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Durant came out strong because his range is on point. The demands on Oden were, and still are, much greater. In what was realistically his rookie year Oden atleast showed signs of life. The tools are there and at this point his ceiling is right there with Yao; the floor is Tyson Chandler.

Trying is the first step to failure. Oden tried, he failed. Durant tried, he succeeded.

So the lesson for Oden is to never try again.

As some others said, I would give Oden one more year, but it's getting blurry, but still, picking Oden still has its own pro's, obviously.

ask this question 3 years from now

Everyone on this board was calling Durant a scrub/Jamal Crawford clone after year 1. Oden has had 1 season in the league, and it was plagued by injuries. I still think that if he can stay healthy, and fully regain the athleticism he had in college, he'll eventually become a great player, easily the #2 C in the league. Durant will probably always be a bit better, but Oden could still be very, very good, and a star 2-way C would do WAY MORE for Portland than a superstar scoring wing like Durant.

Yes. Durant is too ridiculous.

Lets see what happens this year. At this point, Durant is clearly the better player. Oden could still turn out to be a Shaq down low which would make him more important than Durant because of his position.

Wooo

Roy
Durant
Aldridge
sign a center

As a Laker fan I'm glad they took Benjamin Button Oden

As a neutral bystander to both teams, I would like to see an Oden to OKC for something like Green/Harden.

Kevin Durant has heart and the will to win. Greg Oden lacks both of those and at some point it would be nice to see him have more passion for the game. Give him another couple years and he can possibly prove the doubters wrong. It's not like he's making 12.5 million like Andrew Bynum, so give Greg more time while he's still on his rookie contract.

The Blazers currently lack anyone with tier one star potential, something that Durant possesses in abundance. Durant is already better then their best player (Roy) and five years younger with room still to grow. Oden, if he can even stay on the court without sustaining injuries and/or fouling, may end up being a solid defensive big in the mold of a Tyson Chandler but nothing more.

how is durant better than roy right now?
roy was 2nd team ALL NBA
2 time all star...

you can say durant will/can be better than roy. but thers nothing that will prove durant is a better player right now.

farzi wrote:Portland was the most efficient offensive team last season. Adding another scorer would help, yes. But it would do nothing to improve their greatest weakness: defense. Infact, adding Durant over Oden would make it worse, and then we'd ahve what? Channing Frye as backup C?

While true, yes. But, at the same time the Blazers are lacking that 1 true superstar-esque player. Roy is getting there, still not there yet though.

Imagine a Roy/Durant tandem? That would add a whole new dynamic to that offense.

Umm... a lot of people are forgetting what our GM said before the draft. He said:
1) They're where 2 talents that stood out
2) One of them was going to win scoring titles and the other was going to win championships
3) They wanted to win championships
They knew who the better individual player was going to be. Selecting Oden was about who was the better fit and who would have the better impact in the win column. Anyone who knows a lick about what Oden did last year will tell you that his impact when he was on the court was easy to see and this is considering everything that was against him at the time: microfracture, out of shape, rookie big man, etc.
AND... Oden didn't miss games last year b/c of any nagging injuries or anything knee related to his surgery. Bynum twisted his ankle in the first **** game by putting his feet under Oden as he jumped for a rebound and the second one was **** ninja turtle himself Maggette clashing knees with Oden.

Flash3 wrote:

farzi wrote:Portland was the most efficient offensive team last season. Adding another scorer would help, yes. But it would do nothing to improve their greatest weakness: defense. Infact, adding Durant over Oden would make it worse, and then we'd ahve what? Channing Frye as backup C?

While true, yes. But, at the same time the Blazers are lacking that 1 true superstar-esque player. Roy is getting there, still not there yet though.

Imagine a Roy/Durant tandem? That would add a whole new dynamic to that offense.

We're not the Heat when it comes to "team depth" so we don't need a Lebron type player to become contenders.

even if Oden end up being that 15/10/2 guy we expecting, Durant would still be twice, three times better.

With Durant, the Blazers would easily be the best team in the league by next season

If he is 15/10 and great defense, that makes us better then Durant tbh IMHO.

sabi wrote:

Flash3 wrote:

farzi wrote:Portland was the most efficient offensive team last season. Adding another scorer would help, yes. But it would do nothing to improve their greatest weakness: defense. Infact, adding Durant over Oden would make it worse, and then we'd ahve what? Channing Frye as backup C?

While true, yes. But, at the same time the Blazers are lacking that 1 true superstar-esque player. Roy is getting there, still not there yet though.

Imagine a Roy/Durant tandem? That would add a whole new dynamic to that offense.

We're not the Heat when it comes to "team depth" so we don't need a Lebron type player to become contenders.

LeBron type? Last I checked, aside from the Pistons since they aren't the norm, you NEED a top 5 player (which the blazers don't have) and a decent supporting cast (which the blazers do have) to win a title in this league.

Ito wrote:even if Oden end up being that 15/10/2 guy we expecting, Durant would still be twice, three times better.

With Durant, the Blazers would easily be the best team in the league by next season

Did Kobe and the Lakers exit the league or something?

Any team with Kobe and his current supporting cast, and PJ on his side is currently better than any team in this league, Spurs included.

How is it totally inconceivable that the most physically gifted big man since Shaquille O'neal is going to have a solid career? Last year, whilst recovering from microfracture surgery, he averaged 9,7 and a block in 20mpg. Microfracture takes a long time to properly heal from and, if he stays healthy this year and plays 30+ mpg he will put up 12 and 10 EASILY. This guy is a monster and there is no 7 footer in this leaugue that has any of his physical assets, needless to mention his feel for the game.

Didn't the dude avg something like 8/7/1.5 over like 21 minutes? Sure the dude can't stay on the floor, but he can definitely learn how to do what he does without fouling. And the dude is still only 21, so it's not like he's a finished product at all. If you ask me, 8/7/1.5 is pretty damn impressive for a rookie.

Oden isn't Hakeem, but Durant isn't Jordan.

Oden can still be an all-star center in this league. Durant is (going to be) the better player, but if Oden becomes the 2nd best player in that draft class, Portland will be fine.