The great debate before the 2007 NBA Draft, as you probably remember, was whether the Trailblazers should pick Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. A year later, things have not gone quite the way the Blazers may have hoped.
Oden missed the entire '07-'08 season with micro fracture surgery on his right knee, while Durant, selected second overall by the Sonics, went on to win the Rookie of the Year award.
However, those who believe Portland would have done the right thing by selecting Durant are still wrong. Why? It's simple.
Durant didn't fit into Portland's needs—Oden did. Had the Blazers selected Durant, they would have a huge logjam at the swing positions. They would have Durant, Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster, and James Jones all fighting for playing time between just two positions.
Outlaw and Webster are two very athletic, very exciting young up-and-comers. Roy is an All-Star two-guard. And Jones ended up shooting a ridiculous 44 percent from three in his first season with the Blazers.
Adding Durant to that group would only complicate things. The two centers on the team at the time Oden was selected were Joel Pryzbilla and Raef LaFrentz. While Pryzbilla is a nice role player, he is in no way a franchise center. Raef LaFrentz is a drag on the payroll.
Even having missed an entire season already, Oden is the starting center on a team with a very bright future. Teams win championships with big men. The major anomaly in recent times is the Jordan, who won six titles without a real force down low.
The Rockets teams that won two titles (Olajuwon), the three-peating Lakers (Shaq), the four-time champion Spurs (Duncan), the Heat (less effective Shaq), and the defending champion Celtics (Garnett), all got there with the big man more-or-less anchoring the teams.
The defensive presences of Olajuwon, Shaq, Duncan, and Garnett completely locked down the paint and forced opposing teams to beat them from the perimeter. Oden brings this to the table. He's one of the most freakishly athletic seven-footers to come out, with superior shot blocking and rebounding abilities.
He has a very polished inside game that complements Roy and the perimeter players very well. If the Blazers had Durant, they would have no dominating post presence to speak of.
LaMarcus Aldridge is a nice player, but he's no banger down low. Kevin Durant will be a great NBA player.
He already averaged 20 ppg in a rookie season in which he was basically the only option on a terrible Sonics team. With the Sonics building around him, fellow second-year player Jeff Green, and rookie Russell Westbrook, look for him to become more comfortable in his shot selection next season.
His rebounding will improve as he bulks up a bit, and he has the ability to become a solid defensive player as well.
However, the core of Oden, Roy, Outlaw/Webster, Aldridge, and incoming rookie point guards Jerry Bayless and Rudy Fernandez will make the Trailblazers a force to be reckoned with in the very near future in the Western Conference.
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3 months ago
Point...Rudy Fernandez is not a PG. He is a 2G...all the way. Other than that, you pretty much summed it up. Lineup 1/2 could look like this:
Oden/Pryzbilla
Aldridge/Frye
Webster/Outlaw
Roy/Fernandez
Bayless/Blake
An interesting twist would be to play a 3G offense with Roy, Fernandez and Bayless on the outside and Oden and Aldridge inside. This could be a very potent attack, with none of the traditional weaknesses of a 3G offense (Roy and Fernandez are both 6'6").
I know they're young, but with the depth and level of talent, I can't see the Blazers not contending this year. Last year they were 41-41. This year they add three key all star calibre players (Oden, Fernandez, Bayless) to the mix, and have one more year experience. They are also a legit 10 deep. They WILL win 55+ games this year...watch. Oden's defense alone gives them a +8-10. And that goes back to your point...Oden was definitely the right choice for the Blazers.
3 months ago
two words: "Sam Bowie". i'm not saying the Oden pick will turn out to have been the wrong move--it's too early to know that, considering that Oden has officially logged as many minutes in NBA games as I have... but Durant was a sure thing, and the Blazers may yet regret passing on him.
3 months ago
No one knew that Oden would get hurt. He was the best choice at #1, and I would have picked him too. Hindsight is 20/20 so yes, now I would have picked Durant, though I guess Taylor is saying he would still have drafted Oden despite the injury. I don't know, injured players tend to be injury prone. He has to support a lot of weight on that knee going forward. Knowing what we know now, of course I would have picked Durant. At the time, however, Oden was the logical choice.
3 months ago
Even with the injury Oden was and is the correct choice. Picking Durant could win a few games over the course of a season if he pans out...which it certainly appears he will...but picking Oden can win a few CHAMPIONSHIPS if he pans out. I would much rather shoot for the stars and fall short than shoot for the rooftops and make it.
nice piece of work
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