June 28, 2007

This year's NBA draft has a giant 1-2 punch
Oden and Durant are considered can't-miss stars regardless of whether they end up in Seattle or Portland.
By Elliott Teaford
Staff writer

Greg Oden is a 19-year-old center with a face and a game that makes him seem much, much older. Kevin Durant is an 18-year-old forward with the versatility to play any of the five positions on the floor.

Whether the Portland Trail Blazers select the 7-foot Oden from Ohio State or the 6-9 Durant from the University of Texas with the No. 1 overall pick is one of several mysteries that will be answered tonight.

General Manager Kevin Pritchard said all week that the Trail Blazers hadn't decided which remarkably talented teenager they would take in what promised to be a deep and talented NBA draft.

The Seattle SuperSonics will gladly take the one the Trail Blazers don't select with the second pick.

The Atlanta Hawks have the third pick, and they could go with one of three former Florida standouts: Corey Brewer, Al Horford or Joakim Noah. No matter their selection, the Hawks' pick will determine how the rest of the picks unfold.

The Clippers, in desperate need of a point guard, have the 14th pick.

The Lakers, also in desperate need of a point guard, have the 19th.

USC's Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt (Westchester High) and UCLA's Arron Afflalo are expected to be selected in the first or second rounds.

Pruitt is one of four former South Bay prep stars who could be selected tonight: Bobby Brown (Westchester, Cal State Fullerton), Brandon Heath (Westchester, San Diego State) and Ekene Ibekwe (Carson High, Maryland) are the others.

Nowhere has the draft generated more reasons for optimism than in Portland, where the embarrassing days of the troubled Jail Blazers are at an end.

In the days leading up to the draft, the Trail Blazers mounted a clever advertising campaign on billboards around Portland, asking fans to beep their car horns once for Oden and twice for Durant.

Pritchard told Portland reporters earlier in the week that he's even received e-mails that read simply, "Beep" or "Beep-beep."

Visitors to the Trail Blazers' official Web site were asked to choose either Oden or Durant as the team's pick, with Oden leading in the poll, 67 percent to 33 percent, as of Wednesday at 10:30 p.m.

The rationale was simple.

Centers with the fundamentals of Oden are difficult to come by. Oden's averages of 15.9 points and 9.6 rebounds paled in comparison to Durant's 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds.

But Oden would be a nice fit with Zach Randolph, a 6-9 forward, and Brandon Roy, a point guard who was named the league's Rookie of the Year last season.

Given the chance after his workout with the Trail Blazers to compare himself to Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat or Hall of Famer Bill Russell, Oden went with Russell.

It seemed a fitting choice for a young man with an old-school game.

Oden is called Grandpa because the deep lines across his forehead make him look more like 39 than 19. His game, as displayed during his freshman season at Ohio State, is built more on substance than style.

"My game is just basic: a big-man hook shot," Oden told reporters Tuesday in New York, site of tonight's draft. "I'm excelling at what I'm doing now, why change it? Maybe one day it means me going out there and dribbling and doing fancy stuff. Right now, it's just being in the post, rebounding, playing good defense, blocking shots."

If the Trail Blazers go with Oden, then Durant likely will end up going to the Supersonics. By all accounts, Durant's pre-draft workouts were spectacular.

Durant's game is multifaceted. He is frequently compared to Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks.

University of Washington coach Lorenzo Romar went back a few decades when he described Durant as "a cross between George Gervin and Bob McAdoo."

Durant's final college game was in Spokane, Wash., and he spent a week working out in Seattle. He also received a tour of the city from center Spencer Hawes, who has entered the draft after his freshman season at Washington.

All of which seems to indicate Durant will be selected by Seattle tonight if Portland decides to take Oden.

Either way, it seems like a win-win scenario for either team.

And either player.

"These last couple of months have been really hectic for me and my family," Durant told reporters after his workout with the SuperSonics. "But this is what I wanted to do. I'm happy I'm doing it. I'm glad I'm going through this process.

"I wouldn't want it any other way."