Oklahoma City: 2009 NBA Draft

I love Kevin Durant but I can see him falling in the same category as Vince Carter, Baron Davis, ect. Great individual players who haven't really done great things for their teams. I hope that’s not the case though. Brandon Roy is already and team leader, clutch and can take over a game. What does Brandon Roy not have?

There are two things wrong the contention that Kevin Durant is going to be a superstar while Brandon Roy is not.

The first is that Kevin Durant doesn't look like he's going to be a superstar.

The second is that Brandon Roy practically already is.

Kevin Durant scores a lot of points. Yet his team loses just as much two years after he was drafted as they did before he came. He doesn't play any defense at all. In fact, his team is outscored severely when he is on the floor, while they outscore their opponents when he sits. He certainly has the potential to improve, but at this point he's more like Dale Ellis than Michael Jordan.

Brandon Roy, meanwhile, is lighting up two of the best defenders in the NBA, Shane Battier and Ron Artest, in the playoffs. He plays defense. He passes the ball. His team plays better with him on the court. He does what it takes to win. He's actually earning comparisons to Michael Jordan (far fetched as that might be) with his play, not his potential.

Brandon Roy is playing on a team that's been developing for several years, while Durant is playing with almost exclusively players 24 and under. Durant played only one year of college and now two years in the NBA. Roy played for four years at Washington and has three years in the NBA under his belt. Roy is just about at his ceiling, he won't get much better than he is right now. While he's certainly a very good player, Durant absolutely going to be better and is going to be one of the top 3 players in the NBA. All things being equal, more teams take Durant than Roy.

Durant is a talent and there is not questioning that, but I would not go as far as to say that most teams would pick him over Roy. Roy has a strong all around game. He was rookie of the year and he has two all star games under his belt in three seasons. He should also make his first all nba team this year. How can you say down the line he won't be a top three player? Look at what he has done for his team. He led them to a 54 - 28 record in the tough Western Conference.

I do believe Durant's ceiling is high, however; is it higher than Roy's? Maybe or maybe not, but Roy has such an intense will to continue to grow, I would say his ceiling is just as high if not higher, due to his strong all around game. The scary thing for other teams, is Roy appears to get better every year. I believe he has the x - factor that former greats such as Bird, Jordan and Magic have. I am not saying he is at that level yet, but he could get there with his talent and will. My prediction for Durant would be a Dominique Wilkins type ceiling.

You said it man, B - Roy got game. He will be league MVP at some point in his career and if he continues as he is doing, he will see the Hall of Fame. Roy makes the players around him better. He may never average 30 points a game, like Durant may, but he will have the stronger all around game and his team will be champions.

One player, people are ready to right off is Oden. I still would take him over Durant. If you have watched the Blazers, he is coming around and appears to beginning to feel more comfortable. Once he gets the hang of things and decreases his fouling, he is going to be a monster!

Well you can tell the poster above me is a Portland fan. Now, come back to reality people. Brandon Roy will not be a top three player. As of right now, I'd take Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams ahead of Roy. Granted, in a few years, Kobe won't be on this list, and it's possible (due to injury) Wade could be off this list too. However, that leaves James, Howard, Durant, Paul and Williams ahead of him, not to mention pending superstars like Derrick Rose who will be more dominating than Roy. I'm sorry, Roy is not a superstar, even if he's very close.

Pretty funny article. Roy led his team to 54 wins and is putting up close to 28 points a game on the 2 best perimeter defenders in the NBA in this first round playoff series. To say Roy's not a superstar now is to say you dont watch the NBA.

Superstar to me is Kobe, Lebron, Wade.. and no one else. So in that sense Roy isnt one. But its safe to say Roy is still the man. You switch Durant and Roy right now, and the Blazers win about 44 games instead of 54, and the Thunder win about 35 instead of 23.

You are right, Durant is a special player. Matter of fact, I think he will one day be an elite player in the league. I also believe the same should be said for Roy. These two are both high character guys with great basketball skills. Who will end up being better? I don't know. I guess it will depend on who does more for their team. OKC will be a competive bunch if their gm can put the right pieces in place w/ Durant as their cornerstone. Portland's gm needs to keep being aggressive and provide Roy with the right pieces as well. After watching the houston and portland series, it looks as though they need a stronger starting pg. just my thoughts!

This is not to knock Roy who is a terrific player who played for 4 years in college and is 4 years older than Kevin. That immediately makes a huge difference in professional basketball. Plus physically, Durant is nowhere near to what he will become as what Scottie Pippen showed. Pippen also was very thin, but after putting on weight the next years, he moved up to one of the greats of his time.

You can be sure, given Kevin's work ethic and his drive, that he also will put on 15 pounds or so this off season, and his game will be radically different especially as he becomes a pivot presence.

One other thing is to remember that he is playing under a clueless coach and a point guard who is not a point guard and doesn't really know at this time how to pass except when he is motoring to the basket.

My expectations is that KD will have multiple triple doubles next year and if Oklahoma is lucky and gets a major player in the draft, the team will be a playoff contender.

Offer the Clippers 4/25 for Blake Griffin
or
Jordan Hill at #4, and a true point at #25 probably Darren Collison. Bring the UCLA guards back together

Hill has way more upside than Thabeet, stronger faster and better scorer. Thabeet does have blocking ability but if far from being the inside scorer that they need at the moment. Collison is a great floor leader and does about everything well, his only weakness is his size. Once he hits the weights he will be deadly.

Roy is a very good well rounded player with great basketball talent, but that don't mean squat without a burning desire to win. Neither Durant or Roy seem to possess this yet. Wade Does, Lebron does, Kobe does, Tim Duncan does, KG does, and isn't it interesting that with the exception of Lebron, all of them have at least one title. Their young, they still have time, but the great players have a intangible inner will to win that these two have not figured out yet. That and Durant is on a young team thats not that good. The Blazers have a great team but have a uncanny ability to implode at the worst time.

Roughly halfway through the 2009-10 season, a few questions that were discussed in my original article and the comments below have been answered. First, while Brandon Roy is a very, very good player, his ceiling is below that of Durant, and not just by a little bit. Playing on a Portland team that even after their injuries is a much better squad (in both talent and experience) than OKC, Roy is not playing as well as Durant. Durant is playing at a level where he has been in the MVP conversation (granted anyone in the discussion not named LeBron doesn't have a real shot, but it's still noteworthy). Don't believe me? Look here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AtGIv0lb4JPd4_bBjgZDHq_MPaB4?slug=nba_com-racetothemvp.week13-20100129&prov=nba_com&type=lgns

Notice that Durant is listed third in the MVP race. He's behind only LeBron and Kobe. Also notice that Roy is not on that list.

OKC is, as of this posting, only one game behind Portland in the standings, and this is because of how great a player Kevin Durant already is. It no longer seems arguable whether Durant is a better player than Roy; it's Durant 100 times out of 100.

I want to clarify that I'm not trying to denigrate Roy. He's an absolutely fantastic player that would have a job on any NBA team. However, Durant is just a better player despite being over four years Roy's junior.

WOGMa5 I loved your blog. Great.