Would you trade Oden for Durant?

[Tortimer]

Actually, if you knew Durant you knew he would be this successful, the guy has lived and breathed basketball his whole life, that is why he was the "safe pick."

Honestly I don't believe Oden absolutely had to have MF surgery. I think they did it for the "long-term" investment they had in G.O. The whole reason why they picked him, and the whole reason why the Organization wouldn't make this trade.

I knew KD enough. After about half way through the college season I was always rooting for the Blazers to somehow luck out and get KD. I watched many of his games in college and thought he would be a really good player. I actually was disappointed in his play last year even though he won ROY. I think part of it was coaching and part of it was him playing out of his normal position of SF.

 

[mobes23]

Playing for a crappy team, it's easy to pile up stats while at the same time not really learning how to win and play with a team (see Harvey Grant). Durant's danged good - no doubt about it, but in terms of winning championships his upside is still no match for Oden. PG's and centers seem to take more time to develop and I'm more than willing to wait for Oden.

 

[Ed O]

And we would have, if only we'd had the number one pick that year.

Or if Houston would have been smart and taken Jordan to match him with Sampson.

Stupid Rockets.

Ed O.

 

[KingSpeed]

Would we have gotten a Pippen and Rodman to help MJ win 6 rings? .

Rodman only helped him win 3 rings.

 

[KingSpeed]

We should have drafted Hakeem..

How? We had the #2 pick.

 

[KingSpeed]

Career done, 50 games in. Nice to see.

As for the poll, no, I wouldn't. You can put that lineup up there, but if we drafted Durant, there's a good chance our lineup looks like Blake, Roy, Durant, Z-Bo, Aldridge. Bayless wouldn't likely be here. Do we draft the same after taking Durant? Is Rudy picked? Maybe we think we have enough scoring with Durant being chosen, and not trading Zach to make room for LMA and Greg. Does Roy ever become an All Star? Doubtful. A lot of fans whine and bitch about our coach, so then let's assume Durant is playing the Webster role, standing in the corner shooting 3s, so we still have Zach dominating the ball, Roy defering mroe to LMA, Zach, and Durant, and Durant as primarily a spot up shooter. And not a single defender to be seen. Yipppeeee! Sign me up for that clusterfuck of a team. No thanks. Greg is going to be just fine. I just hope everyone giving up on him stays that way. Please.

Very valid post.

 

[SpamKing99]

I wish that in my heart I could say no, but the truth is I'd do it... somewhat belatedly. I'm beginning to believe that Oden will never be the guy we were hoping for, even if he does eventually become a serviceable center... When the draft decision was happening, he looked like he had that special quality that you don't pass up, but I guess that was just what we all wanted to believe about the guy...

 

[Chutney]

I think it'd have to be a yes.

You have to recognize that Durant is still very early in his career and, thus, extremely malleable. If you don't think he'll immediately mesh with Roy and the rest of the roster, you can develop his game in a way that he will (OKC's already forced a change on him and he's adjusted very quickly). The dude's so multi-talented that you've really got so much flexibility in trying to fit him into your long-term plans.

Don't know why it'd be a reason to get too down on Oden though. Durant may be a better player now and in the foreseeable future, but Oden will still be a heckuva player.

 

[RayDavies]

Durant looks pretty special right about now... Oden has had great moments, but the fact that he has been injured a very substantial amount of time since his year of college began would probably make it a toss up for me.

I don't think this team would win more games this season with Durant rather than Oden, though. Going forward, if Oden can stay/get healthy and play 70 games + a season, I think his rebounding and defense help the Blazers more than another scorer could- Especially with our lack of perimeter defenders.

Could an argument be made to do that trade to acquire a more-valuable asset that you could turn into a player(s) whose skill set(s) benefit the team more than Durant's? No question; I am pretty sure Durant has a higher trade value than Oden currently does.