That would make for an extremely slow frontcourt, imo. The Blazers only hole is at the SF position. The most talented player in the draft happens to be a SF. They should take Durant. MJ was scroring ~20 ppg the year before he was drafted. He was already the two time college player of the year, winner of the Naismith and Woooden awards, and a unanimous first team all american twice. And the popular notion at the time was that Dean Smith was actually holding him back throughout his college career for the sake of his teammates. The Blazers were idiots.
id pick durant for sure....randolph is gonna be hard to move. besides, i think durant is the better player than oden--the nba is no longer a big mans game.
I agree. I think Aldridge-Randolf-Durant is a better fit than Oden-Aldridge-xSF. Aldridge is a more natural center in todays NBA, as of course Oden is as well. Unless you have a center as quick as Robinson or Hakeem--which neither Oden or Aldrigde is, I don't see a twin tower thing as a mainstay line-up. In this other thread I looked at how Oden's season stacked up with other centers. His was exceptional for a freshman, but not that exceptional for a rare elite center prospect coming out of college. Even his rebouding and blocks--since people are building him as a shut down defensive interior player-- are not dynamite (e.g., 4s to 5s blocks per game), even for a freshman. Given the amount of training and physical development Oden had prior to even entering college--I wouldn't have expected the same kind of progression that you see with more raw prospects like Shaq/Hakeem/DR/Duncan/Deke to their soph and junior years. I think his growth would be more modest--like other more somewhat refined centers as freshman-Ewing, Mourning, Sampson, Oakfor, Camby. See the best C prospects since 1980 at the end of this thread here---- http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=129960&page=2 BTW-Bowie has a really good soph year but more down junior year. Yeah, the Blazers screwed that up but Bowie was a legit top 5 prospect. Again if I am Portland I trade with Seattle for the #2 pick plus other assets and draft Durant. There is no way Seattle wouldn't draft Oden and should pay some premium to get him, but if I am the Blazers I do go with Durant, particularly if I can get some other assets. I really view both Durant and Oden as about once every 3 year type prospects. I don't think anyone would draft Oden ahead of Shaq/DR/Duncan/Hakeem/Sampson if they were in the same draft and using the information that is available as pre-draft prospects.
Make no mistake, Durant should be the pick. He's as close to a sure thing as you can get. But should Portland go for Oden, then Randolph should go.
I agree with him I been saying tis already! I think he is a better ben wallace also...I just think durant would make them more dangerous.Now seatle to me really needs oden to change thier franchise.
That's easy to say after the fact. Yes MJ showed a lot during college but NOBODY knew he had such a potential for dominance. What put him on a different plane than other extremely talented players is how hard he worked once he became an NBA player (I'm sure you've heard the legendary stories), his unnatural mindset of competitiveness and his ability to raise his level of play when game situations called for it. I don't recall the Blazers being roundly criticized by 90% of media and fans for taking Bowie. They took the "safe" route by drafting the big man over the smaller player. I assume you agree with me that particular bit of conventional wisdom is "idiotic", but it represents how most people feel. I'm not a psychologist, but from watching Durant and Oden play during the season, Durant seems more passionate about basketball. IMO, he will continue striving to improving himself as a player once he signs a contract more than Oden will. Someone said Oden seems like a nice, well-rounded guy. That kind of person does not strive to the nth degree after reaching the NBA. On the other hand, Durant comes across as a focused basketball zombie. The way he completely took over games was a sight to behold. What happened late in the season and in the tourney was he ran out of gas sometimes. He had the mentality to dominate but his young body couldn't carry it out. Both guys will do well but Durant will be better. I wish Durant could start out his career playing for someone like Sarge instead of joining a rudderless sinking franchise like the Sonics.
I see Aldridge as a prototypical power forward, even in today’s game. His game reminds me more of Chris Bosh or Jermaine O’Neal than any center I can think of playing today. He shys away from the paint, and tends to rely more on his mid range jumper. He’s not a particularly great rebounder or defender. He’s just not a great fit next to Zach Randolph, who has a very similar game. The combination makes for a very soft front court. And as important as it is to have great perimeters like Durant to have success nowadays, you cannot win a championship with a soft frontcourt. I think Oden is the easy choice. You take a look at a team like Seattle, and you have to do everything possible to avoid the same pitfalls that Seattle has gone through, becoming too perimeter oriented and too soft inside. People continue to make comparisons of choosing Oden over Durant to choosing Bowie over Jordan, but we could just as easily end up comparing it to choosing Yao over Jay Williams.
