Safe to say the blazers made 2 of the worst draft choices EVER?

[chris_in_pdx]

And they would have taken Hakeem (then Akeem) if they had wont the coin flip.

BNM

Correct. However, being that Ramsay was the coach at the time, and the prevailing wisdom was that the Blazers needed a big man to compete with Jabbar in the West, plus the fact that the Blazers had drafted Clyde Drexler the year before, there was no way in hell that the Blazers would have drafted MJ. None. And any other GM in the league in the same situation would have done the same. Bowie was a stud in college, 2nd team All American and came up huge for Kentucky in the 1984 NCAA Tourney.

 

[axs88]

and to add....
Before the draft:
"
http://www.faniq.com/article/Daily-NBA-Draft-Rumors-Injury-concerns-for-Greg-Oden-Blog-3066

Yeah, his wrist sure held him back. So did his disc problems. He was the concensus no.1 pick, so I think it made a lot of sense for all the other teams to be whispering they're concerned about his knees. They were in no position to take him so might as well try to make him slide.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Correct. However, being that Ramsay was the coach at the time, and the prevailing wisdom was that the Blazers needed a big man to compete with Jabbar in the West, plus the fact that the Blazers had drafted Clyde Drexler the year before, there was no way in hell that the Blazers would have drafted MJ. None. And any other GM in the league in the same situation would have done the same. Bowie was a stud in college, 2nd team All American and came up huge for Kentucky in the 1984 NCAA Tourney.

And in 5 years at Kentucky, he played in about 3 seasons worth of games due to injuries.

Sorry, but Bowie was a terrible pick. A great player from the neck up - but his injury problems were well documented. Everyone agreed that Hakeem was #1 - but there was no consensus that Bowie was #2. Even the Blazers' own scouts wanted Barkly - but were shouted down by Ramsey and his obsession with Bowie as the best passing big man since Walton.

 

[Denny Crane]

And in 5 years at Kentucky, he played in about 3 seasons worth of games due to injuries.

Sorry, but Bowie was a terrible pick. A great player from the neck up - but his injury problems were well documented. Everyone agreed that Hakeem was #1 - but there was no consensus that Bowie was #2. Even the Blazers' own scouts wanted Barkly - but were shouted down by Ramsey and his obsession with Bowie as the best passing big man since Walton.

I remember there was a serious amount of hype about Bowie while in college and before the draft. In college, people (sportswriters) were incredibly high on him in spite of his being injury prone. I sure remember Kentucky games televised and the camera showing him a lot, in street clothes with a cast and crutches.

There was no way of knowing Jordan would be GOAT, but even without hindsight I don't know how you pass on the college player of the year.

If I had 1st pick in that draft as an NBA GM, I'd still take Olajuwan. FWIW.

 

[Weav]

As far as I'm concerned, Oden isn't officially a bust until the day he leaves the NBA. His raw ability is shows the potential of an all-star, and I won't give up on him until he calls it quits.

BTW, am I the only person who doesn't think Roy and Durrant could successfully co-exist?

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

As far as bad choices (not taking into consideration somewhat unforeseeable injuries), one could argue that giving up the chance to draft Chris Paul (or Deron Williams) to take Martell Webster, was the worst draft choice the Blazers ever made.

 

[maxiep]

Correct. However, being that Ramsay was the coach at the time, and the prevailing wisdom was that the Blazers needed a big man to compete with Jabbar in the West, plus the fact that the Blazers had drafted Clyde Drexler the year before, there was no way in hell that the Blazers would have drafted MJ. None. And any other GM in the league in the same situation would have done the same. Bowie was a stud in college, 2nd team All American and came up huge for Kentucky in the 1984 NCAA Tourney.

Let us not forget that Rod Thorn offered us the #3 pick and another player so he could take Bowie. No one knew what Jordan would become.

 

[KingSpeed]

If Durant doesn't win a single championship, do you still rate it as one of the worst draft picks ever?

If they put good players around Durant, he will win a championship. If they don't, he won't. Won't reflect on him either way. He's a stud. He might win MVP this year.

 

[KingSpeed]

If you believe that, you are dumber than I thought you were. Roy and Durant would share the same kind of chemistry a Melo, Iverson shared. A Mourning and L. Johnson shared. Both terrific players but weren't going to win anything big on the same team. Both Roy and Durant need the ball in their hands to be effective. They both need to shoot be effective. There was not enough room on this roster for both. Eventually, one of them would have had to be moved if KP indeed drafted Durant.

Bullshit. Pippen/Jordan won titles. Pierce/KG/Allen won a title. You need more than one star to win. And both Roy and Durant are better than Melo and Iverson.

Furthermore, Durant may be better than Roy. In which case, if you're correct (which I don't think you are), then you trade Roy.

Or are you still set in your ways that we shouldn't have drafted Jordan because we already had Drexler?

We fucked up. Should've picked Durant. Doesn't mean we can't win with Oden. But we should've drafted Durant.

 

[KingSpeed]

Let us not forget that Rod Thorn offered us the #3 pick and another player so he could take Bowie. No one knew what Jordan would become.

The Bulls knew.

 

[RoyToy]

Jordan wouldn't have stayed in Portland so who cares

 

[maxiep]

The Bulls knew.

