Top 5 'What If' Moments in Recent NBA History

#1 What If the Oklahoma City Thunder never traded James Harden?

The Oklahoma City Thunder once had three of the future MVPs in the team

In one of the most talked about 'What ifs' in recent NBA history, James Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets for guards Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and one second-round pick. This was after the Thunder had made it all the way to the NBA finals, which they'd lose to an experienced Miami Heat in five games. At the time, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were both 23, while Harden was just 22 years old.

During the off-season, the Thunder offered Harden $55.5 million over four years, which was $4.5 million less than the max deal. Offering the max contract would have cost the Thunder the Luxury Tax, which the management did not want to pay.

In hindsight, the Thunder missed a golden opportunity to build a potential dynasty as the young core of Durant, Westbrook and Harden had all the talent to contend for multiple championships.

It was an unprecedented feat that all of them were drafted in consecutive years, Durant with the second pick in 2007 draft, Westbrook with the fourth pick in 2008 draft and Harden with the third pick in 2009 Draft. Letting go of Harden was a weak move by the team management and was heavily criticized by experts at that time.

In the summer of 2016, in a lambasted move, Durant left the Thunder via free agency for Golden State. Since then, the Thunder have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs three consecutive times.

It's been six years since the trade transpired, but the Thunder have never made it back to the NBA finals. Durant, Westbrook, and Harden have all gone on to win the League MVP honors ever since.

Thus, once a promising team loaded with All-Star talent, now has an uncertain future, which begs the question, how far could the Thunder have gone with this trio?