Oden or Chris Paul?

by Outlaw is Rejector on May 14, 2008 1:22 AM PDT

---------------------------

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the 2005 draft where we got lucky and got the 3rd pick, but eventually traded into the 6th pick. Many people feel the Blazers made a mistake by passing on Chris Paul, and trading Deron Williams away. I'll agree, in retrospect we definately got hosed; however, today we are the envy of almost every franchise in the NBA, and the ceiling is still far from view.

At the time of the 2005 draft there wasn't an 'expert' that had the Blazers taking Paul, nor was anyone within our own media circle pushing for the pick(I could be wrong).

The Blazers locked themselves in way before they won the 3rd pick. They wanted Webster, and they got him. I think its obvious that if the Blazers had picked Chris Paul we would not have Greg Oden today, and would likely only have either Roy or Aldridge...

So, my question is this...

Poll

Who Would You Rather Have?

Chris Paul

18 votes

Greg Oden

78 votes

Ha Seung-Jin

18 votes

114 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 20 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Oden..

Especially since it is actually Paul, or Oden and LMA/Roy. Paul is an amazing MVP level point guard, but I feel it’s better to have a franchise 5. Besides, we have Sergio…who needs Paul (stay calm, this is a Mortimerism)?

by MGNNoah on May 14, 2008 6:30 AM PDT reply actions

Let me ask this question

In their primes, would you rather have Kobe or Shaq?

by Spencer on May 14, 2008 7:06 AM PDT reply actions

Shaq, hands down

And I voted for Oded over Paul. It’s really a no brainer. Simply being an MVP point guard isn’t going to get you a ring when you’re up against a force such as Oden. No way in hell that N.O. could beat L.A. when they had Kobe and Shaq, and no way they’ll be able to beat us in a series when we have our big 3 operating on all cylinders.

by mark twain on May 14, 2008 8:12 AM PDT up reply actions

Ha

My wife liked him. He looks a bit like a taller version of our son.

by timg56 on May 14, 2008 8:29 AM PDT reply actions

I voted for Paul

Paul is a sure thing. Oden is not.

Boomshakalaka

by jksnake99 on May 14, 2008 8:36 AM PDT reply actions

+1

Heh, homers here…. Have yall been watching these playoffs? CP3 seems to be able to beat Duncan’s team so why wouldn’t he be able to beat Oden’s team? Yall ready to put Oden ahead of Duncan when Duncan’s arguably top 5 center all time and Oden hasn’t shown anything in the bigs yet, and is coming off a microfracture?

by howlingfantods on May 14, 2008 8:49 AM PDT up reply actions

yup

because i also look at the team as a whole and a greg only needs to be a good center for us to win, not a best of all time center.

Here's to being hated. Come on #1 pick!

by ratbastird on May 14, 2008 10:13 AM PDT up reply actions

He'd better be more than good

if we hope to win a championship or ten, because the vast majority of teams that have won titles did so with a dominant big man. Even Chicago had Rodman, who would scoop 15-20 rebounds per night, to go with MJ and Pip.

That being said, if we could have had Paul and Roy in the backcourt, with LMA and Joel up front, that team would still be a contender and might break through. Roy and Paul would possibly have proven to be the best backcourt in NBA history. I would LOVE to go to an alternate universe where that team exists just to see it in action every game.

Interesting thing about the Hornets-Spurs series is that those are the only teams in the playoffs with All-Stars at both the PG and C/PF positions. (Sorry, Rasheed will never be an All-Star in my book.)

Bottom line: Paul seems destined to win one or more rings, but a dominant big man has proven to be more of a sure path to the title than a dominant point guard.

by MiledAnimal on May 14, 2008 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions

I concur.

People always say that a dominant big man is superior than a similarly talented guard, but I think that is way too big of a generalization. Almost always, a star player’s success is heavily dependent on the players he has around him and the supporting cast can accentuate a player’s strength or weaknesses. Just because you have GO on your team doesn’t mean that you are going to win more games than if you had Paul since each affects the game in a completely different way. It all depends on the team in question.

Anyway, at this point I would take Paul because he will probably be the best player in the game within a couple years and Oden has yet to see the court

by ppilot on May 14, 2008 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions

same here

Paul has gone from Rookie to MVP candidate faster than anyone I can think of. He basically fast forwarded thru the starter-all star-superstar phases and went straight to MVP candidate.

If I had to choose who to pick for my team as of TODAY…I’d pick Paul, but I’m still totally pumped to have Greg. Even if Greg never makes it to MVP candidacy…I still like our chances in the near future.

by Philthyanimal on May 14, 2008 1:50 PM PDT up reply actions

Look at Stockton Malone

great duo but never enough to get the ring. Plus I’d much rather have a big three than a big two.

"The next day in practice, if you sweat, it's going to come out of your pores, regardless. If you ask any coach around the league how many times they have smelled liquor on a player . . . As long as that player is showing up on time, doing the drills and running, that's part of it. But there have been times, yeah. Yeah, you probably smelled liquor on me. But it's not like I'm at practice drunk. I'm totally focused."
-Darius Miles

by Steve Guttenberg on May 14, 2008 11:32 AM PDT reply actions

HA HA HA!!!

I voted for Ha. He is awesome, huge dude. Goofy. Awesome.

We will never see another player quite like John Stockton. Never.

by doublezeroduck on May 14, 2008 11:42 AM PDT reply actions

If you are choosing between a young, mvp-level player

and someone who has never played a minute in the NBA, ALWAYS choose the MVP-level player. Thats just common sense.

by trk on May 14, 2008 12:11 PM PDT reply actions

Paul

I chose Paul because is totally like awesome. Oden could be totally like awesome, but like, I don’t know that yet because he hasn’t played. I do love Oden and think he will achieve totally like awesome status.

Witty Unpredictable Talent and Natural Game

by iDea on May 14, 2008 2:53 PM PDT reply actions