all-purpose NBA Draft thread

Look, the Lakers may make a deal, probably would be foolish not to make a deal, but I cannot imagine them making a deal with a Western Conference team. You want to sent Kobe out of your own conference, so you don't have to see as much of him.

 

I gather the columnist in question was from Southern California. The Blazers have been hyping Durant and Oden since the lottery. Anything else and they'll look like crap. Who was the columnist? Sounds more like a 14-year-old caller to JT The Brick.

 

Brewer's gonna be great. I've heard some people compare him to Prince, but he'll be more offensively gifted than Prince. Obviously Durant and Oden are the two best players in the draft, but I think Brewer will end up being the next-best player in this draft, just ahead of Horford.

 

I agree. Brewer is an outstanding athlete and is much more built than Prince. Once he can develop a consistent outside shot he's going to be an All-Star caliber player.

 

Column by Chris Mannix on SI.com. Last item in the column. Just an idea he threw out there, nothing more.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/chris_mannix/06/21/marion/index.html

 

surprised Mannix would write that - it's an interesting "what if?" but if he had any understanding of the Portland situation, he wouldn't waste readers time with it. It reminded me of the talking heads on ESPN talking about the possibility of Garnett going to the Celtics hours after his agent shot it down.

 

I know everyone is mostly in agreement that Portland should take Oden. But who do people think will be a better pro, Oden or Durant?

 

Oden to me. Barring injuries, he's got the body, the athleticism, the drive and desire to be great. Durant to me is a question mark because of his body. He's very thin and didn't put up the standard 185 bench one time at the pro workout. I know benching doesn't tell how one drives to the hoop or comes off a screen, but that's pretty weak. I still think Durant will be a good pro, but great....I'm not so sure.

 

Durant Durant and Durant.

Durant is defintely gonna be your 26+ points per game guy. But he has the potential to be a great defensive player as well.

I think you're taking more of a risk with Oden. You know Durant is gonna come in and drop 20 a game right off the bat. Oden keeps playing in slow motion(and it has nothing to do with his facial expressions, have you seen him play) and he hasn't shown leadership on the court. He'll get his blocks, but playing down low against Iowa ain't the same as playing against Yao Ming and Dwight Howard. At least Durant can step back and drop 3's all day.

 

He'll come in and average 26 a game for the Sonics? That's a bold statement. And he'll be dropping 3s all day with guys like Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest in the West covering him? Esssh.....not too sure about that.

The Blazeres would only play the Magic twice a year so who cares about Dwight Howard going against Oden. And Oden is a beast of a man who isn't afraid of being physical, something Yao struggles against.

Wait until Oden is challenged by the best talent there is out there and he'll give you those mean facial expression you so desperately desire.

 

I'll take Oden, but tentatively because Durant is the better pure basketball player. I'm of the school of thought that you can't beat a top-notch big, but Durant is so good I question taking Oden ahead of him.

I know Oden missed some time and then played with a bad wrist, but a 7-footer that weighs 270 and has the athleticism and skills he does should average more than 15 points and 9 boards a game. I don't care if he is a freshman. A guy as dominant as he's supposed to be should not go a season without scoring 30 points in a game. The Scout.com report on him says he's "Tim Duncan meets Patrick Ewing." Well, please correct me if I'm wrong, but when Duncan was a freshman, he was playing second banana to Randolph Childress and dropping 16 and 20 in a tournament game (Oden's 25 and 12 in the title game was impressive, though).That's what Durant averaged (25 and 11). Yes, Durant will have to get stronger, but he's a guy that scored 30+ 11 times, and averaged over 1.5 rebounds more per game than the bigger, stronger Oden. Oden had 29 and 10 against Iowa; Durant had 37 and 23 against Texas Tech.

So, Durant's the better basketball player, but, "reluctantly," I guess you go with Oden since he's pretty much a sure thing at the most premium of positions.

 

You're arguments are valid, but Durant's lack of bulk worries me. I know he's still just 19 or 20 and hasn't gotten into a NBA program that will have him lifting and eating to pack on strength and pounds, but to not put up 185 at the combine or whatever it's called once .... esssh. Guys in the NBA are going to bang, bump and do anything they can to get physical with him. In college he was too quick to let that happen. That won't be the case in the pros.

Oden came in a few games into the season after the team had been playing and practicing without him and getting a certain offensive flow without him. And you can't make a guy the focal point of your offense (which Durant was from the time he stepped on Texas' campus) when he's playing with one arm. So the numbers he put up without a healthy shooting wrist is pretty impressive.

And comparing Oden's 29 and 10 against Iowa and Durant's 37 and 23 against Texas Tech isn't really fair. That was early in the season and I don't think Bob Knight respected how good Durant is. Everyone knew how good Oden was so for him to go for what he did against the Hawkeyes is a little more impressive to me.

But everyone has their own opinion.