Can it be said that Portland messed up taking Oden now?

[CatNation]

I remember there were a LOT of people saying Durant should have been picked over Oden. It wasn't the one sided thing a lot of Blazer fans are saying in this topic.

[Flash3]

One guy has played in more than twice as many NBA games as the other. Isn't this a little ridiculous?

One guy won more games as a injured rookie than the other did in two healthy seasons.

What in the world does this prove?

[farzi]

One guy has played in more than twice as many NBA games as the other. Isn't this a little ridiculous?

One guy won more games as a injured rookie than the other did in two healthy seasons.

He was supporting Oden...

[AZ BLAZER]

One guy has played in more than twice as many NBA games as the other. Isn't this a little ridiculous?

One guy won more games as a injured rookie than the other did in two healthy seasons.

What in the world does this prove?

Showing the absurdity of cute little one liners. Liked that didn't you?

[RapsVC15]

Seeing how he's already better than Portland's best player (Roy), yes it can be said that Portland colossally messed up by taking Oden.

[sabi]

Portland messed up big time. Two main reasons:

1) Durant clearly is a better individual player with a higher ceiling. Nothing to argue about here.

2) Durant turned out to be more NBA-ready right from the bat then Oden. Look, Oden has potential, but he's a project right now. All that talk that he could have been a great defensive bigman right from the start turned out to be just that. Talk. Oden's a foul machine, he loses focus easily, makes silly mistakes, etc. Still he clearly has potential. But to realize that potential he need longer leash, he needs to make his mistakes, take a few lumps here and there at the expence of the team. And that's something that a play-off caliber team like Portland, who wants to win now, can not afford. There are certain expectations on players, on coaches, on frontoffice and nobody is going to babysit Greg. He makes one mistake, Przybilla is there to take his place. Something similar happened with Jermaine O'neal, a young promising player on a "win now" team. Durant on the other hand was a bonafide NBA scorer even in his rookie year, when he was basically the skinniest player in the league. Now he's one of the top players at his position already and will be second only to LeBron as early as next season. How much time will it take Oden to reach even top-10 level at his position at this pace? Two years? Three? And that's the best case scenario.

You're implying that Oden hurts his team when he's out there playing which is not true. Oden gets benched for foul trouble not b/c of other mistakes.

[EGame]

Seeing how he's already better than Portland's best player (Roy), yes it can be said that Portland colossally messed up by taking Oden.

No...

[farzi]

Seeing how he's already better than Portland's best player (Roy), yes it can be said that Portland colossally messed up by taking Oden.

Roy on last years Thunder would have won several more games.

[Malinhion]

Honestly, how many times have you seen him play? Like I said I think he will be a stud, but he is nowhere in the realm of the top three scorers in the NBA.

Here is an interesting comparison Dr. David Berri did on Durant vs Oden.
http://www.wagesofwins.com/DurantOden740809.html

This is the problem to me. Everyone is going off of stats. We all saw Durant dominate everyone a million times at Texas, and I think the visual memory stuck. Now they see spectacular scoring numbers and the vision is recreated. Truthfully, barely anyone here has seen Durant play at all in the pros. Wanna know how I know?

Because Chris Paul has played more nationally televised games in OKC than Kevin Durant.

Set your watch for December 18 at 8:00 PM, because it will be the only time the Thunder are on national TV this year.

[Flash3]

Seeing how he's already better than Portland's best player (Roy), yes it can be said that Portland colossally messed up by taking Oden.

No...

Yes. Obviously Lopez is/was the better fit for the Blazers on Draft Day. We knew that going in. However, when you have a top 2 pick you go on BPA and talent. -- From what the Blazer fans are saying here, the went with Oden because it filled a need, as Durant would've collided with Roy.

So, no what?

[Don Draper]

Seeing how he's already better than Portland's best player (Roy), yes it can be said that Portland colossally messed up by taking Oden.

No...

Yes. Obviously Lopez is/was the better fit for the Blazers on Draft Day. We knew that going in. However, when you have a top 2 pick you go on BPA and talent. -- From what the Blazer fans are saying here, the went with Oden because it filled a need, as Durant would've collided with Roy.

So, no what?

Durant is not better than Roy, and what does Lopez have to do with anything?

[Malinhion]

One guy won more games as a injured rookie than the other did in two healthy seasons.

What in the world does this prove? :rofl:

Showing the absurdity of cute little one liners. Liked that didn't you?

That post was in support of Oden. At least three other posters saw that. Your "cute little one liner" was sorely misdirected.

