I'm The #1 Stunna!

Gangsta D:

Now that Oden has officially declared for the draft, is he the consensus #1 pick no matter who gets the first pick? The teams with the best chances are: The Grizz, The C's, The Bucks, and The Hawks. Do you pick Oden no matter what or do you pick Durant or do you trade down (no!!!)? I think Durant can come in and average 18-20 from the first night on. If I'm a borderline playoff team, I'm looking at Durant. Oden has the potential to be a more valuable player in 2-4 years. In that time period, you're talking about a title not just playoff contention. But can you live with the growing pains in the interim. Nobody wants to make the Sam Bowie mistake, but if Durant fits your team needs better, shouldn't you draft him?

Waldini:

He is the #1 pick hands down. He has been built as the best big man since Duncan. It makes it hard for any team to pass on the best big man prospect in 10 yrs. They dont want to be the team that is remembered as passing on him. Durant is a great consolation prize :-)

Speaking of the draft, do you know how sick Memphis would be if they had a frontline of Gasol and Oden? Great offense now has a defense counterpart to clean up the other's mistakes. Shoot if the Bucks got him, it would be crazy.

Anyway, they say this is the best draft class since 2003 so let's peep game...everybody coming out this year

Gangsta D:

I realize all that, but here's the thing. The only player Oden faced this year with comparable size and/or skills is Roy Hibbert. Hibbert worked Oden for the 5 minutes they played against each other. Oden got his a few times, but at best it was a stalemate. What is Oden going to do against Shaq, Yao, Dwight Howard, or Duncan? He has tremedous upside potential, but do we know that he will realize that potential. Durant on the other hand is a perimeter player that can come off screens, excel in the transition game, already has NBA range, and can back down smaller opponenets. Of course he weighs 20 pounds so will get muscled some, but he's not going to be banging down low for the entire game. I'm not hating on Oden, I'm just saying we don't know if he's gonna be Bill Russell or just look like Bill's uncle.