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Lightning never strikes the same place twice, except for in Portland, where Blazer management forced lightning’s hand and made it strike twice, right smack dab in the middle of their franchise. It is the Michael Jordan/Kevin Durant “what coulda been” regret fest that any die-hard Blazer fan that is truthful with themselves will admit to. It is considered in Portland a damn shame of the worst kind. It is considered by the rest of the league as a total “what the blankety-blank were you thinking?!!” scenario, and to this day, I don’t think any of us, Blazers fans or anybody else, knows what Portland’s front office was thinking when they selected Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA draft-especially since they have been there before. I guess they just didn’t learn their lesson.
Take it back to 1984. Jazz fans remember this year fondly; it was the year Utah picked John Stockton 16th overall in the NBA draft. It is also the year the Blazers made the worst decision in NBA history. Portland owned the number two pick in the draft, and management was set on drafting a center. The Houston Rockets had the number one pick that year, and decided to draft Hakeem Olajuwon, so Portland felt their next best option was Sam Bowie. Not Michael Jordan, Sam Bowie. Say it with me now: Sam Bowie. The Blazers opted to take Bowie to fill a need, and passed on Jordan who obviously had a lot more talent. Bowie was drafted out of Kentucky where he had missed the better part of two full seasons with a shinbone injury, and only averaged 10 ppg and 9 rpg his senior year. The pick had “bust” written all over it, but Bowie was hyped as being one of centers of the future, and Portland took the bait. Well, Bowie went on to have an injury-plagued career that never amounted to much more than an average supporting role player at best. Michael Jordan went on to be the best player to ever play the game. Sports Illustrated later went on to say that Portland’s decision to pass up Jordan’s obvious talent in favor of an injury-prone, unproven, rail-thin center was the worst draft decision in NBA history.
So Portland learned their lesson, went on to draft Kevin Durant, the best player in college basketball at only 18, when they were faced with a similar situation 23 years later, and now Portland is the odds on favorite to win NBA championships for the next ten years…except their not. In 2007, Portland held the number one pick in the draft. Kevin Durant averaged just under 26 ppg and 11 rpg his Freshman year at Texas. Mind you, he was only 17 when the season began, but his huge wingspan, speed, high basketball IQ, and athleticism quickly propelled him into the role of best college player in the country (he had twenty 30 point games that year). He won every national player of the year award, and most every national expert said he was the most talented player in the draft.
Greg Oden, on the other hand, was hyped up as more than he will ever become from a very young age. When he was a senior in high school, he was one of the most (if not, the most) recruited players in the country, despite a wrist injury that would keep him on the bench for the first part of his freshman year at Ohio State. He was a defensive monster, and showed flashes of brilliance on the offensive end as well, but he never dominated the way Durant did. In addition, he quickly was gaining a reputation of being injury-prone.
Portland once again needed a center; so once again, they chose what they viewed as potential over proven talent. Oden went to Portland, and Durant went to Seattle. Now, two-and-a-half short years later, Oden has sustained a barrage of serious injuries that have severely limited the amount of playing time he has had. Durant, on the other hand, is an MVP candidate, and is making a push for his first all-star game. He is only 21 years old, and is putting up Lebron James-type numbers.
I’m not saying that Durant is the next Michael Jordan, or that he will even match half of MJ’s many accomplishments. What I am saying is that the moment Portland picked Oden, I knew they had made a huge mistake. Can you imagine how unstoppable that team would be if KD was playing at the 3 with Aldridge at the four and BRoy on the wing? Unreal.
You wouldn’t think Portland would make the same mistake twice after the disaster that was Sam Bowie (If Oden can ever stay healthy, he should have a better career than Bowie, but that’s a big IF), but as a Jazz fan, I’m sure glad they did. It’s amazing how those two little decisions could have impacted their franchise in such a great way. Maybe they’ll get it right next time. Maybe-unless there is an unproven, over-hyped, seven-footer coming out that year, because if that’s the case, we all know what they will do.
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Point #1: All but 1 GM surveyed said they would've taked Greg Oden at that time in that draft.
Point #2: Greg Oden looked really good this year when he was playing, and the things that he contributes to the Blazers are much more important TO PORTLAND'S SITUATION than what Durant would contribute. Portland already has a 25 ppg scorer in Roy. Durant plays no defense and is a weak rebounder for being 6-10. A defensive force in the middle would propel Portland towards a title much more than a scorer. The Blazers with Durant would look nice on paper, but putting players like that together rarely works out like it does on paper.
Point #3: You can't just assume that Durant would be putting up the same numbers if he was playing in Portland. From day 1, he would have been deferring to Brandon Roy. In OKC he has never deferred to anybody. Nobody knows how that would've turned out or changed his development. The NBA is full of examples of how two high volume scorers don't work together or create any positive results. Look no further than Denver's old combo of Iverson/Melo. Roy had a hard time adjusting to Andre Miller this season, a guy who likes to have the ball in his hands a lot. How would he have co-existed with Durant, a guy that has to constantly have the ball and have shots to contribute on the court.
Point #4: I know you just wrote this article because you hate the Blazers, and you are upset that Utah is in a virtual tie with a Blazer team that has been missing over half of their roster for most of the year.