Time for some nice non-political discussion. Who would you pick?

Have fun Blazer Fans.

Geeze. I have NO idea any longer. I am glad though.

Ohio State center Greg Oden. Slam dunk! (pun intended)

Sam Bowie.

Gotta be Greg Oden, and get rid of Zach Randolph and Darius Miles at the same time.

I agree with letting Miles go. Jury is still out on Randolph for me. One more year for sure but then re-evaluate.

I hope they take Oden.

Kevin Durant in a heartbeat.

Aldridge is a decent 5, (Rookie of the Year vote-getter, after all) he can platoon with Pryzbilla and they'll definitely be fine this year (Portland reached the finals TWICE with Wayne Cooper and Kevin Duckworth platooning at center) but honestly, who do they have at the 3 that isn't immediately dwarfed by Durant's skill?

Durant is going to be the better pro. Jack-Roy-Durant-Randolph-Aldridge. That 5 sticks together, and you're looking at a young nucleus that could potentially hang together for the better part of a decade like the old rip city blazers of the late 80's did--but BETTER.

Plus, I swear to god the ghost of Sam Bowie is hanging over me as I type this, and I don't want Oden's wrist exploding and showering failure all over the court after a failed dunk in the 30th game of the season.

Durant is the pick. Guaranteed two straight Rookie of the Year awards for Portland (roy's this year, Durant's next year) and a trip back to the playoffs in 2 years minimum

"Who would you pick?"

Michael Jordan.

Hehe...

They will never live that cockup down.

I thought the same thing Fatboy ... but I've been thinking about it all evening.

Durant is the more polished player, especially on the offensive end. That said, he plays small for his size and there are a ton of good tweener forwards out there.

Oden is raw, but he is a once-in-a-generation center, the most hyped center out of college since Shaq. There is such a lack of great centers in this league, especially defensively, that the Oden pick makes sense to me. Add him to Brandon Roy and that is a serious young 1-2 punch that makes this team a contender for years to come. Just as important in light of of the Jail Blazers of recent years, Oden is very much a good guy, and you can't question his dedication. He broke his right hand before the start of last season, so he taught himself how to shoot left handed, and became good at it rather than miss a ton of time.

I agree with the moving Zach and Darius idea too. I don't know if the Blazers CAN move Miles with that big stupid contract that he has, but someone will be more than happy to take a 20-10 guy like Zach off Portland's hands. That frees up somewhat of a logjam up front and it opens up the offense, since Zach is somewhat of a black hole with the ball.

Sydney Wicks.

Just keep Miles in a small room at One Center Court and pay his damn contract. Miles is toxic.

Zach, just trade him -- he's a nice enough fellow that some Witshit wannabe somewhere will take him.

Fatboy is my first choice. Or Bill Walton.

LaRue Martin.

No question Durant would bring instant offense to a position lacking on the Blazers roster, but Oden would dramatically improve the defense in the middle. How many games did the Blazers lose because of poor defense rather than poor offense? Oden would instantly give them a huge presence inside.

The other important ingredient to this year's draft is the Blazers have 5 second round picks. In what is considered a relatively deep draft, not only will the first pick help, but surely they can land one, if not two key players in the second round. Either that, or they can throw a couple of those selections in a package deal with Zach Randolph as means to get out from under his contract. With what the Blazers are paying him now, no one's gonna touch him now, but they have a little more bargaining power.

Whoever they decide to take with No. 1, they will be a much improved team from this year.

I firmly believe that Zach can be moved, there IS a market for him. He did show some work ethic and initiative last year, and he's a 20-10 guy ... very few of those in the NBA. He would be ideal in a system with a good established point guard who can feed him the ball ... yeah, that max contract won't help matters but I am sure he can be moved. Throw in what is NBA gold in draft picks, and more teams will bite even.

It'll be fun once again in Rip City, that's for sure.

I do wonder, though, if Zach is traded how many strip clubs will go out of business.

