#2...I am seriously worried about his body..just seems very fragile. Again, not a knock on him personally, but maybe his body wasn't made for the long haul that is the NBA? If he didn't have the injuries, I'd say #1, because when on the court, he does produce nicely.
Durant wasn't particularly close last year, his rookie season. Oden's in his rookie season. Also, I think post-oriented big men and point guards have the toughest transition to make in the pro game. Swingmen have an easier transition. They can initiate the offense themselves, while post-oriented big men, even very good ones, need to be fed the ball. Also, their defensive miscues result in fouls, which limit their court time, while the miscues of perimeter players generally just lead to being beaten...but not a foul. Well, I think Oden is a better player than Przybilla. But Przybilla is better able to stay on the floor, so he has been more valuable. I agree that Przybilla is underrated and a very quality player. Oden hasn't been dominant this year. However, his play has been consistent with essentially unanimous scouting appraisal of him. He's struggling with fouls, and not being given the ball a lot, which drags down his per-game numbers, but I think his offensive, defensive and rebounding efficiency has been very good.
The way I look at it is; who would I trade him for right now? It actually didn't turn out to be that good of a draft, but definitely Durant or Rodney Stuckey. And I would have to think about Jeff Green and Al Horford.
Give him this year+next year before you decide. He could still pan out to be a very good center(though not a once in a generation one).
Knowing that Greg would have MF surgery, but not knowing how he would rehab/deal with it and come back, Durant #1. Otherwise, Oden still #1, and Oden #1 knowing what we know today.
For those whose memory does not extend two years, it was said at the time that Durant would eventually win scoring titles and Oden would eventually win championships. So far neither had done either, but at least in his rookie year Oden's team is making the playoffs. Durant's is not close. I guess it depends on whether you prefer flashy numbers or team success. KP opted for team success and surely the Blazers have been more successful than OKC, unless your name is Mixum, in which case won-loss record does not count.
Nobody would have picked a offensively-raw, injury-prone center first or second - someone who has played maybe 30 games out of 130 or so in two years. No way.
But most of that success is due to Roy and Aldridge. I'd say Rudy, Przybilla and Travis have also been responsible for more wins than Oden this year. I'm saying there's like half a dozen games games we've won because of Oden. So if we didn't have him, we probably aren't in the thick of things in the playoff race. So saying that Blazers > Thunder equates to Oden > Durant is false.
If Portland had picked Durant, do you think that the Oden-led Sonics would have a better record than the Roy-Durant-Aldridge Blazers? I think not...
While what you say I partly agree with, If you look at it another way, I feel that Oden instead of Durant on OKC would actually make them a worse team, and KD on our team gives us a few more wins (doesn't make us a contender). At least this is what I think.
Another scorer might have given the Blazers a few more wins this year - no alternate universe, so we can't measuer Durant's scoring vs. Oden's rebounds/defense. But KP did not draft for this year. He drafted for the next 5 or 7 or 10 years.
I don't get the answers here at all. I said 10. The question was - knowing what we know today, where would Greg be drafted? I can't imagine any GM drafting a guy who has had major knee surgery and so many other assorted other ailments that he is a part-time player at best at this point. No way. Don't get me wrong. I like Greg. But there is no doubt he is injury prone, at least to date.
I didn't say he didn't. I just also think that Durant can also win titles if placed on the right team. I think that we would have a few more wins this year w/ KD, and that for the future he is the "safer" pick as a sure fire great player, in my eyes. But I think Greg's style of basketball and the fact that he can be a dominant center in the future gives him the higher reward, but also the greater risk. What they will both do in the future is obviously up for debate, though. IDK, man. That really wasn't a good/deep draft. I don't think Oden would slide past 2, as he has shown great flashes this year.
The thing to remember about a mental exercise like this is that you have to remember you are seeing things from the snapshot of one moment in time, and that can really color things. Take Zach Randolph, for exmaple: He was drafted at the 19th pick. After his first season, he seemed like a fantastic steal for the Blazers, and could've gone as high as #2 (after Gasol) if they re-did the draft at that time. Then he had the microfracture surgery, and at that point you probably would've taken 6 or 7 guys in the draft before him. After the scandals, the disaster in New York, and yet more injuries, and the absurd contract, there are probably 29 guys in that 2001 draft you'd rather pay to have on your team. (Even Paul Allen, the guy with the deepest pockets in NBA, thought so.) Hakeem was a bad #1 pick around 1994, although he looked like a great #1 pick in 1988. By 1997, he didn't look so bad again. Draft day was Oden's high water mark so far. At this point, he'd likely be picked second. Two years from now though? Boy, that's a pretty tough call to make.
If people knew what they know now about Oden there is no way in hell he would still be #1. Whats with all this hype talk. Oden's Hype is over only Portland fans believe that he will actually dominate in his career and just the things Durant is doing it's just too insane
Durant would have been the "safe" pick. Oden seemed to have the higher ceiling.....but having seen the depths of the basement floor, there is no way he would go #1 now.
