Portland has to be jumping with joy. I can see Nate McMillan doing flips, baby! Are you serious? You can go to bed at night and all of a sudden you become a superstar because a ping-pong ball bounces your way!
Go ask Gregg Popovich about what happened in 1997! All of a sudden the Spurs got Tim Duncan. Go ask Boston what it was like when the ball didn't bounce its way and they didn't get the big fella from Wake Forest!
The same feeling exists in Boston this time around as it didn't work out. The Celtics will still get a very good player at #5 as this is a deep draft with lots of talent. That is not a great consolation falling short of securing Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.
America, get ready for Mr. Oden. He will be one of the special, low-post players in the game. Over the last two decades, you have seen some great post play from the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson, and my feeling is this kid will be in that class. He will be a star at the next level as he brings all the intangibles and physical skills. There is size, strength, power and a winner's mentality.
I have always been impresses by his attitude. Oden is about we, we, we and not me, me, me. He is about T-E-A-M and he is a coach's dream. McMillan will be the envy of coaches in America, being able to work with him and build a foundation around him. The perimeter play of Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy and Jarrett Jack, plus the presence of another big man in LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland has a good reason for excitement. The future is extremely bright.
Down in Seattle, things won't be too bad with the potential addition of Durant. He's a scoring machine who will have an immediate impact putting points on the board. He will be fun to watch as he creates problems for opponents defensively. Durant is the best big perimeter player that I've seen in my 28 years of calling college games. He can shoot the jumper off the dribble, he can post, attack from the inside and he rebounds. Durant also has a great, great attitude.
Let's hope that the big dollars don't change these guys in any shape or form. They will be two big-time additions and David Stern has to be thrilled Oden and Durant are climbing aboard.
I have to look all the way back to 1992 when Shaquille O'Neal and Alonzo Mourning went 1-2 to see a real buzz over two big-time players coming in. Remember, when LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony came in together in 2003, Darko Millicic went No. 2.
Portland and Seattle have to be excited. Oden is a low-post dominate player who is all about winning.
Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
