If you had won the 1st pick, and you had to choose between these 10 players.
agreed. He's really long and has the potential to be an absolute living nightmare.. the only other player that I might take is Dwight. A lot of teams like to build their team around big men, and Dwight is the best center in the league, even without any post moves
This isn't even a question. Durant. Take him off this list and then ask the question. He'll be one of the top 5 alltime scorers by the time he retires. 1. Durant 2. Griffin 3. Howard 4. Roy 5. Rose(We don't know how good he'll be) 6. Granger(I added him.) 7. Westbrook 8. Aldridge 9. Rondo 10. Lopez
I'd go with Howard as my first choice, he doesn't do it all but its rare that you find a true center that is as strong as he is under the basket.
My second choice would be Durant
Randolph would be my last choice of the list however, as while its undeniable he has a ton of raw talent something just tells me he isn't a lock to reach his full potential.
Call me es Loco but I wanna go with Anthony Randolph. I was reading somewhere ( I think on this site) if you gave him 10 more minutes per game and his numbers would have averaged out to 16ppg and 11rpg
Also, I saw a Summer League GS game, they say he got 3 inches taller ( He defiantly grew) and gained 30 pounds. That would be 7-1. If Randolph is 7-1 with his mid-range jumper, rebounding, passing and blocking ability? He may be a top 10 player by the end of this season.
I think Randolph is my choice.
Why is everybody so high on Kevin Durant? He may be a great scorer but i doubt he is going to be winning championship after championship. And there are a bunch of high quality SG to go around. The toughest positions are PG and C. With that, it would come down to Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard for me. I would take either one of those, but i believe Rose is going to truly be special, even better then CP3 in a few years
Dwight Howard...that was easy
I don't think Randolph grew 3 inches. He might have grown 1 inch. Also he did gain some weight. Randolph is a stud but I couldn't pick him 1st. He isn't last on this list either though. I think Randolph would be my 4th choice.
Howard, Rose, Durant, Randolph, Rondo in that order. That is my top 5.
I put Griffin ahead of Howard because he has post moves. I don't think howard will ever average 25 a game. Griffin has a chance at it. Griffin could be just as good as a rebounder and as athletic too. To me his ceiling is a lot higher than Howard's. IMO. Also I think Westbrook and Granger should be on the list to replace Randolph/Rondo/Lopez
Anthony Randolph would be my pick. Dude is at least 7 foot and moves like a guard. He is also super athletic. Long and putting on weight. He plays tough. Dude is gonna be a monster soon. Right now he can be pushed around. Once he gets stronger, it is all over. From the mid range and in, may be better than Durant. Also I love Durant as a player and he will be one of the great scorers. It was a hard choice because Durant has already showed me in college and the NBA he can dominate and is steady growing. I will go with Durant though if Durant grows another inch lol. I still think Randolph could be better but I know Durant will be the top player after Lebron when Kobe leaves the game.
My top 5 would be Randolph, Durant, Howard, Rose, Roy. I only taking Rose over Roy because dude is a point guard because Roy is very skilled. Howard is a beast but Randolph can do thing Howard will never be able to do anytime soon and all Randolph need to do is get bigger and he would overtake Howard. Durant is getting close to being unguardable.
My reasons why I would not pick Rose or Howard...
What if we had a Fantasy Draft where Kobe, Lebron and Paul were out?
Howard is the best C in the NBA but there are guys like Kaman, Camby and Bogut who are not bad
Same for Rose...there are like 8 legit PG in the L.
I didnt wanna pick Durant because, I wanted to be different.
Gotta go withthe best center in the league. No one can guard him and he doesn't even have a post move. He's still very young and will get a lot better. Not only is he best player on the list right now, when given the opportunity, I would build around a dominant big man. His scoring, boards and blocks would be one heck of a good start to any team building from scratch.
2nd choice would be Durant. His age and scoring ability are hard to ignore.
3rd choice is Derrick Rose who within the next couple of years likely will be best pg in game. A winner and best athlete to play his position.
While Roy is likely best sg in league, others including Mayo are close and he isn't a dominating player, as great as he is.
Rondo can't shoot and is a jerk. As good as he is, I wouldn't want him leading my team. And he can not shoot.
Randolph has a lot of skills that Howard will never have but that is why Randolph is a SF/PF & Howard is a C. Randolph will never overtake Howard in the post. Howard gets up way higher than any player in the league. He is a rare specimen. Howard will be the best Center in the league for the next 10 years.
