What if Brandon Roy and Oden had stayed healthy?

[Sothron]

One of my favorite forgotten teams is the great what if of those late 00's Blazers teams. I am playing them all over again in the Lebron era in 2k24 and man its making this old guy get a little sad.

What if Brandon Roy and Greg Oden stayed healthy? Those two plus Lamarcus Aldridge only played 62 games together. Just 62! And their record? 52-10. FIFTY TWO wins and just 10 losses.

You take that sample size of games, spread it out to full 82 games for season after season and you get an outright dominant team. I believe if the injury gods had been less cruel that team with those three wins at least one or two championships. On the plus side other guys like Andre Miller, Camby, Batum, Steve Blake etc served as a solid core of talent around them.

What do you guys think? Go back in your memory banks or look them up if you need to see them for the first time. The talent was definitely there. If we could waive a magic wand and those guys stay healthy and have normal careers in terms of seasons played where do we see those players? What would those Blazers teams have done?

I think Brandon Roy goes down as an obvious HOF player and Oden would get in eventually as well. They would have at least one or two chips from their days together as Blazers.

[MrBigShot]

Roy was on his way to becoming a top 5 SG of all time. In the limited time Oden did play, he looked dominant. If both stayed healthy I think they win two together, they'd have given the Kobe/Pau lakers serious trouble.

[Gusto1903]

That Portland Team woulda been a dynasty. With Aldridge aswell?

[monopoman]

We have seen some videos that tackle this, the majority think it would have lead to at least 1 championship even if they injuries came a few years later or piled up. If Oden+Roy had way less injury woes and both had long careers, the Blazers could have had a period where they were as dominant as the Spurs were in their golden age.

[AussieCeltic]

I definitely think they have a title if they were healthy.

Oden didn’t play many games but his defensive impact was noticeable very early on. He had the perfect big man pairing with LMA and Roy was an elite shooting guard.

Oh what could’ve been.

[baldur]

contender for years for sure, multiple rings likely, even considered a dynasty depending on the numbers of rings.

[Liam_Gallagher]

I don’t see them beating the Lakers in 2009, but maybe in 2010. Also don’t see them beating the Heat or Spurs a couple years after that.

[andalusian]

Let's remember that that team also had a young Nico Batum and later a young Wes Matthews (maybe that was after Oden was already injured, I know he played at least a year with Roy and LMA, not sure about Oden).

Either way, it was a team with some depth as well.

One of the games I attended was when a young Bulls team with a young Rose that everyone was going gaga for (for a good reason) and Noah came to town - and that team took them behind the shed and did them real nasty. IIRC, it was a 40 points advantage near half-time. that was a scary scary Blazers team.

[chilluminati]

One of the biggest tragedies of all American sports was Brandon Roy's missed potential. Greg Oden was gonna be good too, but unfortunately all I can think of when I hear that mans name is his elephant trunk sized pe- .. Yeah I'll stop there.

[Harry Garris]

I would have enjoyed my NBA fan experience a lot more as a teenager

[liquidswords]

man people loveee hyperbolic takes lol

think about the timeframe of that group - they might've had a similar journey to the Mitchell-Gobert Jazz teams because there were buzzsaws across the league (Lakers, Celtics, Heat specifically)

[BliscoSantos]

Roy was one of my favorite players and this team would have definetely win a ring or three...Roy was a menace,even Kobe had high praise for him...if they stayed healthy I think they'd matchup pretty well against Miami...Oden and Aldridge as bigs and Roy as an equal to Wade(not as athletic but crafty and better shooter)..and lets not forget the role Players they had were Steve Blake,Andre Miller,Patty Mills,Rudy Fernandes, Barum and Camby to name a few..this team if healthy would have been a dinasty

[76ciology]

Hot take. I think Oden was not that good.

The reason why he can get those high blocks per game numbers is because of his high fouls per game numbers (more than 6 fouls per 36). He only averaged only 14-16ppg per 36 If a coach would ask him to not be trigger happy with his fouls, he’d just be slightly better version of Jacob Poetl.

[dirkforpres]

Its easy to say they would have a ring, but at the same time they weren't as talented as the ringless OKC trio, so who really knows. Even if just Oden had been able to stay healthy and reach his potential, they would've been pretty lethal throughout the 2010s.

[dirkforpres]

Hot take. I think Oden was not that good.

The reason why he can get those high blocks per game numbers is because of his high fouls per game numbers (more than 6 fouls per 36). He only averaged only 14-16ppg per 36 If a coach would ask him to not be trigger happy with his fouls, he’d just be slightly better version of Jacob Poetl.

Maybe after 2015, sure. But before teams exploited TF out of the high screen P&R and took 40 three pointers a game, he would have been dominant. At a minimum probably wouldve been a 25 and 12 scorer pre-GSW dynasty

[levon]

1 title tops.

[Forbes]

Man I wanted to see Brandon Roy succeed so bad. He became a monster. So unfortunate. They would have been contenders if healthy. They Heat, Spurs, and Warriors would have have stop any chances of chip.

[azcatz11]

It's crazy that BRoy is only 6 months older than Lebron. Feels like he retired 20 years ago

[dickfox]

Roy was on his way to becoming a top 5 SG of all time. In the limited time Oden did play, he looked dominant. If both stayed healthy I think they win two together, they'd have given the Kobe/Pau lakers serious trouble.

Jordan, Kobe, Wade, Harden, (Roy?), Drexler, McGrady, Carter, Allen

That list doesn't look right.

Like maybe top 10-15.

He was awesome and incredibly clutch but I don't think he was a top 5.

[JustBuzzin]

They win a championship easily.

Brandon Roy was one of the best closers in the NBA during that time. Roy was going to be the 3rd best sg of all time had he stayed healthy. Sorry Wade but Roy had it all.