Sports / Basketball
Report: Blazers will pick Oden at No. 1
(AP)
Updated: 2007-06-29 00:19
The Greg Oden-Kevin Durant debate that lasted all spring will end quickly
Thursday night.
Then the NBA draft gets interesting.
These recent handouts provided by their respective schools or teams show
NBA Draft basketball prospects from left: Arron Afflalo, UCLA; Morris
Almond, Rice; Stanko Barac, Siroki Brijeg; Marco Belinelli, Climamio
Bologna; and Corey Brewer, Florida. The NBA Draft takes place June 28 in
New York. [AP]
Oden and Durant will be gone after the first two picks, headed to their
Pacific Northwest destinations. No worries about going to an unfamiliar
place, or lengthy waits while TV cameras capture their agony as teams
pass over them.
Other players only wish they had it as easy.
"It is annoying. I wish I was in a situation like Greg and Kevin were in,
where they just automatically knew where they were going," guard and
longtime Oden teammate Mike Conley Jr. said. "They can start looking for
houses or whatever. I have no kind of luxury like that."
Conley could go No. 3 to Atlanta -- unless the Hawks trade the pick. Or
he could still be available when the Hawks use their second lottery
selection at No. 11 -- unless that one has been dealt.
Al Horford, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer, the core of Florida's
back-to-back national championship teams; Georgetown forward Jeff Green,
and China's Yi Jianlian face the same uncertainty heading into one of the
deepest drafts in years, one that could be shaken up by trades.
"I don't think a lot of people put a lot of focus on that, after the
first two draft picks, because it's going to be fun to see where people
end up," Green said. "There's a lot of talent in the draft. In my eyes,
we feel like maybe the deepest draft since LeBron's draft (in 2003)."
NBA Draft basketball prospect Kyrylo Fesenko, of team SK Cherkasy, is
shown during a game in Kiev, Ukraine, in this April 7, 2007 photo. The
NBA Draft takes place in New York on June 28. 2007. [AP]
The Portland Trail Blazers have the No. 1 pick, and they haven't said
publicly which way they're leaning.
Oden's agent, Mike Conley Sr., said he had not spoken to Portland general
manager Kevin Pritchard since last week. Pritchard has not given any
indication that Oden will be the top choice, the agent said.
"He has not telephoned me or anyone who works for me guaranteeing Greg is
our guy," Conley said.
And if the Trail Blazers were still flip-flopping Wednesday, they weren't
the only ones.
"I'm taking the big guy," Washington center Spencer Hawes said when asked
what he would do. "Look who wins the championships. Nothing against
Kevin, but you just got to look at the backbone of championships."
So then, Oden over Durant?
"I'm not saying that, I'm not going to go that far," Hawes said.
"Conventional wisdom would say that you take the big guy, but that's a
tossup, that's a tough one to say. I can't say on the two individuals,
but next year if it's a similar scenario I guess I go with the big guy.
But I don't know, this year I guess I'm a man divided."
It's not an easy choice. Oden tested better at predraft camp, Durant had
the sharper workout in Portland.
Dominant big men are usually impossible to pass up, and late Wednesday
night ESPN.com reported, citing unidentified sources, the Trail Blazers
had let Oden know that he's their man.
"That's definitely not the case," Conley Sr. said.
Oden has been compared to Bill Russell for his rebounding and shot
blocking, and he led Ohio State to the national championship game even
while failing to regain full strength after surgery on his right wrist.
"You can see why he'd be a No. 1 pick," Durant said. "I think he's one of
the best centers to come out of college. He's quick and agile, he's
7-feet, 250. I've never seen that in a center before."
Players like Durant don't come around often, either. The swingman from
Texas was the college player of the year after averaging 25.8 points and
11.1 rebounds, ranking fourth nationally in both categories. And if he
falls to Seattle at No. 2, he'd make a terrific consolation prize.
"Without question, Kevin Durant's the most talented player in this
draft," Texas A&M point guard Acie Law said. "But if I'm building a
franchise, as most teams at the top of the draft are, you can't pass up a
guy you can just build your team around. Because there's guys in the
league that can score 20, 25 a game, like Kevin Durant can, but you're
not going to find a 7-foot manchild that can just patrol your line for
10, 12 years."
There's much more in this draft beyond Oden and Durant. Law said the top
15-20 players could become stars, setting up plenty of intrigue around
the remainder of the lottery.
The Phoenix Suns were hoping to move up, the Charlotte Bobcats were
possibly open to moving down, and the Trail Blazers were rumored to be
interested in landing a second lottery pick.
Kansas forward Julian Wright (30) scores two of his game-high 23 points
during the first half of their college basketball game against Rhode
Island in Lawrence, Kan., in this Dec. 30, 2006 file photo. Wright is one
of the top prospects for the NBA Draft, to take place in New York on June
28. [AP]
Green was surprised to be called to a Tuesday workout in Phoenix with
Brewer and Noah, even though the Suns aren't scheduled to draft until
well after the lottery. That shows there's interest in players after Oden
and Durant, with the Florida trio hoping to make the Gators the first
school with three top 10 picks in the same draft.
"We're just winners," Brewer said. "We know how to win."
Green was seated next to the draft's unknown, Yi, illustrating how much
the shape of the NBA has changed in the last two decades. The Big East
player of the year from the prestigious program was surrounded by maybe a
dozen media members, while Yi attracted a crowd about triple that.
Not that much could be learned. Speaking through a translator, Yi said
it's hard to compare him to other players in the draft, but that he could
have an advantage over some of them because of his international
experience.
Otherwise, he remains a mystery -- right down to his age. He's listed at
19, but has long been rumored to be older. And the 6-11 Yi wants to
pattern his game like power forwards such as Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin
Garnett, not like countryman Yao Ming, a center.
There are fewer doubts about Oden. He probably would've been the No. 1
pick last year without going to college if not for the NBA's age rule,
which requires American players be 19 years old and a year out of high
school to be eligible for the draft.
The only question now is whether he's still No. 1 -- or if it matters to
him.
"Important? It would be nice," he said. "To play in this league is a
dream of mine. Wherever I go will be nice."
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