Kevin Durant or Greg Oden

He's Heating Up · Post #1 » by **He's Heating Up** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:43 am

Now we have seen a full season of KD, but still yet to see the potential of what Oden can do, who would you take for your team.
Is the once in a decade big man still too good to pass up, or has KD's offensive skills this season been enough for you to choose him?

farzi · Post #2 » by **farzi** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:47 am

Oden.

Both were supposed to be rare talents. Then this year, everyone is comparing Beasley to Durant.

Also, a franchise C is much more valuable than a franchise SF.

Joseph17 · Post #3 » by **Joseph17** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 6:23 am

Durant. He did exactly what was expected of him this year. His potential is unlimited. He'll be a superstar in 5 years imo.

Post #4 » by **FNQ** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 6:25 am

Coming off a surgery like Oden did, its completely unfair to even begin this... we have no idea what the "new" Oden will be like.

J~Rush · Post #5 » by **J~Rush** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 6:26 am

Oden.

ponder276 · Post #6 » by **ponder276** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:09 am

If Oden makes a full recovery, give me Oden for sure. He has the potential to be absolutely dominant on the defensive end, and solid on offense. Injuries aside, we arguably have not seen a center prospect like Oden since Shaq (don't get me wrong, Dwight is amazing, but Oden is a fair bit bigger, with better defensive fundamentals. Yao is up there as well, but I have never been the biggest Yao fan. Tim Duncan is technically a PF).

Not that Durant won't be awesome (I could see him becoming a slightly better, more score-first version of Tmac), but nobody effects the game like a dominant 2-way center.

Of course, if Oden ends up having an injury plagued career, or if the microfracture surgery really limits his athleticism, then Durant is the easy choice. But if he's still the same prospect I saw at Ohio, give me Oden without a doubt.

Kabookalu · Post #7 » by **Kabookalu** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:02 am

I'll take Durant, he has really surpassed my expectations only in his rookie season. I wish he would change his shot though, looks like a glorified version of the guy you play with in the YMCA. The game against Denver was really an open display of his potential and he delivered, and it's not like Denver wasn't trying, they needed that win (actually in all honesty, I didn't watch the game so I'm just assuming here).

ITK9 · Post #8 » by **ITK9** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 2:42 pm

give me the one with 2 healthy legs.

Post #9 » by **tsherkin** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:56 pm

This can't be a fair comparison until Oden has played at LEAST the first half of his rookie season.

In principle, a center of Oden's proportions and mobility will almost always be more valuable than a scorer (particularly a shooter) but it's difficult to tell.

Will Oden be like Marcus Camby? Who's more valuable, Carmelo Anthony or Marcus Camby? That's about what this comparison MIGHT be. That comparison might be apt on the basis of both offensive contribution and health.

But you've also got to consider the potential value Oden might bring on man defense and offense, both of which project considerably higher than that of Marcus Camby. What if he turns into something like Dwight Howard?

It's all purely hypothetical because we've never seen Oden play against NBA competition while completely healthy, even his summer league was cut short, didn't even make it to the preseason.

There is no legitimate way to make this comparison until Oden has regular season games in the NBA under his belt.

conleyorbust · Post #10 » by **conleyorbust** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:29 pm

tsherkin wrote:There is no legitimate way to make this comparison until Oden has regular season games in the NBA under his belt.

There is no way to argue who will be better - what you can do is say who YOU would take. If I had to select today based on what I know about both, I'd still gamble that Big Greg Oden could stay healthy.

I look at Oden's absolute downside as Tyson Chandler with better timing on his blocks, better hands, a hook shot, and 40 lbs of muscle.

As good of a scorer as Durant could end up being, its easy to find elite wing players than elite 2 way post players and I would gamble that Oden a) can stay healthy and b) will be that good, without a seconds hesitation.

Of course I don't talk to his doctors so I don't know about his medical condition right now.

Post #11 » by **CBS7** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:40 pm

Its tough, because Durant has been so good and Oden hasn't played yet and is recovering from major injury, but I'd still go Oden.

Seriously, the only way Durant would have changed my mind if he was really ridiculously good this season. Like 24-25 a game shooting 44-46% good.

I like them both though. Durant is one of my favorite players.

Yangsing · Post #12 » by **Yangsing** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:56 pm

I'm taking Oden. His recovery is coming along faster than expected. He could've played this season if the Blazers weren't overly cautious with Oden.

