"With the second pick in the 1984 NBA draft, the Portland Trailblazers select Sam Bowie."
"With the third pick, the Chicago Bulls select Michael Jordan".
All sports fans know how that story turned out. Now let's fast forward 13 years.
"With the first pick in the 2007 NBA draft, the Portland Trailblazers select Greg Oden."
"With the second pick, the Seattle Supersonics select Kevin Durant."
It's too early to call 2007 a repeat of 1984—but the initial signs aren't exactly encouraging.
Six weeks before the start of his first NBA season, Greg Oden is already on the shelf.
I'm not a Blazers fan, but I was hoping that Oden would rejuvenate the franchise. I still hope that happens—at least for Portland's sake.
Before the 2007 draft I told everybody that Oden was a better choice for the Blazers than Durant, simply because of his size and defensive abilities.
I pulled back a little bit after I saw what Durant did in the Blue-White Game last month in Vegas.
The kid is better than I thought—and he definitely should have made the U.S. Olympic squad; I don't know what Coach K was thinking.
In an event, I've always said that the worst case scenario for Portland would be Durant making a LeBron James-type impact in Seattle, and I don't see that happening. The Blazers franchise has suffered enough—so here's hoping Oden bounces in 2008 better than he was before.
For Portland's sake, if nothing else.
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about 1 year ago
Durant can put the ball on the floor, nice touch, and good hands. The right coach "Carlesimo" to help him become defensive minded. He is my # 1 pick.
about 1 year ago
Well, let's be fair to the Blazers here. Oden was darn close to a CONSENSUS #1 pick. Now, Durant did make things interesting, and a fairly large minority of experts favored him. But they were the minority.
I don't think that any of the pro-Oden guys thought he was a more explosive, or even more talented, man than Durant. Oden was not about being Mr. Highlight Reel. He was a large, talented, reliable center -- a savory opportunity that comes across very rarely.
This hurts Portland a ton, and they may be guilty of not doing their homework regarding Oden's durability, but was it a Bowie-esque pick? Nope.
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