Author: Chris_taylor
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 7:11 pm


Time for some nice non-political discussion. Who would you pick?

"Have fun Blazer Fans."

Have quit being a fan after Clyde the Glide and Terry Porter departed from that team! Really honestly I could not give a "Rip City" about them anymore!

GO "SONICS"

"Go Sonics"

Yes they will....to OKC.

DT-I have felt the same way for several years. Today's players are very different than what we had with Clyde, Terry, Buck and the gang.

Hopefully this will start the process again but I doubt we will see the same kinds of teams we had back in the late 80s and early 90s.

I could not agree more. Looked up to that group of players. Loved the team --and we had Shon too! "Lickety Brindle, up the middle" and plenty more where that came from.

I'll watch a good game with my son, from time to time, but that's it. NBA really should be working hard on addressing this image problem. The whole Gansta ball bit really sucks.

I've no idea who they should pick, I'll ask my son and post his choice here instead.

They should pick Michael Jordan....oh wait.....wrong draft year. Can you believe they could have picked him and did'nt! That deserves a Homer Simpson "Doooope!"

Oh yeah, they hosed it big time.

Ended up playing for a championship game in the early 90's. All came down to a coupla plays in the 4th quarter. A foul gets called and the ball starts to go to the Blazers. This would have meant a win for sure. Plenty of time and talent to score...

Michael walks to the ref, has a short conversation, ball goes to the Bulls.

Blazers fans everywhere go apeshit, and they lose with the pick they could have had.

Priceless.

However...at that time not many people knew Michael Jordan would turn into the player he eventually became. The Blazers also already had Clyde Drexler, so why wouldn't picking a center make sense. If they would've picked first, they would've draft Hakeem Olajuwan instead of Jordan, too, just as Houston did.

Oden, please. Trade Zach. Get a decent veteran small forward. Aldridge is wonderful but not a starting NBA center, he's a 4. So you'd have the ressurection of the San Antonio David Robinson/Tim Duncan frontline, but younger and better. Look at the teams in the playoffs now, bigger is still better.

And Dark, you've got to try it again. We can't keep pulling out that "I left after Drexler, Porter, etc" line anymore. It's a new day. Jailblazers are gone.

I know....I just ain't a big B-Ball fan....or for that matter most any sports. I do tune in for Nascar though! My time is either with kid's activities, mowing the acerage, or chasing down a social Cow who likes to visit the neighbors!

I'd rather just listen to my Culture Club, Village People, George Michael, and Cher CD's when I have free time!

I still can't say "Oden." the man came up pretty damned short in the tourney. This sounds a lot like LeBron, honestly. And Oden showed flashes of brilliance against lessers, but as LeBron has showed us since he got here--he likes to take games off. Whole HALVES OF SEASONS off. and even in the playoffs, he coasts. Oden may not be coasting, but he held back quite a bit. Maybe he was just afraid of his injury, but the fact he held back and we're all talking "He could be potentially the next..." is what worries me.

you go for the sure thing. Oden's hyped like crazy, but you know who he reminds me of? Ralph Sampson. Good player. Not a great. Not someone who will lead the team, not someone going down in history.

Here's another example--If anyone, in that same LeBron draft, would have stopped and said "I'm taking Dwayne Wade" instead, it would have went against convention because while Wade had the talent to contribute immediately, he wasn't "King LeBron."

Yet it was, as of now, and I still believe, the better pick to go with Dwayne Wade.

Besides which, a 6-9 small forward isn't anyone to sneeze at, and Aldridge has only had one year at Center to work. Remember how long everyone thought Jermaine O'Neal was a crap center? And then he started going to all-star games the second we traded him?

"NBA really should be working hard on addressing this image problem. The whole Gansta ball bit really sucks. "

NBA's image problem has nothing to do with "Gangsta Ball" anymore. Stern locked down the game so hard for awhile there that the biggest problem now is that the game doesn't look like the game anymore. It's slow, it's almost ploddingly mathematical, and as we all saw a couple weeks ago, the rules are almost draconian.

