His impact on the game is similar to that of Odom's. Meaning he is talented, versatile, but kind of has a low-impact quality about himself.
For some reason, when others have seen his potential, I've seen nothing that tells me "Yea, this kid is going to be pretty good". Maybe it's because the last time I really got to see him was during his forgettable rookie season.
Thunder violated the golden rule of drafting. Never get 3 players with similar skills (Durant, Green and now Harden) all wing players selected with a top 5 pick. The have no interior presence and that is why the will struggle for a long time but yeah Durant is a superstar in the making.
Who exactly were they supposed to take? In 07 Portland drafted Oden (and KD was a better pick anyway), and Horford was already gone by the time Boston selected Green (presumably for the Sonics/Thunder). The big men picked shortly after that included Yi, Brandan Wright, Noah, Hawes, Last year it was either draft the best back-court/wing player on their board (which happened to be Harden), or reach considerably for Jordan Hill. Clearly the team needs more frontcourt help. But on the plus side, Westbrook, Harden, Green and Durant is one heck of a four-some, potentially. On top of which, Jeff averaged 16.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, and 1 spg. He can be a more efficient scorer, and like all players needs to continue to improve. But he is fairly talented. EDIT: Also, keep in mind, this is a team that spent consecutive years trying, and failing miserably, to improve their frontcourt through the draft. Collison, Robert Swift, Johan Petro, Saer Sene. Considering how poorly they had been drafting, I'd say their last four picks (with the jury still out on Harden, but I still believe he has the potential to be the Brandon Roy of this draft) are pretty solid.
I thought that team was just too young and too sucky the last couple of years. Not sure which big man they could have drafted in the place of either of of the 3 that would have made the team better than their current trio would have.
Well thier best chance shot at a big man was last year when they took Westbrook instead of Brook Lopez. Could you image if they had select Brooks then selected Ricky Rubio in this past draft? But the past is the past. This past draft was guard heavy so I didn't mind the Harden selection. But they should of selected Blair instead of Bj Mullions
Huh? The golden rule of drafting is always take the best player available. That kind of reasoning (never take players with similar skills) is why Portland passed on Jordan (they already had Clyde). Green and Harden are the best guys Thunder could take with the hand they were given. Its not like they don't fit together anyway, Green seems to be similar to David West and Harden is a natural SG while Durant is a natural forward. They need an inside presence, but I doubt getting Yi or Noah would have helped (Hawes might, but at the time wasting the pick for him would have been a reach).
Lopez has a chance of becoming a good big man. Westbrook has a chance of becoming one of the top pgs in the league. PGs of Westbrook calibre are rarer than big men of Lopez's calibre. Getting westbrook was the correct choice.
They needed a PG, too, though, and Westbrook was there and may develop into a very good one (he is about to turn 21). In either case, the Thunder didn't exactly play the Celtics last night, but Green had another typically game for his improving body of work: 24 points, 8 boards, 2 assists, a steal, 3 blocks He gets overlooked because KD puts up 25, 11 and 4...but while Durant shot 10-24, Green was an incredibly efficient 9-13. Green had the better game. Oh, and Westbrook was solid, too. More than solid. 13 points (on 7-12 shooting), 13 assists, 7 rebounds, only 2 turnovers. He has the size and quickness to be a top tier point guard and the age to continue to develop that potential. Granted, it is certainly clear that the Thunder will have front-court issues to deal with. But there's only 1 "perfect" team every year and no one is claiming the Thunder are there yet - or even close, but definitely on the way.
Yeah Green had an awesome game. Westbrook was pretty good, though B. Lopez had 27 and 15 the other night... I'm really hoping for the Thunder to succeed. They just have a good group of character guys. Kevin Durant, like Roy, is down to earth and humble. I've been reading his twitter and he's a really nice guy and treats his teammates like family. But it also concerns me because the past greats who have won championships have always been selfish sobs who care about themselves. It looks more and more like Harden's gonna play the Manu Ginobili role for that team. Sam Presti is really trying to shape that team into the Spurs. I can't believe Livingston couldn't get the back-up PG duties over Ollie.
They really should've took Jordan Hill great rebounder defender .. but harden is really highly rated .. he looks mature i think its the beard anyway OKC is a great city with great supporters .. if they can sign a legit free agent this summer and get a top 10 pick they could be legit contenders the season after ..
Green gets "overlooked" because he disappears completely from games way too often. If he stops that habit this season, he won't be overlooked. Same for Westbrook except he was just a rookie last year. Westbrook has a chance to be a dominant player. Last year there were a couple of games where the opposing defense didn't know how to stop him. If Green brings it every night, the Thunder will automatically win several more games on that alone. And if Westbrook takes a big enough step forward, the Thunder could win 40 games. They are fun to watch at home.
That is why I thought OKC was making a mistake when they traded up that high to take him. In college I rememeber him disappearing in the NCAA tournament. I mean he would not even take a shot. I think I am wrong though because he started coming on strong last year. I like him I just thought he was too passive. Hopefully he continues to be aggressive.
I don't want to make too much out of it because they played the Kings, but Green had a different look and body language last night than he did most of last season. His confidence showed. Because he's so multi-skilled, Green is the perfect compliment to a gifted scorer. You know, the kind of guy that will kill you a number of ways if you slack off him.
