NBA Draft Less Attractive Without High School Stars Like Greg Oden Greg Oden would have been top pick Wednesday
I keep hearing how there's no obvious first pick in Wednesday's NBA draft.
These Toronto Raptors must be idiots, not to take Greg Oden, the best center prospect since the Shaq-Zo draft. ...
Oh, yeah.
Never mind.
Greg Oden will be a freshman at Ohio State this fall, and there's nothing wrong with that. But trust me, if the NBA hadn't barred high school kids from entering the draft in this new collective-bargaining agreement, Greg Oden would have been the first pick.
Not any of the NBA's 30 teams would pass on him.
Greg Oden will be a great shot-blocker, a very good low-post scorer with a face-up 10-foot jump shot, and he's already mature physically, intellectually and emotionally.
In fact, had the high school kids been eligible, as they were for years, four or five of them might have gone in the first 15 picks.
Greg Oden, Kevin Durant (Texas), Thaddeus Young (Georgia Tech) and Brandan Wright (North Carolina) could all be one-and-done college players.
I hope one or two stay longer. I find college players typically make their greatest improvement between the sophomore and junior seasons.
Having said that, it's hard to argue Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh did the wrong thing by leaving school when they did.
Bottom line: The NBA draft will be a bit less sexy this year because the league tried to do the right thing.
So while we're waiting for Greg Oden to pass through Columbus, Ohio, on the way to the hall of fame, we'll all learn "Andrea Bargnani" is not a female MTV personality, but a tall, thin Italian forward with a great shot and no back-to-the-basket game.
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