Drafting Oden b4 Durant

Very shortsighted.. It's not just that they could have had Jordan, they drafted a guy who spent more time on IR than on the floor.
I saw an article that stated with facts that NBA teams drafting centers early in round one, ended up with busts over 80 percent of the time.
Best bet was drafting a point guard.
 
The months leading up to the draft all Colin Cowherd kept saying was that taking Oden before Durant was a no brainer. Durant was too weak, kept making fun of his lack of bench press stats etc, no way the kid could handle the physicalness of the NBA. Meanwhile, Oden just broke his hip making pancakes.
 
Now, now. It's not like they are a team that could have a 25 point lead with 7 minutes to go in the third quarter, then shoot 6 for 38 for the rest of the game and lose at home.

Oh, they did that last night?

Damn.
 
There were several teams that would have taken KD no. 1 if they'd won the lottery. I know for a fact he was Memphis' top choice. Instead, the ping-pong balls dropped Memphis to #5, so they'd no chance.
 
i think it's a little early to call him a bust, but he better show something in the next year or two. otherwise he will wear that label around his neck.
 
You guys shouldn't rag on Portland. Oden looked to be the obvious choice over Durant due to his bench press. <forearms>
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My question on Oden was did they allow him to stand on his longer leg to measure his actual height?
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Not a draft guru or a self-proclaimed expert, but this was the easiest "I-told-you-so" in my amateur draft-watching life. I still relish it every time Durant scores 30 (which happens all the time).

Portland could have been really good (if they weren't brain dead).
 
Watching the Mavs/Blazers game last night, I couldn't help but think how f'n cool it would have been to see Durant and Aldredge playing together on the same team. Mix in Brandon Roy and Holy Cow, they would have been unbelievable.
 
Plus.... they never would've given away Zach Randolph (for absolutely nothing) if they didn't have Oden. They thought that made ZR immediately expendable.
Kevin Pritchard is the cancer that ruined the Blazers. They could've been the premier team in the west.

HOOK 'EM,
Texdoc
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The OP is right on. The old NBA rule of always going for the big man is only right when there is not a once in every 10 year player like KD available. Not only does KD score over 25 every night, he rebounds in double figures regularly.

Oden has very limited offensive skills even when he is healthy.

Olijawan, Shaq, Kareem and very very few others would make sense to pick over KD.
 
KD was a once in a generation player, much like Jordan. It was foolhardy to pass on him and Cowherd is a moron who likes to shoot out left field opinions so that every one in ten times he is right he can crow about it.

I too remember the Bobby Knight story about the Blazers and Jordan and telling them to draft him at center then. Now what has always intrigued me is if the Rockets had taken Jordan at One instead of Hakeem. Could Jordan with Ralph Sampson have led Houston to more NBA titles, instead of the two they got from Hakeem when Jordan took his first retirement? Lest we forget, two teams passed on Jordan not just the Blazers.
 
Hakeem Olajuwon in his prime was the best center of all-time. He dominated on both ends of the court. No weaknesses.
 
No question that Hakeem at his best was absolutely dominant and he almost single handedly willed Houston to its second title. I got to attend two of the Western Conference final games with San Antonio in 95 and he never seemed to miss or be in the wrong place defensively. He ran rings around David Robinson who was league MVP that year in that series.

But I am not sure that gives a final answer to the question whether the Rockets erred in picking Hakeem over Jordan. At the time it was a no brainer and no one has ever questioned the Rockets taking Hakeen at one. The two titles is good evidence it was a good decision, but in hindsight knowing now what wasnt known on draft day who would you take if you were Houston.

Financially any team that passed on Jordan made a mistake, including Houston. He was a money maker for so long with guaranteed sellouts, merchandising, tv rights etc. that moneywise with 20-20 hindsight he should have been taken by Houston at number one.

What about titles, Houston won two with Hakeem and were a good team for a decade with him at the helm. Never the less, the question isnt how good was Houston with Hakeem, two titles, but rather how many could they have won with Jordan. Consider Horry instead of Pippen, Sampson instead of Perdue and you can see that the cast at Houston could have been up there with the Bulls cast and then add up the possible titles. It makes for an interesting debate on whether Houston competitively made a mistake passing on Jordan as well as financially.
 
Jordan would have been a great player in Houston, no doubt. But let's not forget what Pippen and Jackson's triangle offense did for him too.
 
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