The NBA we all remember fondly was looser, freewheeling, and depended on interpretation from the front office and passion from the players. This NBA has bled ALL OF THAT out of the game. They're simply self-interested suits going through the motions because the rules are in place to prevent people from ever gelling as a team. The teams that do are truly gifted.

Portland should pick Durant. It's the better choice.

DT- You know I used to be the biggest sports nut. When my wife and I were first married I was playing softball during the summer, basketball year round, doing the workout in the gym, watching ESPN listening to sports talk. Loved it.

But in the past 10 years or so, watching the "Big Game" has lost its luster for me. Like you DT I got better things to do with kids, the wife and simple leisure pleasures.

I was never into the whole sports bar thing anyway. If I am offered free tickets to a Blazer game, sho' nuff I'll go, but I will never pay for tickets. Good Lawd ...too much money.

Because I work with the Schonz a couple of times a month he keeps me updated on the inside scoop in Blazerville. He's still the class of the Blazers anyway.

Good Blazer tickets are similiar to good seats for a concert......dang...about $100 each for good seats for Rush....but that one will be worth it! Could not bring myself to do it for the others concerts coming to town though! To many broken bands with non-original members that just sound "Worn Out"! If I win em on KGON ill go though! Remember.....I'm the contest whore in this forum! LOL
http://feedback.pdxradio.com/show.cgi?tpc=5&post=181665#POST181665

Point taken Fatboy ... I just really think that if you get a once-in-a-generation chance to build your franchise around a can't-miss center like this, you do. Small forwards are a dime a dozen, a raw young center who is this good defensively with this kind of work ethic and upside doesn't come along often. Michael Olowokandi, Oden ain't.

Needless to say, Portland really can't screw up either pick. This WON'T be a case of Bowie instead of Jordan (and someone else had it right - the Blazers drafted Drexler the year before, who played the same position. The need was for a big man, and with Olajuwon off the board the best left by far was Bowie).

Brianl, I agree. And here's another point.
We draft Oden, "forcing" Seattle to draft Durant. Rashard Lewis is Seattle's existing small forward, and is a free agent. Seattle would have to start Durant to justify the draft choice. Hence, Lewis becomes not happy. We work a sign and trade for Lewis, hopefully including Zach in some way, maybe via a 3rd team. We thereby get an established veteran scoring small forward, and a center of the future, and get rid of our little off court strippers & guns guy. Aldridge plays power forward. Cue the parade!

Fatboy, normally I agree with you, but not on this. You make good points though

Thanks. I hope I'm wrong, too Especially since it looks like there's no way Portland is picking ANYONE but Oden. So I hope I'm WAY wrong on this one.

Here's another thought. If they pick Durant instead of Oden, and Oden becomes huge star, no matter what Durant does, the pundits will say "Blazers blew it again."

If they pick Oden, and he's just pretty good, the worst they'd say is "well, that was the conventional wisdom, they had to pick him."

It's going to be fun either way.

I think you are spot on FBR. I thought about it all week, and the pick still seems too damn easy. It really reminds me of the hype, hysteria and high hopes of the Bowie selection. The "no-brainer Oden pick" might just might turn out to be that "stupid damn Oden pick." His raw talent is there, but his basketball acumen is questionable and his painful history make me nervous.

I do not like our perverse propensity for perpetually injured big men. As much as we celebrate his talents -- and forgive his faults -- Portland started that tradition with Bill Walton. If someone was tall and gimpy, we probably had him in uniform. Sometimes, we had success in spite of ourselves, but even our most durable centers, like Sabonis, were out for long stretches.

Yes, we may have made a really bonehead move shipping O'Neal. We could have been well served by Jermaine, since he learned by watching the best in the game. On the other hand, seeing the many problems that the Pacers have had with strip clubs, guns and brawls, perhaps it was a good idea. Jermaine learned a great deal of the bad crap as a Blazer too, and in the long run, we might have been saddled with another very expensive spoilsport.

