Sports Column

The odds are still on Oden

On the NBA

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Jun 26, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (4 Reader comments)

ODEN

So who are the Blazers going to take with the No. 1 pick? I’ll go out on a limb: It won’t be Brandan Wright or Al Horford.

After quizzing General Manager Kevin Pritchard and coach Nate McMillan, speaking with colleagues and researching Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, it’s hard to believe Portland won’t choose the center who might make the city forget Bill Walton.

I’m not going to bet the mortgage on it, though. Or even a dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, where the Blazer brass took Oden, or at Morton’s, where the powers-that-be wined (nonalcoholic version) and dined Durant.

A few points to consider before Thursday’s 4 p.m. PT (ESPN) draft:

• While scouts and assistant coaches will have their say, Pritchard, McMillan and owner Paul Allen will be the three-man supreme court for the monumental decision.

“We’ll get everybody in a room and debate it out and have strong arguments and reach a consensus,” Pritchard says. “What it will come down to is Paul, myself and Nate sitting down to filter the information, and then we’ll come up with the decision.”

If there is a split decision, “ultimately, the owner has the final say,” Pritchard says. “There’s always that veto power, and we always want him to have that.

“But the three of us work well together and have so much respect for each other that if two of us have mixed emotions and the third comes in there pounding the table for one or the other, the person that feels the passion about it will probably have the edge.”

If it isn’t unanimous, the guess here is that Pritchard will be the one carrying the most weight, not Allen. The owner has handed the complete-faith card to his GM, so Pritchard’s sway will be considerable.

• Position, Pritchard says, “will not be an issue.” That is, though dominating centers have traditionally won championships, “we’re going to figure out who’s the best player for us, and take that player.”

But think of the great centers in history who have made such a difference. Walton. Bill Russell. Wilt Chamberlain. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

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