Seattle doesn't have an Aldridge, Randolph or even a Pryzbilla (assuming he comes back healthy, which there is no reason he shouldn't). I think Portland needs an elite scorer more than a big, even though Oden should be better than Aldridge/Pryzbilla (a decent pair of relatively young Cs). If Portland drafted Oden and traded Randolph they would be one of the bottom shooting teams in the league. Aldridge PER as a rookie is better as a C. As he further adds muscle to his 6'11'" 245 frame he will only become further better suited to the C spot. He is a little slow--he doesn't have near Bosh's quickness to play the PF. I also think Jermaine is better as a C. I think Indy was better with him and Harrington in the 5 and 4 than any combination of Oneal at the 4 and some other 5 they have tried.
Durant will probably be the better player, but Oden will be more valuable to the team that is drafting him. Portland would be stupid to pass on Oden with the plethora of wing players they already have. Don't forget Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster still look promising.
Aldridge and Prybilla are a heck of lot closer to Oden than those two are to Durant. Portland doesn't have a great scorer. Randolph (who everyone around here wants to get rid of) is an efficient offense player. Brandon Roy is an outstanding all around shooting guard, but I don't think anyone thinks Roy has Wade/Lebron/Kobe/Tmac type upside as a dominant wing player. Portland does have really good (and young) bigs and some really good athletic players. They are most lacking shooting and scoring IMO. Durant brings both. If Portland drafts Oden and gets rid of Randolph they would have a bottom 3/ inefficient offense.
I think the Blazers small forward position is in better shape than their center position. You have 2 solid role players in Outlaw and Udoka, a very talented Martell Webster, and a productive player in Darius Miles. Plus, the small forward position is the easiest position to fill in the NBA. I'd find it very hard to believe that the Blazers couldn't get a decent 3 (at least Wally Szczerbiak) in exchange for Randolph. What exactly do you see in Pryzbilla that makes you think he's anything more than an end of the bench scrub? He had a horrible season, gives you absolutely nothing offensively, and is very injury prone. If the Blazers decide to pass on Oden, I hope to god they aren't dumb enough to do it because of Joel Pryzbilla. And while Aldridge did have a nice rookie season, I think people are going a bit overboard thinking he's a sure thing. Channing Frye had a better rookie season than Aldridge and he regressed his second year in the league. At this point, Aldridge has not proven any more than Martell Webster. They're both projects that the Blazers have invested high lottery picks in. Webster may have been in the league l year longer, but Aldridge is a year older. They're both too unproven for the Blazers to base their decision on. To me, it comes down to what type of identity do you want your team to have? Do you want more of an up-tempo team that tries to outscore opponents (Phoenix, Golden State) or do you want more of a half-court team that plays solid defense with a balanced attack on offense (Detroit, Utah)? Even with Durant, I don't see Portland being all that great offensively. He's a great scorer, but I question whether he can make the players around him better. While with Oden, I think their defense could be stifling. Right now, they're already a pretty good defensive team. But with Oden, the good defensive players they already have (Udoka, Roy, Jack), and Nate McMillan as their coach, I could see them being at the top of the league, defensively, every year. And even though Oden/Roy may never be able to score as many points as Durant, I think they could be about as potent, offensively, as Boozer/Deron Williams.
Przybilla has a clean bill of health relative relative to Miles, who Portland is hoping will retire. Aldridge is a decent shotblocker and has much more upside than Frye. You add Pryzbilla as a back-up--who is a very good shot blocker and rebounder for the typical minutes he gets, and that is above average C spot in skill and upside. Lets not forget Aldridge is all-rookie and was the 2nd pick. Udonka turns 30 this summer and is an URFA--he may not return. Outlaw has range problems in his jumpshot and Webster hasn't proven much. Not saying they couldn't develop into starting caliber players but their odds are a lot less than Aldridge, 2nd overall pick, all-rookie, I don't think it is even close. Now if Portland couldn't get Seattle to give them something (take a bad contract plus a pick/player) to switch I can understand them taking Oden--personally I'd try to get Wilcox for a bad contract (Miles if he doesn't retire) and a future 1st to switch with the #2 and take Durant (which I do if I am Seattle as well). I think to Portland Durant might be just as valuable, potentially moreso, than Oden, and I think Portland can get Durant and other assets in the process.
Talent-wise Oden is no chopped liver. They both have potential to be premier players in the NBA. Portland can't go wrong either way IMO.
By the time Oden/Durant are seasoned enough to be competing for championships, most of Seattle's and Portland's rosters will have turned over. If Portland can't move Randolph, it doesn't matter because his contract will have expired by the time their pick is really ready for primetime. I think it is the wrong approach to be worrying about filling a need with this pick. Sure, Oden doesn't make as much sense when you already have a good C and PF and a hole at SF. But, the team will have to be rebuilt around your new franchise guy anyway. That said, Portland should take Durant. Great reward, minimal risk.