Maurice Lucas who has been working with Oden in his recovery has stated that Oden would go for 15 ppg, 12rpg, 3bpg next season.

That's not a knock on Durant because I believe he'll be a 25-30ppg scorer in the future.

Post #13 » by **tsherkin** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:20 am

conleyorbust wrote:There is no way to argue who will be better - what you can do is say who YOU would take. If I had to select today based on what I know about both, I'd still gamble that Big Greg Oden could stay healthy.

Sure but that's a subjective discourse, not a comparison.

I look at Oden's absolute downside as Tyson Chandler with better timing on his blocks, better hands, a hook shot, and 40 lbs of muscle.

I don't disagree, though I'd add that his significant downside is the potential injury concerns.

And as far as his doctors are concerned, he's motoring along just fine, FWIW.

A.J. · Post #14 » by **A.J.** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:26 am

Post #15 » by **NO-KG-AI** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:10 am

What I think a lot of people don't realize about Oden is how skilled he was at such a young age at Ohio State, and his impressive athletic ability goes with that.

He's great at establishing position down low, he boxes out well, he's got a nice jump hook with both hands, terrific timing on blocks, rebounds, and put back slams, he reads double teams fairly well for his age....

He was an explosive leaper, but even without that, he's still an extremely strong guy, even at 250, he was tossing Al Horford around like a rag doll in the post... and he's going to be much stronger with the added muscle, and he's going to have that 7'5 wingspan, and 9'4 standing reach no matter how much athletic ability loses.

He would have to take a significant loss in athletic ability to not be a good player... he could lose 5 inches of vertical and still be about as athletic as Andrew Bynum, who is blossoming into a great center.

I really like Durant a lot, and I was defending him when everyone was (prematurely) saying he was a bust and what not because of his fg%, but I'm still going with Oden here.

Think about it, even Amare was a pretty good player when he seemed to be lacking his explosive ability, and Oden will still be a huge presence in the paint, with elite shot blocking and rebounding instincts, a long, really strong body.

That said, I don't think he will lose a lot of athletic ability.

That Nicka · Post #16 » by **That Nicka** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:20 am

I'll take Oden as well

Post #17 » by **tsherkin** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:36 am

To be fair with Oden, the less he uses the athletic ability he has as a go-to trait, the better off he'll be. The more he can rely on size, strength and fundamentals, the better chance he'll have of significant longevity, particularly after 30.

Really, he should be emulating Shaq and Duncan, focusing on those aspects of the game that are reliant on power (Shaq) and skill (Duncan). So power moves to the hoop, a mid-range J, good footwork, that sort of deal. Good passing, timely rotations, etc. The less he emphasizes leaping super-high and whatever, the better off he'll be. He's going to be a backdown player anyway, so it shouldn't be a huge issue, as NO-KG-AI mentions in the Bynum comparison.

Joseph17 · Post #18 » by **Joseph17** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:09 am

Choker wrote:I'll take Durant, he has really surpassed my expectations only in his rookie season. I wish he would change his shot though, looks like a glorified version of the guy you play with in the YMCA. The game against Denver was really an open display of his potential and he delivered, and it's not like Denver wasn't trying, they needed that win (actually in all honesty, I didn't watch the game so I'm just assuming here).

What's wrong with Durant's shot?

Texas Longhorns · Post #19 » by **Texas Longhorns** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:31 am

There is still no way to tell how Greg Oden will be in the NBA. If you asked me today who to pick, I'd go with Durant. But, there would no way for me to pick which one unless Oden actually played in the NBA. We will just have to wait and see this next upcoming season how good Oden is.

PDXKnight · Post #20 » by **PDXKnight** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:09 am

Texas Longhorns wrote:There is still no way to tell how Greg Oden will be in the NBA. If you asked me today who to pick, I'd go with Durant. But, there would no way for me to pick which one unless Oden actually played in the NBA. We will just have to wait and see this next upcoming season how good Oden is.

You might be a bit biased though, at least according to your name. :lol:

I would personally go with Oden. Taking the potential franchise center is worth the risk, since Oden has the possibility of accomplishing so much more in the NBA (namingly in the playoffs) than Durant. Durant may be MVP material in 6-7 years, but in the NBA, the championship is the ultimate goal and Oden gives teams the bigger shot at winning a title. I'm not knocking Durant, but a healthy Oden would be worth more to an NBA franchise than Durant.