Oden or Durant? (one week before draft)

[Chris_Sanders]

Oden has been lackluster in his workouts, but of course everyone is ready to make excuses for him -- he was nervous, he's not that motivated in a workout setting, he's still a bit banged up, whatever. It's been the same story with him all year long. Everyone is so hell-bent on declaring him the next big thing, they habitually reject all of the evidence that maybe he isn't.

This is why I voted for Durant.

 

[FArting]

I voted for Durant.

 

[Chaplin]

Is anybody aware that Oden visited the Sonics but DID NOT WORK OUT?

 

[F-Dog]

Oden has been lackluster in his workouts, but of course everyone is ready to make excuses for him -- he was nervous, he's not that motivated in a workout setting, he's still a bit banged up, whatever. It's been the same story with him all year long. Everyone is so hell-bent on declaring him the next big thing, they habitually reject all of the evidence that maybe he isn't.

It was the same way with LeBron James.

 

[azirish]

Is anybody aware that Oden visited the Sonics but DID NOT WORK OUT?

Gee, you think they'd pass on him if the Blazers take Durant?

 

[arwillan]

Are you talking about Oden or Durant here?

Oden beat Durant in almost every one of the althetic/agility drills.

talking about oden, of course. that's why i said a freakish athlete, 7 footer who can beat a guy with a build like durant in every physical drill

 

[Chaplin]

Gee, you think they'd pass on him if the Blazers take Durant?

Um, no. He didn't work out because he knows that the Blazers are already set to pick him. So no point working out for the Sonics.

 

[mr_sunshine]

Durant easy. We'll see what happens with Oden. He needs to learn how to not get into foul trouble before he becomes great. He's also never really played against anyone who can match his size and strength. When he played against Roy Hibbert of Georgetown it was the first time he played against anyone who was his size or taller, and anyone remember what happened? He picked up two fouls in the first two minutes of the game I do believe, and spent a good amount of time on the bench. I know Oden will do well, but how well? Durant is a guaranteed impact player by his second year, if not sooner.

 

[D-Dogg]

Who do I take, or who should the Blazers take?

They should take Oden.


I'd take Durant...he's going to be a superdooperstar.

Just sayin'. again.

 

[Cheesebeef]

1984 means nothing. This is 2007. Oden is not Bowie and Durant is not Jordan. Besides the #1 pick in 1984 was Akeem Olajuwan.

i got this wrong too, but you gotta admit Folster, this post is pretty hilarious looking back on it as Oden absolutely is Bowie and only god knows how good Durant's gonna be. Remember, he's only 23!!!

 

[Mainstreet]

The Blazers were in a tough situation on who to draft, but a nice place to be. If they had passed on a potential franchise center in Oden and Durant turned out to be just ordinary they would have been blasted out of the water. It would be interesting to see who Seattle had drafted if they had the #1 pick in that draft.

 

[Folster]

i got this wrong too, but you gotta admit Folster, this post is pretty hilarious looking back on it as Oden absolutely is Bowie and only god knows how good Durant's gonna be. Remember, he's only 23!!!

Yeah... I got a chuckle out of that one. What are the odds that a franchise could experience such a misfortune twice? Oden might actually be worse than Bowie. Bowie wasn't nearly as injured as Oden, and Bowie went on to play a few serviceable, relatively healthy years with New Jersey before retiring after 10 NBA seasons. I was dead wrong as were the majority of posters.

I remember the Celtics crying because they had the 2nd worst record the preceding season and got screwed in the lottery. They ended up with the 5th pick, drafting Jeff Green. The rest is history. Coincidentally, that was the year the Suns got screwed with the Hawks pick.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The Blazers were in a tough situation on who to draft, but a nice place to be. If they had passed on a potential franchise center in Oden and Durant turned out to be just ordinary they would have been blasted out of the water. It would be interesting to see who Seattle had drafted if they had the #1 pick in that draft.

I know it's easy to say now but I thought Durant was the obvious choice. Oden, in addition to several injury issues, seemed to really benefit from the fact he was so much more physically mature than his opponents (an advantage that would obviously disappear once he went pro). Durant, on the other hand, was incredible even though he seemed to be a kid playing amongst older kids. I don't fault Portland for taking Bowie over Jordan but taking Oden over Durant was inexcusable IMO. I thought Oden was destined for a very solid NBA career but Kevin had superstar written all over him.

Steve

 

[elindholm]

Oden has been lackluster in his workouts, but of course everyone is ready to make excuses for him -- he was nervous, he's not that motivated in a workout setting, he's still a bit banged up, whatever. It's been the same story with him all year long. Everyone is so hell-bent on declaring him the next big thing, they habitually reject all of the evidence that maybe he isn't.