Along those lines, I like any solution that puts Darius and Zach in another city. Even if I could put all of the off-court monkeyshine aside, I just do not like their inconsistent production and often uninspired play. In the post-Glickman and Weinberg pantheon of Blazer misery, they are simply the latest pair of unhappy money pits.

We have a squad that plays true team ball when they win games. We ought to use the top pick for the best piece of that puzzle, both on-court and off. If Oden is that guy, great, go get him. Even if it means chasing a veteran big man in the off-season, but having an amazing four around him at any given moment, hell, we ought to be looking at Durant and licking our chops.

Potential means diddly-squat if it does not come out on the court. I totally agree that Dwyane Wade will write a legacy that eclipses LeBron James. Who already has a ring? So far it looks like he was a much better pick, is a much better teammate and has a much better head. When Wade is healthy, his upside is practically infinite, and I just do not see that in James, yet. Dwyane is a kid, but I already think he has shown the potential to turn in a hall of fame coaching or broadcasting career after his playing days.

Warner - Durant could probably play the 4 spot just fine, he's not exactly undersized to be a power forward at 6-9, and he did average over 11 boards a game last year at Texas. My guess is that the Sonics would put Durant at the 4 spot and keep Lewis at the 3 ... though I doubt the Sonics will be able to re-sign Lewis, he has publicly stated for quite a while that he wants the hell out of Seattle.

Besides, there is a longstanding feud between Portland and Seattle where they won't deal with each other. I am sure that is water under the bridge with the new ownership in Seattle, but as long as Wally Walker had anything to do with the Supes there would be NO deals done. The whole Ruben Patterson fiasco escalated that.

I think you don't deal with your neighbor purely because you play so many games against each other.

Why would you want to send a player 180 miles to the south only to know he might beat up on you for years to come.

Everyone hated Patterson in Seattle, so I'm sure Walker wanted no part in further beatings if they would have traded and got a crappy return.

The self proclaimed Kobe stopper aside, you have to focus on potential and on what they do already. The NBA implemented the high school rule to prevent a 3-5 year training of new players and money spent by GM's on talent that won't develop for years. It's also why you see the NBDL today partly, to improve players. A great example of how talent never really made it is Martell Webster. About the only one who had really taken off is Kobe, but does he win championships alone?

Many people have said already Oden looked a lot better than any point at Ohio state based on a visit to Indiana recently, a chance for the media to see Oden play. You don't even hesitate to draft him on June 28th and anyone who does is simply foolish.

What did we lack in the late 80's / early 90's? Sabonis or a decent big man. What did we lack in 2000? (Aside from the lack of scoring) A healthy big man who was at his prime.

Now we have the chance to pick a center who really should be one of the best big man of the next 10 years and people are advocating to pick Durant.

Every time (except for Jordan, who was a shooting guard like Roy) a team has won a chamionship in the last 20 years, a decent big man (forward or center) was fronting the team. Miami had Shaq, Detroit had both Wallace's, San Antonio had Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the Lakers had Shaq, Houston had Hakeem Olajuwon, Detroit had Rodman and the Lakers had Kareem and Worthy.

The last time a Small Forward was the reason for winning a championship? I'll leave that to you guys cause I sure can't think of one.

Why can't Phoenix clear the hurdle, bad officiating? Their style of play just doesn't have that force down low and I really feel is the reason why they lost. All a bigger man has to do is intimidate and they goaded Phoenix into losing players for a crucial game 5.

I wish I could instill that in every single person I play on a league with. We have 3 guys all over 6'3 and yet everyone under that size has a shoot first think second mentality. It's pathetic honestly and why we lose so often (and trust me, 6'3" in this league is more than enough).

I think Seattle would be interested in a sign and trade, especially if ownership believes they won't be there in 2009. It would realign the divisions, bringing Sacramento as a Northwest opponent instead. I really can picture Zach going to Seattle for Lewis. The salaries will be close and Portland doesn't eat too much more for a decent small forward. Then all bets are off...

