[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

You’re a GM and have the first pick in the draft.  You have the option of selecting a defensive stud like Anthony Davis who erases shots at will or a pure scorer who fills it up every night like Durant.  Who do you go with?  I’d have to go with the defensive stud because they’re harder to come by than pure scorers.

[Toronto16Participant]

You would pick Anthony Davis over Kevin Durant?  You’re nuts.

 

 

[UNCbasketballbumParticipant]

I didn’t say I’d pick Durant over Davis.  I sai I’d pick the defenisve stud over the scorer.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Doesnt It Seem Like Ages Ago when people were Questioning Calipari’s for starting Davis at Center? Some said that would never work out……lol

[M-EazyParticipant]

You can’t really say if you would pick a defensive player vs offensive player…you have to judge it off the specific player.  Would I take Anthony Davis over Kevin Durant? No.  Would I take him over Michael Beasley? Yes.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

AD needs a scoring big man next to him for him to be dominant. Terrance Jones was a good complement for him at Kentucky. A guy who can score and share the rebounding load.

But, AD didn’t face a lot of tall, legit big men, and even Jeff Withey gave him problems. So, you still might want to take the 6’10 small forward scoring freak over a skinny 6’10 shot blocker.

[apb540Participant]

A draft pick or one of the top 3 players in the NBA? 

[apb540Participant]

"like Durant".  My b.  Probably a scorer like him though. 

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

IF we’re talking about a defensive building block like a Tim Duncan or a big man that can dominate at both ends of the floor, then yea I’d pick that kind of player over a high scoring wing every single day of the week.

Big men who dominate the paint at both ends are the key to winning championships, not high scoring wings. The game is best played from the inside out.

[lisergxParticipant]

 This reminds me of 2007 when we were discussing something very similar…prolific scorer, Durant, or Defensive stud, Greg "Ole’man legs" Oden.  I would go with Durant just seeing how sucessful he is and his impact…can’t say the same about Greg.

[scootover7Participant]

My question would be this though if Greg Oden didn’t suffer all the injuries would he have been an amazing player like he was in college.  I do bet though Portland now is kicking themselves for not taking Durant over Oden.  If you could picture it though at the time Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge I would have loved that lineup. Also that would have posed this thought would the Oklahoma City Thunder be as good now if they would have to had taken Greg Oden say Portland took Durant.

[thatshitkrayParticipant]

Would you rather choose the 6’0 scoring point guard out of Georgetown? Or the 7foot shot blocker from Massacheusettes.

It might not be like this in all cases but in 96 the sixers made the right call with Iverson. But id probably go with the scorer.

[cuseflynn10Participant]

Yeah it does sound like the 96 draft class with Iverson the scorer and Camby the defensive player. Thatshitkray hit it spot on.

 

Obviously, everybody would take AI over Camby knowing how both their careers panned out, but what about AI vs a Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan. That’s a tough call and I think closer to the point you were trying to make of the top offensive option vs top defensive option.

 

I think a lot of it depends on age and position. Bigs are more valuable then guards and forwards obviously. While you can say Durant or LeBron is the best all around player, it’s tough to argue that Dwight Howard is the most valuable player because of his position. If we took Durant, LeBron, and Dwight at 100% health and all at say 25 years old, I would take Dwight if I were building a team. 

 

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

 @IndianaBasketball…

Duncan was a defensive building block AND a big that dominated both ends of the floor…i think maybe thats what you meant, im not sure, but i agree with you…you have to take the big 9 times out of 10…assuming your not picking them over a Durant or MJ obviously

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

IF I had a time machine and God promised me Greg Oden wouldn’t get injured, I’d pick him over Kevin Durant again.

He was destined to become the best center in the league and the type of center that dominates both ends of the floor. Those guys win titles.