[Flash3]

Durant is not better than Roy, and what does Lopez have to do with anything?

I apologize, I didn't complete my thoughts.....I was trying to add a comment about the Heat in there, that last year during draft time the need for Miami was a PF/C, and Lopez was the better fit, but the best player avail was Beasley. And, with a top 1-2 pick you always go BPA. It can never hurt to have 2 great players. Of which I went on to say, Portland went with a need instead of BPA with their #1 pick.

And, who said Durant is better than Roy?

[EGame]

Umm, did you even read the post I quoted? Thats who said it...

[Dr Positivity]

Can't be confirmed yet, but it's looking ominous.

For the Portland fans saying "well we were #1 in offense last year, thus Durant wouldn't do anything more for us than Oden"... sorry, but that's bull. We'll see if that holds up in a few years when Roy, Aldridge, and Oden (who will still get 10 mil even if he's a "bust"... call it the Darko/Kwame 'someone will still believe he can break out' rule. Plus I think Oden's floor is Chandler/Dalembert as a player), are making 45 million together and you have as much depth as everyone else. Once those rookie contracts start running out, Portland like most teams will have to rely on their top 3-4 guys. At which point a Roy, Durant, Aldridge trio would've locked up contendership for a decade, while Roy, Aldridge, and Oden is either going to turn out really, really good, or really, really disappointing (they'd probably be level with where Utah and New Orleans are right now... which is still likely a playoff team, but overall, pretenders)

[BballFanAddict]

Can't be confirmed yet, but it's looking ominous.

For the Portland fans saying "well we were #1 in offense last year, thus Durant wouldn't do anything more for us than Oden"... sorry, but that's bull. We'll see if that holds up in a few years when Roy, Aldridge, and Oden (who will still get 10 mil even if he's a "bust"... call it the Darko/Kwame 'someone will still believe he can break out' rule. Plus I think Oden's floor is Chandler/Dalembert as a player), are making 45 million together and you have as much depth as everyone else. Once those rookie contracts start running out, Portland like most teams will have to rely on their top 3-4 guys. At which point a Roy, Durant, Aldridge trio would've locked up contendership for a decade, while Roy, Aldridge, and Oden is either going to turn out really, really good, or really, really disappointing (they'd probably be level with where Utah and New Orleans are right now... which is still likely a playoff team, but overall, pretenders)

Why would Durant, Roy and Aldridge = 10 years of contending? Because they will become the next PHX Suns and outscore their opponents all season long only to lose to the better Defending and Rebounding teams in the playoffs?

When will people actually see BOTH sides of the NBA game? What Oden is likely to provide Portland will not be compared to in Durant's box score stats.

[Dr Positivity]

If Roy and Durant could conserve energy by spreading the offensive load, they could both be LOCKDOWN defenders. Roy was in college and has the size and mobility for it and beside a Durant or Lebron I believe he'd settle into a Pippen like role. Durant of course should grow into a great defender with his length, and as he plays off the ball a lot he'd fit in great offensively beside Roy. That's why I think a Roy/Durant combo would've not only been great, but potentially truly scary. They could've been an offensive/defensive wing combo at a level not seen since MJ and Pip

[JordansBulls]

I would have love to see a Roy and Durant combo though. That would have been awesome.

[AZ BLAZER]

If Roy and Durant could conserve energy by spreading the offensive load, they could both be LOCKDOWN defenders. Roy was in college and has the size and mobility for it and beside a Durant or Lebron I believe he'd settle into a Pippen like role. Durant of course should grow into a great defender with his length, and as he plays off the ball a lot he'd fit in great offensively beside Roy. That's why I think a Roy/Durant combo would've not only been great, but potentially truly scary. They could've been an offensive/defensive wing combo at a level not seen since MJ and Pip

So in your opinion, Durant should grow into a great defender.

Why is it alright to speculate that Durant can be a great defender when he has never shown any signs of being a great defender? Using your methodology, which is strictly opinion, it is equally likely that Oden stays healthy, gets his fouls under control because he will be in shape and able to rotate quickly and will also get the 15 ppg his PER suggests he would get if he stayed on the court. All this while be a defensive shot blocking monster that rebounds at an elite level. At least my opinions are based on something factual where your Durant defense opinion is just that.

[Don Draper]

If Roy and Durant could conserve energy by spreading the offensive load, they could both be LOCKDOWN defenders. Roy was in college and has the size and mobility for it and beside a Durant or Lebron I believe he'd settle into a Pippen like role.

Just stop. How many times have you seen Durant play?