I bought season tickets for the first time this year... Let's hope it pays out!

The last time a Small Forward was the reason for winning a championship? I'll leave that to you guys cause I sure can't think of one.

See, that "20 years" seems like an artificial cutoff date. It just NARROWLY excises the most famous small forward who anchored a team in the 80's

Larry Bird. And to a lesser extent, Scottie Pippen (Jordan didn't win a thing without Batman there) And for those championship runs, who were their centers? Bill Cartwright, Luc Longley and Bill Wennington. Bird had McHale and Parrish, but that was Bird's squad.

Let's not forget Dr. J.

Detroit is a bad example because those Wallaces aren't why that team won. Ben Wallace underperformed those finals, and Rasheed was intermittent. They weren't dominating in the slightest. It was Prince, Billups and Hamilton that closed those championships out. And calling out Rodman from the 80's/90's team is silly--he came off the bench, if I remember correctly. Him and vinnie the microwave. Their starting center was BILL LAIMBEER, which knocks a hole in that theory as well

And Shaq wasn't fronting the Miami team. That was Dwayne Wade--the player that Durant seems to share the most similarites with. Except Durant's better offensively than Wade was when he came out.

I'm just nitpicking at this point, though, and have resigned myself to the fact Oden is getting picked. Although that's like saying "I'm resigned to the fact we're skipping lobster for caviar." yunno?

Good points fatboy.

The Blazers almost have to take Oden. But you don't win champioinships just with big men as you have stated. You certainly need superstar forwards but it all starts at the point guard. This is the guy who handles the ball the most. ( will probably lead the team in turnovers too) He gets the ball to players in a position where they can do something with it.

Your great point guards, Isaiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Stockton and the like could take over a game without even scoring. It's your point guard, in my opinion, that wins championships and the Bulls, Lakers, Pistons and Celtics of 80's and 90s had great guard play during their runs.

oden, a math wiz, says that according to the stats, he doesn't understand why people think he should go first because on paper durant is a nobrainer first pick. will somebody PLEASE give the man an ego!

My choice: Oden. Even if he bowizes, I won't regret that choice.

"Let's not forget Dr. J."

Yes, let's forget that Dr. J didn't win a championship until he had a dominant big man (Moses Malone) in the middle.

Durant's game isn't like Dwyane Wade really, Wade is a combo guard ... I can see him developing into a Garnett-type player. Those Pistons teams of the late '80s and early '90s won on sheer intimidation, and the most intimidating presence was Laimbeer. You KNEW you were going to get your clock cleaned coming across the middle.

Chris - I agree on the point guard and the importance. Keep this in mind though: 1) Michael Jordan won six titles without a premier point guard on ANY of those teams, Scottie Pippen was more of the "point forward", and as good as John Stockton and Karl Malone were, how many championships did they have? Imagine what they could have done with someone at center besides the drastically offensive-challenged Mark Eaton and the drastically worthless Greg Ostertag in the middle.

If you have a chance to take a big man of this caliber, a once in a generation guy, you DO it. Plain and simple.

Good point with Moses, but you're discounting the ABA run Erving had--comp in the ABA at the time was more fierce than NBA comp. And Laimbeer was hardly ever in the middle on offense OR on defense. That fatass loved to hang around outside the paint, only coming in for a cheap shot on D, and staying way outside for those odd flat-footed threes he'd shoot. The REAL enforcer on that team was Rick Mahorn, anyway.

Look, I'm not saying DON'T take Oden. The shar-pei center of 2007 is going to be a badass. Like I've said a couple times, regardless of who we pick, Durant or Oden, we're gonna get some nice contribution for quite awhile and we're going to the championship game within 5 years. (minimum with Oden, Maximum with Durant) I'm just saying is there any REAL proof this dude is "a once in a generation guy" other than stats, an uneven college season, some domination against high school hacks, and some good workouts?