Knicksboy...this isn't fantasy haha
Howard can get up Higher than Randolph lol. You need to check on that homie. Also when howard came in to the league dude was skinny. People can add weight. If Randolph at 7 feet now can weight about 250 without losing any of his athleticism and quickness would take him. Howard has been in the league and is still lacking post moves. He does not have a solid mid range game. Comparing Howard and Randolph will be like comparing Shaq and Hakeem. Shaq even knows that Hakeem took it to Shaq. Randolph has the frame to be around Hakeem size and he could also learn and perform all those moves. You have to give Randolph time before you say well he can't do this or that. I would rather have a power forward that can drive on people shoot jumpers and bang most post players and still can cross people up. My thing is Anthony Randolph can be like KG and even though i like Howard. I value that more than what Howard will be. It is a toss up but I like Randolph because he will be able to get to the point where he is almost unguardable and he can already pass well now something Howard can not do.
Howard will be the better low post player in terms of power but Randolph can be above him by have more moves and counters which he may already have since Howards does not have many post moves if one and I have never seen him use any counters.
I value skills over size and if you give skills to someone that is a freak athlete and is very long. The sky is the limit. If he puts on weight, he is already better than Howard. The questions is can he put on weight and does the team want him to.
There are only three reasonable answers to this: Rose, Howard and Durant.
My choice would be Howard - he's the only player alive - in the league or not - I'd consider a lock to be a star center in four years.
For what it's worth, Griffin could be considered except he hasn't played a game in the league.
Anthony Randolph is someone I could see why people would get excited about, but I dont think he is ever going to be better than Dwight Howard, or as a matter of fact, better than most of the guys on this list. When I saw him on the list, I thought he should be replaced with Russell Westbrook. And he doesnt jump higher than Dwight Howard. Thats a true fact.
id say howard or durant..i dont believe in the minutes thing because of some players averaging 5pts in 6 min of time then when they get more time they dont do much more....i guess it depends if you wanna start youre team from inside out of vice versa
One of best dunks I've seen in recent years was in slam dunk contest when Howard put sticker of Superman on backboard. How that wasn't a 10 is beyond me. I don't know if he has a better vertacal, but he can get up and has put up numbers and isn't just potential. He is the high end of Randolph's potential and still a kid! No contest between the 2!
smaller players are having more success because there arent alot of good big men..and foul shooting has nothing to do with who id pick..shaq is horrible from the line but him in his prime...ill pick him over any of the names on this list and wont think twice about it
I know there is a lot of hype about Anthony Randolph now. Yet i have to put him at the lower end of my list simply for i want to see him perform on the NBA level, not in the summer league. I know he has the potential to be not good but amazing, but potential is a risk. All the other players on this list have shown they can play in the NBA at a high level for entire seasons. Taking him is a huge risk.
And about Durant. ill take the best center and the in the near future best PG over the no. 4 SG. I would bet Roy wins more championships then Durant in a heartbeat
Its Kobe, Wade, Roy, then Durant
I see Durant as the type of guy who may be a great scorer his whole career but i dont think he will translate that into championships
1. howard - great centers are rare to find
2. durant - exceptional scorer, next gen superstar
3. rose - has the upside to be the best PG in the league one day
4. roy - ability to do almost everything in a less spectacular way
5. randolph - what lamar odom should have been. nuff said
lets get real... this is not fantasy ball! if u care about winning u'd start ur team with d. howard NO question. and can we please stop with the a. randolph is going to be great b/c of a few summer league games the guy is not strong enough to compete every night in the league yet. and is it only me or does anyone else see k. durant as the next coming of t. mcgrady, great scorer but will he ever be a force on the court/winner?
list-- 1. howard 2. rose 3. b. roy 4. durant 5. randolph
Let's say this was the 2009 draft and you won the first pick! who would you want to build your team around out of the 10 players here. This will tell us what alot of you think.
note* - most of these players are around the same age. NO LEBRON..NO KOBE..NO WADE.. NO PAUL.. *
Kevin Durant - Of this list.. he will be the hardest player to defend by age 24..He's only 20....WOW.
Brandon Roy - Best SG of the list He won't catch Kobe or wade by a longshot.
Derrick Rose - 1st PG. rondo learning a jumpshot would make rose the 2nd best pg on this list.
Dwight Howard - The most dominant Center of this list. has much to learn..and will learn it.
Rajan Rondo - amazing driving talent. very tough...and can play defense..2nd best PG ..
O. J Mayo - Has the potential to do what wade does. Can he out-talent Roy????
Blake Griffin - Extremely Disciplined. Freak athletically. Rebounds..rebounds..rebounds..
Lamarcus Aldridge - Has such a bright future. he is a true PF also.
Anthony Randolph - This kid ..what will he become..who does he compare to?
Brooke Lopez. - Although he has much to learn...this is the closest comparison to Tim Duncan.
I would select Kevin Durant.