What about him? I think Durant was the better prospect, doesn’t matter that oden went first. There’s a difference between prospect and hypeOriginally Posted by PolishFan
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What about him? I think Durant was the better prospect, doesn’t matter that oden went first. There’s a difference between prospect and hype
Clearly Durant cannot be a better prospect than Zion if he was not even selected first. Looking back, sure, but not at the time of the draft.
Agreed. With Durant, there was no question that he was a shooter and a scorer, but there were serious questions about pretty much everything else.
- A lot of his rebounds came from simply being way taller and longer than everyone else. He didn't show the strength in the post to really bang down low, and he wasn't an elite box-out-guy (he was good, but not incredible). There were questions about his rebounding at an NBA level against stronger and smarter guys. Zion doesn't have these issues: his height is somewhat of an issue, but his vertical leap is insane, his second jump is just as impressive, and he'll be one of the strongest players in the league on day one. He boxes out too.
- He was an awful playmaker, and a mediocre passer in general. He could also become disengaged in plays that weren't run for him. Zion can be a little disengaged too sometimes, although less often, but he's a much superior passer. The assist numbers really don't tell the whole story but Zion's vision, feel, and passing touch is fantastic.
- His defense was very sketchy. Yes, he was a good rim protector and he got a lot of steals but his fundamental defense, especially on the perimeter, was very hit-or-miss, and his high centre of gravity combined with low weight made it difficult for him to defend anyone in the post, or anyone who would go at his chest. Zion is a superb defender whose steals and blocks are just as impressive as KD's, but he also has much better defensive positioning, more strength to hold his spot, quicker hands, and his centre of gravity is much lower and sturdier. He can even move his hips at a similar speed to Durant despite the extra bulk.
Zion definitely has more weight (literally) as a prospect than Durant did.
Basketball.
What do you mean clearly? That was just the blazers, you have no way of knowing what the others 27 teams thought lmao
I will say draft classes matter too. It's not just about who gets drafted higher in their year. Morant is on many people's board the clear No. 2. Would he have went in the top 5 in last year's draft? Maybe but it's not clear cut. He definitely would have been behind Ayton, Luka, and Young.
That said I agree coming out of college Zion is higher than Durant.
This I can agree with, good post
Completely agree. If SGA was in this draft, he'd be a top 5 lock, for example.
I think Zion has a legit argument against every other #1 draft pick since Lebron.
Obviously AD was super hype, but Zion has a much more developed offensive game.
Ben Simmons, sure, but Zion's defense is on another level and he's already shown more flashes of range.
Kyrie was super hyped up, but he had a ton of doubts. Huge injury worries, shot selection doubts, poor defender.
Wall had the IQ doubts, was super turnover prone, couldn't be bothered on D half the time, also had no shot.
etc etc
That's like saying Anthony Bennett was a better prospect than Durant because of the fact that he went #1. Durant only went #2 because he was in the same class as Oden.
No, Bennett was not professed as the best prospect in the draft or the best prospect since...., so not it is not the same. Anyone that is the best prospect since Lebron would have been the hands down clear #1. In that draft, Oden was seen as the prohibitive #1, although a few teams liked Durant.
At the time, there were serious concerns over Durant's strength cause he couldn't bench press, and some questioned whether he could lead a team cause they got bounced in the first weekend of march madness. Stupid looking back, but it is what it is. There were many who thought he wouldn't be able to get his shot off because he wouldn't be able to withstand the "physical NBA game." Again, stupid looking back.
From my recollection, the majority of people at the time had Oden ahead of Durant. It was Oden who was seen at the time as a can't miss prospect.
You know who I'm hearing about less and less as the draft approaches? Rui Hachimura.
I wonder if people finally figured out that his greatest strength is post scoring, which is the least valuable form of scoring in today's NBA, and this his biggest weaknesses are on and off ball defense, rebounding, decision-making, passing, and long distance shooting. Also he's a bit older than you'd like. But aside from that...
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