[HaleParticipant]

I wanted Durant then and I’d take him again especially knowing I’m getting a top 3 player in the NBA.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

 what makes anthony davis so rare is his agility, quickness to guard the perimter for a 6’10” guy

hes very very fluid and mobile…. and hes only 19….. and cant forget about that arm span lol

its to ez for him

[SubZeroParticipant]

It’s not like Durant is only a scorer and sucks at D. His potential scoring wise is through the roof, but so is his defensive potential. He’s close to Anthony Davis length and height wise, although he’s obviously not going to be as good of a blocker as Davis is. But a guy that tall, long and athletic wants to be good at D, he’s gonna be good at it. He’s stated that he wants to be a lockdown defender, so I think he’ll get there. He has the want-to, all he has to do now is do it. Hitting the weights a little bit might help though

Long story short, I’d take Durant over everybody.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

 yea i honestly knew Durant would be better than Oden…with Oden, it was just excuse after excuse…i understand he was injured a lot, BUT HE IS ALWAYS INJURED…

i didnt know Durant would be this good but i kinda thought hed be a 20 pts – 8 reb guy

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

"yea i honestly knew Durant would be better than Oden"

Yea… So did you and everybody else.

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

"yea i honestly knew Durant would be better than Oden"

Yea… So did you and everybody else.

——————————————————————————————————————-

 

Is it really that hard to believe that some people believed than an 18 year old who averaged 25.8 PPG, 11.1, 1.9 BPG and 1.9 SPG and won the Naismith and Wooden awards was deserving of being the 1st pick overall?

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 A great offensive player like Koby, Durant, Jordan, can always gets theirs no matter who is the defencive presence.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

Me and my friends during the time were split on person we would take. Me and one friend wanted Durant the other two wanted Oden. Both picks looked great and couldn’t go wrong either way.

[fito91Participant]

I’d take Brian Scalabrine

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 Brian Scalabrine being used for the answer for everything is getting old. 

[patty-mills]

I understand people loved Kevin Durant coming out but this is more about Oden than Durant.

People changed their tunes after the injuries an Durants success and made it seem like Oden was an obvious bust, when in reality before the draft it was just some people thought Durant was better and thats understandable because Durant dominated college basketball But before the draft pretty much every gm(except for Danny Ainge Thought Oden should be the first pick, and now Indianabasketball it seems like is the only person who would have taken Oden first overrall.

I can guarrantee at least 8, out of 10 of you on this site would have taken Oden first overall if they were gm.

And these scouts, and gms, know way more about the game than most people on this site.

It especially annoys me when Bill Simmons talks about him because i remember after Odens dominating game in the National Championship he said Oden earned being 1st overall, he changed his mind going into the draft a little bit but he still thought they were very close.

But then after Oden kept getting injured, and Durant dominated he started making it seem like Durant was the obvius first pick saying stuff like

He only played one "Wow!" game (the ’07 NCAA Championship: 25 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks in defeat against Florida’s Joakim Noah and Al Horford)

openly admitted that he didn’t love basketball and once wanted to become a dentist

looked and walked like a thirty-six-year-old man.

Which are really lame reasons Oden Oden had plenty of excellent games like

against Coppin State: 18 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocks.

 against Tennessee: 24 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks.

 against Iowa: 29 points, 10 points, and 2 blocks.

January 24 against Northwestern: 17 points, 17 rebounds, 1 block.

 against Michigan State: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks.

 against Michigan: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks.

 against Purdue: 17 points, 19 rebounds, 4 blocks.

And his other reason reasons were just stupid.

Patrick Ewing averaged 14.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks in 31 minutes per game which is very similiar to Oden except Oden was a freshman playing with his weak hand, Overrall Ewing was definetly better, but had an exxellent, his scoring could have been higher but remember he used his weak hand, and there guards took most of there shots.

The guy really had no red flags except for stuff people made up after he got injured.

Remember Durant couldnt bench the bar (i bet cyclo had a heart attack), Oden was faster than him in the speed, and agility drills too.

If you thought Durant was gonna be better good for you.

 

[jeff416Participant]

I did honestly think Durant would be a better player than Oden in the NBA. I remember wanting the Grizzlies to get the #2 pick instead of #1 so they would pick Durant. The reason was because he dominated in college like no player I have ever saw before. He was easily the best player in he nation, nobody could guard him. With that being said, I thought Oden was also going to be a very good player. I thought he was a little overhyped, but I thought for sure he would be a allstar pretty much every year and challenge Howard and Yao Ming(he was healthy back then) for the best Center in the NBA. Either way, you couldn’t go wrong with either of them. If Oden was injury free, I still think he would have made a couple of all star games by now.

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