There's an element of hype here that's being taken for granted, and being taken at face value. All the things people are saying about Oden are things most people HAVE NOT SEEN. But Durant HAS put it out there, on the court. People can SEE his fiery competitiveness, can SEE the extra gear he turns it up a notch, can SEE the slashing, the jumper, the creativity. The Oden guys, they talk about Once in a Lifetime, but it's vaporware at this point. It COULD happen, it's PROBABLE it's gonna happen, but it's not the sure thing.

Durant is a pretty damn sure thing. That's all I'm saying.

maybe the blazers should trade the number 1 pick and zach to seattle for the #2 pick and solve 2 headaches.

Kevin Durant will miss about 35 games next season due to an ankle injury.

I bet on it.

Fatboy/Brian-

Maybe a good case study are the Cavs and LaBron.

It is a good case study--I believe the Willy Week actually wrote an article based on that comparison today.

We also had Canzano himself on our show to discuss Kobe trade rumors and who he should pick. He kept dropping Oden's name as if he was already a member of the team and later mentioned he was hanging out with Pritchard last week. I'll be watching his columns, as I think he's gonna have some nice insight on this if he's hanging out with the GM like it aint no thing

Speaking of Moses Malone, how good would Portland have been if they wouldn't have traded him away? That move rarely gets mentioned in the pantheon of Blazer moves, but a frontline of Bill Walton and Moses Malone would've been pretty formidable.

It's probably not a reason to draft Oden, but what if the Blazers do pass on him and select Durant and Oden goes to Seattle and becomes a monster center most predict he will. The Blazers would have to face the Sonics and throw the likes of Jamaal Magliore at Oden. Durant might be talented and turn out to be a terrific pro, but the Blazers have similar talent already. They need a huge presence in the middle, offensively and especially defensively. If they pass on Oden he gets 30 points every time and the Sonics routinely whip the Blazers.

LeBron is a good test subject from the aspect that he is a once-in-a-generation guy to come along, and can put a team on his back ... but I still consider it apples and oranges because he's a small forward/guard type. Again, and I know LeBron is exceptional, but there are a LOT MORE good 2/3s out there than there are dominant centers.

LeBron and Durant essentially play the same position, though Durant is bigger. Will Durant be better historically than LeBron? I'm doubting it at this point.

Well I'll take Oden's defense to start with. His offense will come.

Not only will he block shots, he'll change a lot of shots too. I see his first year of learning filled with games in foul trouble as he learns and adjusts to the speed of the pro game. In time if we can keep this nucleus around, I think he'll be able to make a great defensive stop, the ball gets into Brandon's hands and Oden can run the floor and possible get dunk on the other end.

In time we could have a good transition team.

For me it's pretty simple. Look at the following players: Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Kobe Bryant. All of them have gone through the "next Michael Jordan" hype. None have won a championship except Kobe and Wade, and those two only when they played with a big man, Shaq.

Only Jordan really has won without the big man. But Shaq, Akeem, Russell, etc. have won with multiple different players around them. If you say Durant "could" become a Kobe like player, and Oden "could" become a Shaq or Akeem, that tells me who to choose.

Fatboy,

Good point on Bird. The only real one I didn't think about. Also Brian, Laimbeer did a lot of that work. Rodman though was hustle and reason I threw him in.

The Zach for the number 2 pick would NEVER happen. It's more likely for a sign and trade with Lewis.

The reason I advocate for Oden so much is that we can pick up someone like Lewis and be ready I feel next year for a deep run. Durant will be there, but everyone else on Seattle's team is pretty weak as a supporting cast.

I could also however see Pritchard taking Durant, keeping Zach and moving Aldridge to center. To me that isn't the smartest move because Zach slows the offense down, whereas LeMarcus can run.

June 28th is going to be so exciting I won't be able to contain myself. Not because of the pick, but what I expect to see from Pritchard. We have 4 picks in the second round and I would bet unless he sees someone slip that we must have, all 4 get dealt along with Randolph and a crapload of money to more than 1 team.

Fatboy, get canzano on more regularly. Love it.