Umm, Rod Thorn was the Bulls' GM in 1984. Since he wanted Bowie, I'm pretty sure he didn't know.

 

[KingSpeed]

Umm, Rod Thorn was the Bulls' GM in 1984. Since he wanted Bowie, I'm pretty sure he didn't know.

Oh right. My bad. Misread it. I didn't know that.

It still sucks we didn't get Jordan or Durant.

 

[maxiep]

Oh right. My bad. Misread it. I didn't know that.

It still sucks we didn't get Jordan or Durant.

It gets worse when you think about the lengths Houston went to get the #1 pick. The tanking was so blatant, the NBA went to the lottery.

I maintain we would have been better off with Olajuwon than Jordan regardless of what we know today. Dream + Glide > Jordan + Glide.

 

[KingSpeed]

It gets worse when you think about the lengths Houston went to get the #1 pick. The tanking was so blatant, the NBA went to the lottery.

I maintain we would have been better off with Olajuwon than Jordan regardless of what we know today. Dream + Glide > Jordan + Glide.

I agree that we would've titles with Dream but it's hard to pass on the greatest player of all time.

 

[CanadianBlazer]

Bowie and Olden over Durant and Jordon.

thats the difference between 10 -12 championships in portland

i cant even watch durant.... its so upsetting. you cannot tell me that roy, la, and durant wouldnt win 5 titles at least.

I agree. What a shame.

 

[Stevenson]

BRoy can be extremely unselfish when we don't need him to carry the team. .

I know this is blasphemy, but one thing BRoy is NOT is unslefish. He likes and needs the ball. Why did he emerge this year AFTER GO got hurt?. He likes and needs the ball. He's not good at sharing it - with Oden, with Andre, with anyone. He's good with the ball of course, but he is a selfish player IMO.

How many forced shots did he jack up plast night at the end of the game? 3, 4?

 

[Nikolokolus]

I know this is blasphemy, but one thing BRoy is NOT is unslefish. He likes and needs the ball. Why did he emerge this year AFTER GO got hurt?. He likes and needs the ball. He's not good at sharing it - with Oden, with Andre, with anyone. He's good with the ball of course, but he is a selfish player IMO.

How many forced shots did he jack up plast night at the end of the game? 3, 4?

It's not blasphemy, but it is foolishness. I had zero problem with Roy taking those shots, it's becoming a broken record to say it, but the real problem appears to be with the way Nate chooses to free him up with his so-called plays that mostly result in a Roy isolation at the wing. So if you want to blame Roy for taking those shots when the game is on the line and the rest of the team can't buy a bucket, more power to you. Personally, I think it's more instructive to look at how he's getting those DESIGNED shots.

 

[the ob]

I have to say for the first time ever, I agree with mixum. I was discussing this with a friend the blazers made the same mistake that they made in the jordan situation. They drafted for position instead of the best player. That is what we did before. The blazers raved about the workout with durant. they loved him, but took oden instead. I agree, I cannot even watch him play without getting really upset.

 

[Minstrel]

I have to say for the first time ever, I agree with mixum. I was discussing this with a friend the blazers made the same mistake that they made in the jordan situation. They drafted for position instead of the best player.

Uh no. Oden was considered, virtually unanimously, a once-a-generation center prospect and had been considered that way since he was a junior in high school. He looked great in his freshman year at Ohio State. Oden was considered the right #1 pick...pretty much all the coverage around the lottery at the time was about who would get Oden, with Durant a very nice consolation prize.

And when Oden has played, he's been just as good as Durant (when you factor in defense). Durant has, of course, been much more valuable due to playing more.

That's nothing like Jordan. Jordan was considered a significantly better player than Bowie in college and almost everyone considered Jordan a surefire All-Star, while outlooks were mixed on Bowie. Nobody knew how great Jordan would be, but he was one of the best prospects ever out of college. Bowie was merely a good one, who had the added virtue of being big. The Blazers absolutely passed on the perceived better player when they took Bowie, in order to fill a need. The Blazers took the perceived best player when they took Oden, who also happened to fill a need that most teams have.

 

[Harry's Raincoat]

Correct. However, being that Ramsay was the coach at the time, and the prevailing wisdom was that the Blazers needed a big man to compete with Jabbar in the West, plus the fact that the Blazers had drafted Clyde Drexler the year before, there was no way in hell that the Blazers would have drafted MJ. None. And any other GM in the league in the same situation would have done the same. Bowie was a stud in college, 2nd team All American and came up huge for Kentucky in the 1984 NCAA Tourney.

Preaching to the choir!!!!

Mixum is obviously too young to remember and too naive to look up the prevailing opinions in 1984. Bowie wasn't a bad draft pick, rather, he was the victim of injuries. How about Chris Washburn or Darko worst draft picks.

IMO LaRue Martin was a worse pick than either of the poor choices given in this thread. McAdoo was the guy in 1972 who should have been taken #1, but we wanted a guy to come to our team and not go to the rival ABA instead. But Martin was selected because he had a great game against Walton that year. No scouting. No interview. We got what we paid for.

 

[hasoos]

You can keep dwelling on bad ju ju if you want, but there is nothing we can do about it.

 

[Rodolfo]

I hate people that still remind everyone that we could have had Durant. Bunch of fucking crybabies if you ask me.