Oden has tremendous defensive skills and instincts that appear about once in a generation. He has the Bill Russell/Bill Walton ability to see the court and anticipate. As a player with one injury riddled year in college he is not polished. I expect a pretty pedestrian performance this year as he gets used to the higher level of competition and serves as a decoy when he is well defended. I will be surprised if Durant does not outperform him in their first two years in the league. I also expect to see a Shawn Kemp type progression of consecutive years of significant improvement for Oden. He will be a dominant player by the time he would have completed his four years of college eligibility.
Portland had a tremendous supporting cast in search of a star, now they have the golden child. I am not a Blazer fan, but I think Portland is the future center of power in the NBA.
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