I Love Being Right – Kevin Durant Edition

I love being right – Kevin Durant edition

Kevin Durant has been phenomenal; he’s officially pushed himself into the Kobe, LeBron debate. If you asked which player, would you want on your team to take a last second shot? The majority of people are going to pick Kobe Bryant. However, the LeBron camp will say that James hasn’t made as many game winning shots because his Cavaliers are blowing teams out and their hasn’t been a need for him to take too many game winning shots.

So Kobe is the most common answer but the next question “If you were starting a team who would you pick?” Until a few weeks ago LeBron James was the number one answer for everyone. But recently a few people, myself included have changed their answer to Kevin Durant. I was high on Durant in high school and if it wasn’t for the NBA rule requiring players to be out of high school for a year before joining the NBA, Durant would have skipped college. Of course he was fantastic in college also.

I was digging through my old emails and I came across a question and answer I had done with Brian Gabrielle while I was an odds maker for Bodog.com. This was just after the lottery spots had been chosen and there was a debate in all the media about Greg Oden and Kevin Durant and who should be selected first overall. Here’s is my take

Brian Gabrielle – Kevin Durant is headed pro. Do you think he’s a true franchise-changing player in the NBA?

ME: The 2007 draft will be one of the most talent-laden drafts in recent years. It may not be a repeat of 2003, but it could be very similar to the 1983 draft. Similar to the Jordan-Olajuwon draft in 1983, the choice is between two potential phenoms. Greg Oden is a dominating centre who will anchor a team’s middle for years, whereas Kevin Durant will transcend the game altogether. Oden is the safe pick, but so was Olajuwan. Whoever picks Durant is getting not only a franchise-changer but they are getting a kid who will change the game itself. The difference between 2007 and 1983 is that Durant won’t slip to the #3 pick.

Here is the follow up question

Brian Gabrielle – I asked about Kevin Durant last week, and you waxed poetic. Now it appears Greg Oden will declare for the NBA Draft as well. Do you think he’s a franchise player, as you do Durant? Which guy would you take first overall?

BDB, BoDog.com: This debate will go on in bars, locker rooms, Internet forums and anywhere else people love basketball. Greg Oden is going to be a franchise player in the same mold as David Robinson; he’ll come in and go to work. Big dominant centers are a rare, so when you have the chance to take one in the draft, you don’t think twice unless someone like Kevin Durant is on the board. I would still pick KD over Oden; they’ll both win games and change your franchise, but from a business perspective, Durant will fill more seats and sell more merchandise.

Ok the title of this post was a little wrong, I was wrong about Greg Oden but injuries are hard to predict. But I was 100% right about Kevin Durant. The sports media is taking about LeBron teaming with Bosh and Wade to create a Dynasty team but looking at the OKC Thunder, we may already have a dynasty team that wasn’t bought.

Kevin Durant stats – remember this kid is just barely 21 years old

Year	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
07-08	SEA	80	80	34.6	0.430	0.288	0.873	0.9	3.5	4.3	2.4	1.0	0.9	2.90	1.52	20.3
08-09	OKC	74	74	39.0	0.476	0.422	0.863	1.0	5.5	6.5	2.8	1.3	0.7	3.04	1.81	25.3
09-10	OKC	55	55	40.0	0.480	0.385	0.881	1.1	6.3	7.5	2.9	1.4	0.9	3.71	2.22	29.9

LeBron James in his first three years

Year	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
03-04	CLE	79	79	39.5	0.417	0.290	0.754	1.3	4.2	5.5	5.9	1.6	0.7	3.46	1.89	20.9
04-05	CLE	80	80	42.4	0.472	0.351	0.750	1.4	6.0	7.3	7.2	2.2	0.6	3.27	1.82	27.2
05-06	CLE	79	79	42.5	0.480	0.335	0.738	0.9	6.1	7.0	6.6	1.6	0.8	3.29	2.29	31.4

Other than assists their isn’t much difference between the two, Durant will pull in more board because of his size.