Sports Column

Blazers could use some luck tonight

On Sports

By dwight jaynes

The Portland Tribune, May 22, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (12 Reader comments)

It begins tonight … a night that could be the dawn of a new era for the Portland Trail Blazers. It’s not likely, of course. But it could be.

Every time a team drops into the NBA’s draft lottery, there’s a chance for an immediate salvation of the franchise. Often, though, there isn’t an available player, even with the top pick, who is going to be a savior. But this season, more than many others, there is serious help for a starving team.

Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. No. 1 and No. 2. Or No. 2 and No. 1. That’s a discussion for later. But the point is, each player appears to have the potential to be a messiah. A big-time, blue-chip franchise player.

Oden, of course, is a center. And while the NBA game has drifted away from the precept that you can’t win without the great big man, a lot of that has been because there haven’t been any legit Hall of Fame caliber centers to come along in the last several years.

Oden, I think, has potential to be that guy. He’s a David Robinson-type of shot blocker and a quietly efficient offensive player who makes other players better just by being on the floor.

Durant, on the other hand, is much more outwardly dynamic. He appears to have potential to be a one-man offense, a juggernaut who can shoot it from distance, take you to the basket and make all the right passes. He can be downright breathtaking at times.

If the Trail Blazers end up with either player, it would mean an immediate jump back into the playoffs. Particularly Oden, I believe, would make the team whole. Make the Blazers balanced and potent. Immediately.

But Durant would be another up-tempo piece that would bring instant excitement, victories and many more fans through the turnstiles.

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