C'mon people. It's OK to admit that Durant was the better talent and that KP missed on him. This isn't to say that Greg won't one day be a good/great center ... if he can stay healthy, but KD is well on his way to not only securing scoring titles, but MVPs as well. He plays defense, he rebounds well, he's a walking mismatch and he's as young as Nic Batum -- there's a lot of room left for improvement. Now does this mean I'm upset that we have Greg? Not at all, I still think there's a chance he can put it all together and possibly stay healthy enough to help lead this team where it wants to go, but right now if you say Greg is the better talent than Durant, you're being disingenuous; you can only judge these guys on what they've done and right now Durant (and Horford for that matter) are a lot less potential and a lot more production. FWIW, though I still don't think the Thunder are going anywhere (as in all the way) until they can find a legitimate 7 footer to plug in to the gaping hole they have at the 5 spot ... and I'm not even sure they have enough at the 4 spot with Jeff Green and Serge Ibaka.
All true....but there are an awful lot of "ifs" involved in that. Seems like Oden's career has already hit the point where absolutely everything has to break just right for him to have a chance. Sorry, but I don't like the odds. I will also agree that Durant is More "Drexler" than "Jordan". Then again - having another Clyde wouldn't exactly break my heart!
I would say excellent, relative to his age and NBA experience. To remain excellent relative to age, he'd need to keep improving. What is "excellent" at 22 is not necessarily so at 27. Of course, his PER is over 20, with strong defense. So even if he didn't improve his game at all, and he just stayed healthy and upped his minutes...he'd still be a tremendously valuable center.
Yeah, but he's just more likely to take shot after shot. He is the focus on the offense, a black hole. Oden helps in other ways. In college, Durant didn't do shit except lead the nation in scoring...Oden took his team to the championship. I think this will hold true in the NBA when Oden gets better.
Dude. Oden draws double teams and he ACTUALLY PASSES!! I love Durant and I think he's a helluva talent and phenomenal scorer, but his solution to the double team is to shoot over the top of it. That does nothing to make his teammates better. As for whether or not he'll win rings, I think he's going to have to learn to pass before that will happen and he's going to need a legit post player to make that team a title contender.
No issue here, other than bad luck injury-wise. Had he remained healthy, Greg would by now already be the 2nd best player in the league, behind only LeBarn.
Simply put - you add Kevin Durant to this team, and you still have a gaping hole in the middle, while taking away a starting role for Nicolas (who looks more impressive everyday). You add Greg Oden to this team, and you not only solve what is currently terrible interior defense (simply due to lack of a center) but you also add rebounding and points in the paint (another glaring deficiency, the Dallas game aside). Greg Oden is a better fit for this team as constructed.
Define better talent? As in better at the game of basketball -- the sum of his positive contributions minus his negatives is greater than the sum of Greg Oden's positives minus his negatives. Last year and in Durant's rookie season you could have made an argument that he was a no defense chucker that made his team worse, but that is no longer the case.
Gaping hole in the middle? You mean if we draft Durant we are left with Przy, LMA and Z-bo to man the middle and that is worse than what we have now how exactly? Injuries to Oden and Pryzbilla aside, this argument just doesn't hold water. I should clarify. This isn't to say that the theoretical lineup of Greg, Przy and LMA isn't really good, and the emergence of Batum gives me a lot of hope, but all of this still hinges on a guy who has missed 2/3rds of his first 3 seasons. I just don't see that as a good long term bet.
In your opinion, certainly. I don't think that's anything like a clear fact. In terms of basketball ability, the numbers suggest Oden is at least as good. Durant's been more productive, because he's been healthier. No question there. But you went the route of rating "talent." When he's on the floor, looking at PER and defensive rating (and observation of defense), there's plenty of a case to be made for Oden being at least as good as Durant.
Durant has been better... primarily because he's stayed healthy. I have no regrets that we took Oden and I would not be surprised if he ends up with a career at least as impressive as Durant's in spite of the slow start. Ed O.
I wonder what would have happened to Durant's confidence if he came off the bench for 18 minutes a game his rookie season? That's what would have happened had he been coached by Nate. He is improving rapidly in large part because he is getting a ton of minutes with a ton of touches. Minutes and touches he simply would not have gotten in Portland. And for those of you who believe Nate couldn't possibly have kept Durant on the bench for a whole season I submit to you the strange case of Steve Blake versus Bayless and Rudy.
Really it is amazing the level Durant has taken his team to. Maybe a big man helps win championships . . . but so do talents like Durant. A center alone doesn't take you to the championship. I would rather have the SF/SG superstar with servicable role players (including a servicable big man) than a superstar center with a servicable role players. I't OK to admit that Durant would have been the better pick. Praising Durant is not an indictment on KP or Oden. .. it is acknowledging the obvious.
Also see Roy, Aldridge, Batum. If Blazers picked Durant with the #1 pick, he would have got his minutes.
OKC has been healthy all season. We hear that their GM is a genius. We hear that their coach is in the running for coach of the year. We hear that they have an amazing core of players, and that Durant should be in the running for League MVP. Meanwhile Portland has had a RIDICULOUS level of injuries, our coach is continually maligned by the fans (on this board, at least) and we've been giving huge minutes to people like Juwan Howard. Why is it that we're ahead of them in the standings?
