Actually, Durant is probably a better scorer. But he has never, ever won like Carmelo. And I don't like Carmelo. Anthony is stronger than almost any other player at his position. Durant is weaker than almost any other player at his position. That might explain why Durant is so absolutely atrocious at defense, and always comes out a net minus in +/- ratings. That's silly. Batum is better than Prince was at 20. Besides, it's interesting that you should mention Prince and Anthony, because Dumars passed on Anthony in the '03 draft precisely because he had Prince. Now, granted, he absolutely shouldn't've taken Darko. But I'm willing to bet you a whole bunch that if he'd taken Anthony and traded Prince, the Pistons don't win their title and set a record for appearances in the conference finals. Especially when he's a better all-round basketball player. If you want to swap a player we have for Durant, then Outlaw is closer - he's our ridiculous shot-jacker-upper.
+/- ratings are not accurate until you have YEARS worth of data. And, everyone knows, Durant was total crap his rookie season. In his 2nd year, with a new coach, and playing his natural position, he has made a big improvement. PER 21.1, Win Shares 7.6 (so far). Those are good numbers. Better than Carmelo's 2nd season. Easily. Crushes them actually. Carmelo may be a better defender, but not by as much as you seem to think. Carmelo is constantly critisized for his poor defense. And to the extent Carmelo is a better defender than Durant, he was (is) a far less effecient scorer than Durant. Durant's PER and Win Shares are better too than Brandon's 2nd season. Yes, really. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/OKC/2009.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/roybr01.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/anthoca01.html If you would rather have Outlaw than Durant, I don't really know what to say.
Durant is a better all around scorer then Melo, but Melo has a post up game that Durant currently lacks. Melo isn't anyone's idea of a lock down defender, but Durant is horrific on that side of the ball. Melo has consistently had a better team and coach then Durant. I would say they are about Melo is currently slightly better though both will get better as time goes on so that could flip things. Melo isn't a old man, after all. As far as Batum or Durant, I would have to go with Durant. One issue Portland has is that Roy is really the only guy on the team that can create his own shot. With Durant, they would have two guys who could. The line-up of Blake, Roy, Durant, LA and Oden with Rudy, Outlaw and Joel off the bench would be absurdly good. Like Showtime Lakers good. Like 1984 Celtics good. Like 6 titles good. Too bad that isn't going to ever happen. I love Batum and I hope he can someday be a Prince type player, but Durant is already that good and is only getting better every year. The debate between Oden and Durant is always going to be interesting, if only because the two players have such a different impact on the game. The only thing I know for sure is that Portland getting the first pick in that draft game them two can't lose choices. I am happy with the one they made, but I wouldn't have been pissed if they had taken Durant.
Simple, but absurd. Thus, my need for clarification to understand what you are talking about. It is fine to have thought experiments, but it is better, I think, for forums like this, to identify "If through some magic spell, the Blazers could swap Batum for Durant straight up....". That makes it clear what the discussion is about. I tried to clarify initially.
