With Portland and Seattle getting the 1st and 2nd overall picks of the draft, it's pretty much locked that Oden and Durant will be going West. What does that mean for the NBA? The West gets even stronger, and the East continues to look weak with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 teams
The Sixers, Raptors, Celtics, and Magic all will have bright futures also, and they are in the east. I think there are way more that I'm forgetting to name at the moment. I think that east and west will be somewhat equal in a few years.
The West has Chris Paul, Greg Oden, Deron Williams, Kevin Durant, Yao Ming, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire but the East has Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Emeka Okafor, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Ben Gordon and Andre Igoudala so it'll even out soon. When all of these players are in their primes, players like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and Allen Iverson will all be older and less effective. That takes a lot of talent out of the West right there.
If you think about it, most of the "next gen" stars (Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Melo), are in the Eastern conference. The decade up until now has been ruled by the players that were drafted from the mid to late 90's (the Kobe's, Carter's, and Iverson's), but they're slowly hitting thier 30's and slowly reaching or going past thier primes. When I think about it, all the stars that I grew up watching...KG, TD, Kobe, Carter, Iverson, they're all either at thier primes or slowly going past it. It's kind of strange sinking in the fact that thier in thier 30's at this point. I remember watching Kobe establish himself and winning his first title at 21. If you really want a good indicator of time, it should be noted that Duncan is already 31 years old. Kobe is already 28. He came into the league when he was 17. These players are going to slowly start fading. Therefore, when the mid-late 90's batch of players (who mostly play in the Western conference) begin to fade out, who will be the players at the top? It will be Lebron, Bosh, D.Howard, Melo, and Wade. And out of those 5, only 'Melo is in the Western conference. Gred Oden and Durant are in the West yes, but by the time they hit thier primes, Kobe and company will either be much less effective or not playing in the league at all and I'm quite sure Lebron, Wade, Bosh will hit thier primes before Oden and Durant do.
Man, not fair. ;. I hope they turn out to be busts. (Jk) I hate Isiah Thomas. Why won't he just rebuild? I'm tired of losing during a non-rebuilding season. At least most losing teams are in a rebuilding stage. We just lose, lose, and lose.
I think, Soon enough, it will be a portland seattle finals maybe, or semi-finals. Just becuase both are getting younger, and can only improve. The Raptors are improving, Celts, Magic, even the nets might get better if they get some your players for Kidd, Carter. No doubt though, in my mind, I think the east will be stronger then the west.
LMAO @ Boston fans with Oden jerseys.........all I have to say is despite what the media says Durant should be #1....either place he goes that team will be scary Roye Durant Aldridge Randolph or Durant Allen Lewis (if he comes back) kinda sux that both of those dudes will be in the west though.....
^ For your team yeah, but watching Oden and Durant going at it 4 times a year plus maybe even the playoffs is great.
I just wasn't impressed with Oden based on what I saw this past year....I forgot who it was, but one of the CBS commentators said during the tournament (while OSU was playing) that he didn't believe Oden has what it took to be a Wilt,Hakeem,Russell,Shaq,etc...
We'll see. I personally think Oden going to be the best player out of this draft, but its all a toss-up at this point. I'm happy that both players are in the same division, though. Hopefully they develop a good rivalry that isn't just manufactured by the media (Melo-Lebron).
The west just got strong. Sucks for those Eastern teams they look weak. Theres more competition in the West. I think that Oden should be the first pick he seems a lot stronger than Durant but both are good BB players.
I just don't know why people consider Oden the no brainer for the #1 pick.....Durant is truely something that we've never seen before, Oden is just another 7 footer coming out of college
<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I just don't know why people consider Oden the no brainer for the #1 pick.....Durant is truely something that we've never seen before, Oden is just another 7 footer coming out of college</div> I think the fact that Oden was playing with an injured hand and yet still managed to convince GM's that he should be the #1 pick is a telling sign. How can he be just another 7 footer coming out when people have labeled him a once in a lifetime center already? A big man with his strength, size and athelticism does not come that often. You can't go wrong with either of them but Oden is more towards the Shaq/Duncan side while Durant resembles KG to an extent. And we all know how that is going. Both will be superstars in my opinion, but Oden is going to be one that'll make his teammates better and take them deeper into the playoffs.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">but Oden is going to be one that'll make his teammates better and take them deeper into the playoffs.</div> I'm going to hold you to those words Karma....Durant actually reminds me of a cross between KG and Tmac....
<div class="quote_poster">THE DREAM Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I'm going to hold you to those words Karma....Durant actually reminds me of a cross between KG and Tmac....</div> I agree. Durant is the most complete PF since Garnett. Durant can dribble shoot, If I were Portland, I would take Durant. I know seattle is high on him, But Oden isn't a no brainer. He good, but just not assertive enough. He hasn't shown me untill the last 5 minutes of the Florida - Ohio St. game that he wants the ball. He runs up floor, calls for the ball maybe 40 percent of the time. The offence at ohio didn't run through Oden, it ran through Mike Conoly Jr. Durant ran the offence at Texas, he showed why he is gunna be one of the msot amazing PF in the game.
<div class="quote_poster">Karma Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I think the fact that Oden was playing with an injured hand and yet still managed to convince GM's that he should be the #1 pick is a telling sign. How can he be just another 7 footer coming out when people have labeled him a once in a lifetime center already? A big man with his strength, size and athelticism does not come that often. You can't go wrong with either of them but Oden is more towards the Shaq/Duncan side while Durant resembles KG to an extent. And we all know how that is going. Both will be superstars in my opinion, but Oden is going to be one that'll make his teammates better and take them deeper into the playoffs.</div> IMO, I don't see Oden taking a team deep just yet. Not once this year at Ohio did he play 25 minutes. He gets into mad foul trouble. If he goes to portlan he is gunna be option 2 to Roy, but I think Roy will lead the team far, and oden will help. But Oden isn't quit Shaq Yet.
I think theres mroe to the strength of a conference than just the players it has. You gotta look at the how the team is run both from a coaching and managment perspectives. Well ran teams will get the most out of its players and be sure to have competitive teams.
