside in at. Despite being a great city and having an excellent brand/culture pulling at the strings of "Canada vs NBA" narrative with their "We The North" slogans, they never quite seem to deliver. Maybe it'll change this year with Kawhi Leonard, maybe not. But one thing is for sure, if this legendary duo stuck together and brought a ship to the Six, T-Mac and Vince's numbers would absolutely be retired by now and we'd be throwing their names around in the same discussion as Kobe and Shaq - duos who brought their teams championships before the superteam era. Instead we're left wanting, both players have no rings to their name and Canada still doesn't hold an NBA title. It's not all doom and gloom though, T-Mac balled out to the East of us in Qingdao and Vince will absolutely be looking to retire in a Raptor uniform.

Chad: I’m not sure I can add a whole lot to that. I agree on every point except I’m not sure they win a ‘ship. The problem for me here is that to do that they would’ve had to contend with those early 2000s Lakers squads that were some of the most dominant in history with Kobe who was better than Vince or T-Mac and Shaq, while he didn’t play the same position so wouldn’t be guarding each other, was more dominant than anyone in the league…maybe anyone ever. So assuming T-Mac does eventually leave anyways to pursue his own greatness, I think Toronto’s fortunes still change tremendously. I see them getting to the NBA Finals a minimum of three years easily beating out the Sixers and Pacers. And I believe that those three years with the other successes they would’ve had would be enough to catapult them into that next echelon of NBA franchises that you mentioned. And yes, I believe T-Mac would’ve left anyways but had Carter then stuck around like I predicted they can build a younger core around a star who was still in his prime in 2005.

Think it would’ve gone differently? Or maybe you don’t believe in the multiverse and reality was the only outcome? Either way, we’d love to hear your take in the comments section.