HeyIt'sMe wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I think he would of started on the Sonics, yes. The Sonics know how good Collison is, and he isn't going to get any better. Horford, had they drafted him 3rd overall, absolutely would of seen the court over Collison because skill wise he's a better player and you don't sit (in most cases, there are exceptions) a top 3 pick, especially one that is NBA ready, on the bench.
I also don't really care what Horford did in college because of the way that Florida team was constructed. Horford hardly ever shot his jumper in college, and now he gets to the NBA and lo-and-behold, he has a solid jumper. He wasn't required to be a big time scorer in college because his team and situation didn't call for it.
Well what your really saying is Horford would start not because he better because he is a rookie and we should see what he could do. Perhaps but there are plenty of rookies that don't start over what is obvious better veterans right now.
What Horford did in college is extremely important. Its funny Hawk fans were willing to give up the rights to Horford, pick 11 and either JJ or JS just for the number 2 pick in the draft. After seeing Horford for a year suddenly he better. What you saw in college is what Horford is right now. Occassional post up, jump shot, rebounding machine that got lots of garbage hoops. How does that equal lets make him number 1 Tim Duncan like option. He has done nothing like that at either level.
Durant was a number 1. He put up some of the best numbers in college basketball history. The Sonics had the luxury of letting Ray, Rashard or both go because they saw a kid that was capable of handling a big scoring load. If Durant played on the Hawks he would have challenged JJ for the number 1 option by season end. He definetely would be atleast the number 2 option. Horford is currently 6th on the Hawks in scoring. The Hawks would have to get rid of there top 5 scorers for Horford to be the number 1 option.