I remembered that this is what I thought five years ago, but I couldn't remember whether I had actually posted anything. Thanks to whomever for digging it back up.

 

[sunsfan88]

Can you imagine Kevin Durant and Brandon Roy (pre injury) on the same team?!

Roy, Durant, Aldridge>>>>>Wade, LeBron, Bosh

 

[slinslin]

Whats the point? If Oden could have stayed healthy nobody would talk about Durant being picked #2.

 

[chickenhead]

There's no factor in championship that has been as reliable in NBA history as Dominant Center. I absolutely don't blame Portland for taking Oden, unless they willfully overlooked injury concerns that were blindingly evident to them. But Oden's injuries have been worse than even the most cynical evaluator probably guessed.

But the problem is, back in 2007, it still seemed like a reasonable possibility that a few years down the line, Oden would have a championship while Durant was the best player in the league. Personally, I'd be inclined to still take the best player, but that's because I'm a deluded Suns fan and I still want to see them win a championship playing Suns basketball.

 

[D-Dogg]

Whats the point? If Oden could have stayed healthy nobody would talk about Durant being picked #2.

Uhm, that's the point. He couldn't, and he didn't. Ifs and buts aren't candy and nuts.

And even when briefly healthy, he never showed a lot. I thought Mike Conley, Jr. was more important on that Ohio State team than Oden - who IIRC was oft-injured in college, too. Conley is still playing in the NBA, and contributing.

Whilst Durant is the next face of the NBA, especially once he craps all over LeBronze in the finals this year.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Whats the point? If Oden could have stayed healthy nobody would talk about Durant being picked #2.

I love how you can say this with complete and utter certainty.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Uhm, that's the point. He couldn't, and he didn't. Ifs and buts aren't candy and nuts.

And even when briefly healthy, he never showed a lot. I thought Mike Conley, Jr. was more important on that Ohio State team than Oden - who IIRC was oft-injured in college, too. Conley is still playing in the NBA, and contributing.

say what you want about Oden in the pros, but that OSU team was his. he missed 7 games in college and even playing with a broken hand, was still able to average 17 ppg, 10 boards and 3.3 blocks. That team was his and trying to say otherwise is revisionist history.

what Oden DID show in the pros was that he could be a very solid NBA defensive C... but that was about it, and even then, his sample size was so small, it's nearly impossible to say with any degree of certainty if he could have done anything else.

 

[crisper57]

Oden and Yao...

Two cautionary tales against taking a tall, lanky guy in the NBA. Their bodies don't hold up. Then need some meat on those bones!

 

[boisesuns]

Whats crazier is the Sonics and Oden both aren't a part of the NBA just a few years later.

 

[D-Dogg]

say what you want about Oden in the pros, but that OSU team was his. he missed 7 games in college and even playing with a broken hand, was still able to average 17 ppg, 10 boards and 3.3 blocks. That team was his and trying to say otherwise is revisionist history.

what Oden DID show in the pros was that he could be a very solid NBA defensive C... but that was about it, and even then, his sample size was so small, it's nearly impossible to say with any degree of certainty if he could have done anything else.

The team was his, but Conley was huge for that team in the tourney run, especially with Oden having the broken hand. Oden dominated college players, but he was also freakishly big and 40 years old, and seemed to rely on the physical size dominance rather than great skill. Of course same can be said of Shaq, and he never really got "skilled" but Oden also didn't have the physical gifts Shaq does (and Dwight Howard now).

Conley was a surprise and played above his head, practically doubling his season production in the tourney. I thought he did more with less, and thus it colored my perception of Oden. And they still lost to those gata' boyz asshats.

I didn't think Oden would suck and thought he'd be a decent center, but I definitely wouldn't have taken him over Durant, who I thought was going to be tremendous and had (and still have) a huge man-crush on.

 

[Joe Mama]

It shouldn't surprise anybody that Oden spent his entire career in the training room. Hell, he should have been in a nursing home. The guy was 68 years old when he was drafted.

Seriously though, given the makeup of that trail Blazers team at the time I thought they made the right decision even if he wasn't necessarily the best player. I thought for sure he would be a 12-12-4 center.

Joe

 

[elindholm]

I thought for sure he would be a 12-12-4 center.

That would have been surprising. The all-time leader in blocks per game (well, since the statistic has been tracked) is Mark Eaton at 3.5, and only two other players are over 3. Averaging even 1.5 for your career is enough to get you into the top 50. It's fairly unusual for even the single-season leader to be at 4 or above; it has not happened since Mutombo in 1995-96.