Seattle kind of did it to themselves. Their Representatives said NO to public money for Arenas and that was the end of their team. Sucks for the fans but business is business. Portland though had a chance to draft one of the best players we've seen since Lebron James (I think Durnat is better when you add his persona) and passed. They were supposed to be the Thunder before the Thunder but then the Injuries happened. I think Portland has it worse.
Portland has a foreseeable future, Seattle doesn't. So, by default, Seattle has it worse. As far as drafting Oden over Durant. That was a very difficult decision for them, but at that point everything was promising, and they were in need of a dominate defensive center to take over for Przybilla. How well would Durant and Roy work together? Probably a lot better than Wade and Lebron, but for Portland's team Oden was a better fit. It was unfortunate that he was injured so often. Very sad, because Oden showed a lot of promise, he was fouling less and really becoming a beast on the defensive end in just the few weeks he played.
Seattle doesn't even have a franchise anymore. So.... Besides, Portland still has Aldridge, Batum, and two good lottery picks going into a very good draft. I'd love to be in the position they're in.
I still think some Sonics fans will have a rooting interest in the Thunder though. We saw it here in Houston when the Titans went to the Superbowl (I cheered for the Ram BTW) so to me Portland will question themselves for at least a decade while I think Seattle gets a new team by then.
I was living in Portland in the summer of '07 for my internship while in b-school at UT. As much as I pumped KD, the whole damn city was convinced "you need to draft a big man, etc." It was as if they learned nothing from the Sam Bowie debacle. They even had these ridiculous billboards around town that said "Oden: Honk Once, Durant: Honk Twice."
A lot of people were saying Durant was just going to be a high volume shooter. He was not a can't miss as it appears now. A majority of teams would have taken Oden based on all the stuff I was reading then.
Portland did not only pass on Durant, but also on Michael Jordan and Chris Paul/Deron Williams(they traded 3rd pick away for some scrub).
How is this even a question? Portland's had some bad luck, but they have a good franchise, with a long and mostly proud legacy. Seattle has no franchise at all, and they were outright defrauded by Clay Bennett.
I don't know the full Sonic story, but from what I do know, the city - its public officials, and its citizens - were against using $500 million of taxpayer money to fund a new stadium. The city did get a $45 million early lease buyout, and will likely get $30 million more next year. Meanwhile, they are considering a new stadium now, but I think there will be $200 million of private money put towards it. As someone who lived through the Bud Adams Oilers fiasco.... I can't really blame the people of Seattle that much. Yes, Houston ultimately funded a new stadium. But the way the situation arises, and the particulars of the deal, are important. In the Sonics case, Schultz sold the team and was expressly told new ownership would do everything possible to keep it in Seattle. That may have been, and probably was, naive of him, but he did try and sue to rescind the sale later. New ownership then proceeded to seemingly do everything to move the team to OKC. A new minority owner, also the founder of Chesapeake Energy, outright said the team was bought to move to OKC. There was little (none?) private capital offered to build the new arena. They worked to get out of their lease as soon as possible. If I'm in Seattle, I would have loved to have the current Thunder still, there, but at some point you have to say good riddance. That being the case, Portland has it worse, imo. Not only did Roy turn into glass, did Oden turn into glass, but they made the wrong choice there. Aldridge is solid, but not going to lead a team to a championship anytime soon. Funny, this is the reason I think they don't have it worse. They were defrauded. Nothing they could do about it. And it's a sports team, not their own personal lives...
As a UT Grad who went to school with KD, I wanted him drafted #1, but from a team management POV I would be inclined to take the big man. Great big men only come like once a decade. Hakeem 84, Shaq 92?, Yao 02 those are just the last 3, the only two good centers drafted since Yao were Howard and Bynum.
This may seem jerky but as a life long Sonic hater . . . I am glad the team is in OKC I would be depressed to think those green and yellow b*st*rds were in the championship Rocket River
I don't think this is true. The longtime owner of the Supersonics was a douche who failed to get votes because the arena terms were considered insanely lucrative for him, and not fair to the city. So he sold. The douche sold the team to outsiders. Clayton Bennett purchased the Supersonics on the stipulation he would give a good faith effort to keep them in Seattle. Later it was proven that he had no intention to stay in Seattle, and soon moved the team to OKC. He (which was great of him) helped out the NBA with Katrina and organized the revenue guarantee for the temporary move of the Hornets to OKC during the aftermath of Katrina. He then sought out purchase of the Supersonics, and the NBA helped clear the way for him to do what he wanted. Most people in Seattle believe he had no intention to keep them there after discovering how easy it was to sell out games in OKC...plus, that's his hometown, where he was born. Not only was the previous owner a douche in managing the players and negotiating with the city for an arena, he had to have known the guy he was selling the team to was going to move it. So, I really don't think it is far to say "Seattle did it to themselves."
Tim Duncan, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson... Great Centers aren't as rare as once a decade. Still the hardest position to fill.
I remember going to as many bball games as I could during the '06-'07 season since it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that KD was going to be one and done. He was freaking dominant, while Oden seemed clumsy and injury prone. He was hobbled his entire freshman year at Ohio State and looked 50. F that noise. KD was a sure thing, and Oden was a gamble.
