Good memory !  At least Bowie played  10 years, played in a little over 500 games and averaged a little over 10 points for his career (I checked his stats)  albeit he was mediocre at best!  It looks like Oden is done before he even starts and will have virtually no stats to speak of.  

At the time, Oden was considered a can't miss prospect with respect to his defensive/shot blocking/rebounding ability. Portland hoped he could develop an offensive game (think of Patrick Ewing out of Georgetown...he had a very limited offensive game, but was a stalwart defensively) over time. They made the right move taking Oden. You have to look at the situation at the time of the draft, NOT what Durrant has become. The one thing you can not predict is injuries.

Every team makes draft mistakes. For example I think the year before the Bulls got Jordan, they drafted Ennis Whatley over Clyde Drexler. (so Portland lucked out on that one) Don't forget, the Rockets also passed on Jordan, taking Hakeem #1 (yes, he's a Hall of Famer, but he's not an immortal like MJ). Again, size has always been paramount in the NBA (when in doubt, draft the big man). While Hakeem obviously worked out for the Rockets, Bowie got hurt and never excelled for Portland. And besides, NO ONE thought Jordan would be an all time great coming out of college. An All-Star, yes, but one of the greatest players ever to live, no.

It is too bad for Oden. Hopefully he recovers, but there is a limitation to how many surgeries a body can withstand.

-- Modified on 11/18/2010 6:01:59 AM

However Greg oden had injury history and though the Blazers had strong forward Aldridge, I'm still perplexed they picked Oden over Durant.