Portland's Heartbreak
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by Nejoshi
The Portland Trail Blazers received some shocking news early Thursday afternoon when they learned that #1 overall pick, Greg Oden, would be out for the entire 2007-08 season following microfracture knee surgery. The announcement comes in light of Portland’s decision to revamp their roster by unloading the team’s only reliable scoring threat from a year ago, Zach Randolph in favor of a younger team that would have better chemistry. Apart from the obvious disappointment that the NBA and fans in Portland will have in not seeing the 7-footer, there is the obvious comparison to Sam Bowie, another talented big man that Portland drafted in 1984 with the 2nd overall pick. Bowie is most famous for being the man the Blazers elected to draft instead of Michael Jordan.
Bowie, like Oden, was an absolute stud during his years in high school and the University of Kentucky; few considered Portland’s decision to draft him over Jordan to be the amazingly stupid decision that it is today. Bowie spent six years with Portland and barely averaged double digits, while Jordan became one of the greatest players the NBA has ever seen. Oden was in a similar spot in the weeks leading up to the NBA Draft, competing with fellow college superstar Kevin Durant to be the draft’s top choice.
When the NBA Draft order was announced and it was known that Portland had the opportunity to draft Oden, few doubted that he was the right choice at #1. Teams win championships with stalwarts in the middle, and there hasn’t been anyone in nearly two decades that resembled Oden’s talents in the middle. Suddenly, now that he is injured, it’s easy to assert that the Blazers should have taken Durant instead with the top pick. There is no doubting that Durant is a tremendous talent, but it is both unfair and hypocritical to say that Portland should have drafted him instead.
It’s really quite frightening how similar the 1984 Draft and 2007 Draft have started for the Portland Trail Blazers, but you can be sure that people won’t associate Bowie and Oden in the same breadth. In order to properly make a comparison like that, Durant will have to become MJ, championships and all, while Oden will have to become as irrelevant as Joel Przybilla.
When Bowie was drafted, he had issues with injuries that had plagued him during his years as an amateur, yet Portland put the weight of the franchise on him. Even though he did have Clyde Drexler to complement him, he was only a second year player who wasn’t the Hall-of-Famer that he would become in his later years. Portland invested all they had in that combo, but Bowie was gone six short years after he was drafted. He was traded in June of ’89, and the next year Portland made the Finals. Bowie was history, and fans in Portland were left wondering if they would ever get a chance to get redemption for their dubious pick.
Shutting down Oden means that Blazers fans will have to wait awhile before they find out if they made the right move. But, this tragic discovery gives Portland a chance to let their other players shine. People in the Pacific Northwest should learn to get accustomed to LaMarcus Aldridge, Jarrett Jack, and Sergio Rodriguez. These guys will be the ones that will surround Oden as he grows in the NBA.
It’s easy for Portland fans to feel apprehensive about the situation that has presented itself, but watching Amare Stoudemire rebound the way he did last year should provide some hope. After all, what kind of franchise deserves to have its top two picks of the last quarter century fail so miserably?
This was first posted at The Sports Lounge
