Oden #2? U wild.
2023 NBA Draft Megathread
- Thread starter Ferguson_Mellochill
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Era adjusted it was kind of true tho. He was like the 2nd coming of Tim Duncan/David Robinson.
Here's mine:
1. Lebron
2. Wembanyama
3. Durant
4. Luka
5. U
6. H
7. H
8. H
9. H
10. IDK
With hindsight, of course that's bad. But watching Oden dominate in college with one hand when drafting bigs #1 was still a thing.....yeah he was an incredible prospect. If you teleported back to 2007, this wouldn't be wild at all.
I've never understood this. How?
Also, wasn't it known that one leg was an inch or longer than the other beforehand?
IDK, bigs that are great because they are just bigger/stronger/more physically mature than college competition doesn't get me frothy. I don't recall his skill level at much being noteworthy.
What might make someone #2 behind Lebron is the whole package, which he wasn't. But whatever.
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I'm not sure. I just knew when he ran up and down the court he looked like a fish out of water. It didn't seem like he loved basketball. I had KD over him pretty firmly. I understood the hype. I'm not sure how high I'd put him on the list but he was super hyped.
I think Wiggins may have been more hyped/ a better prospect than a few on the top 10. I can't tell you how many times I heard fast twitch muscle fibers with him.
It's easy to say this now, no one said that 15 years ago about bigs. Oden wasn't just massive and athletic, he was skilled and dominating college with one hand (which was his off hand btw). There's a reason why no one questioned him being picked over Durant. If you were that one in a million person 15 years, good for you but I definitely wasn't. Greg Oden was the best big man prospect since Shaq, and at the time bigs were still seen as the most premium position.
I don’t really remember Luka being regarded as highly as some of you are saying. Especially over Davis and Zion.
I have no idea on the leg thing. I'm sure teams found out once the medical stuff had to happen? OR maybe they were able to hide that?
But he was just kind of the perfect center prospect for that era where everyone wanted a Tim Duncan. He had everything and had some promising ball skills (for that era when you wanted your big to be a mid-range shooter).
People questioned it.
Luka had people who doubted him, but he had plenty of people calling him the most skilled prospect of all time.
Generational prospects don’t usually get passed up at all yet alone twice. Kind of interesting.
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It seemed so obvious he was the best player in that draft by a mile... and three nba teams had the chance to take him... and passed. Bonkers.
I think there is a case for Wembanyama to be the best prospect of all-time. At worst I would say he is #2 behind LeBron.
I considered putting Wiggins up there, and probably should if we're adjusting for predraft hype. I gave both Wiggins and Jabari consideration for the top 10. Griffin too....but I don't know if I could put them over Wall and Rose.
I don't know how many guys should be called "generational", but I have 5 of those guys for sure. LeBron, Oden, Durant, Luka, and AD. Zion is on that group talent wise, but the body/injury concerns have him a tad below for me. If Wemby keeps playing like he's playing in Vegas, I think he'll be in that group. Though he might be in that Zion tier where his body is so unique that you can't help but be concerned about health.
Also I think Oden was one of the first college freshman do go #1 overall. HS'ers went #1 before him, but most college players who went #1 had at least 2 years. So him being so good as Freshman was unique for that era and I think he started Freshman going #1 overall.
Yeah, it doesn’t usually happen. But, you know, the Suns and the Kings.
I think Oden over Durant was reasonable, or at least it was at the time. But Luka? It was idiotic. Can't defend that one. Luka was generational and it was obvious.