tecumseh18 wrote:JRoy wrote:billy_hoyle wrote:
Who were the others? I'm foggy on the details now, it's coming up on 20 yrs.
I remember Aldridge being the guy near the end of the college season. Gay was the front runner to start (like a Harrison Barnes). Bargs only got mentioned close to the draft because Colangelo telegraphed the pick, right?
I seem to remember it the same, though don’t remember much hype about Bargnani.
POR fan, had the worst record in team history and the league that year and ended up with the worst outcome (4th pick). Moved that pick and Russian scrubs for Aldridge (taken at 2nd pick), ate Raef Lafrentz but got the 7th pick from BOS, drafted Foye and immediately traded Foye to MIN for Roy.
Me and 6 year old daughter were literally chanting “Roy, Roy, Roy”
Yeah, that was a great GMing for Portland. Getting the #7 for Sebastian f'n Telfair was amazing.
Roy might have gone #1, but for injury concerns. So maybe his career arc was inevitable.
OTOH Portland has the worst reputation for diagnosing and managing injuries (won't mention what happened the next draft). But do you, or the Blazer fanbase, think that Roy's knee could have been better treated, which would have allowed him to have a normal career. And, on second thought, I'll ask the same about Oden.
I remember someone saying on draft night that Roy would be out of the league in 4 years and he was just about right. Damn shame, he was a Hall of Fame talent.
Oden is a different case. One leg was shorter than the other and a short career due to injuries was likely inevitable.
Funny coincidence, we happened to be in Ohio visiting my wife’s grandma that year and one of my wife’s cousins was a nurse at Ohio State. When I mentioned Oden she said his body wouldn’t handle the nba and she was right.
Part of the problem might have been too much strength training in POR when maybe something like yoga might have been better.
Well Thabeet, Sam Bowie and Emeka Okafor did go #2. Eddy Curry went #4.
Asking for a friend. 
