By Ed Morrone
Don’t you just love déjà vu?
Last week, I put a target on my back and argued that Brady Quinn, and not JaMarcus Russell, should be the top quarterback selected in this Saturday’s NFL Draft. Sure, about 99.9 percent of the world’s population would disagree with that assessment, but I’d wager money (if I actually had any) that Quinn will be an immediate impact QB next season that leads his team to more victories than Russell will in Oakland-his likely destination. But we can re-visit this topic in October, since it’s not what we’re here to argue about.
Instead, we’re not looking at June’s NBA Draft, which should be one of the deepest drafts in recent memory. It will most likely be a draft where established college players (Big Baby Davis, Jared Dudley, D.J. Strawberry, Demetris Nichols, Nick Fazekas) fall into the second round as well as other stud players falling into the late first when in other drafts they might be lottery picks (Marcus Williams, Arron Afflalo, Acie Law). All of this is happening because this year’s draft is so unbelievably stacked at the top, and not since LeBron and Carmelo in 2003 has there been such a frenzied debate about who the top selection should be.
I’m here to say why I think it should without a doubt be the University of Texas’ Kevin Durant. Again, this opinion will fall outside of the majority, as most NBA fans and experts will say Ohio State’s Greg Oden should go No. 1 if only because true, bonafide big men like Oden only come along once in a generation.
Before we get too into it, let me preface this by saying I think Oden is an extraordinary talent, and whether he goes No. 1 or No. 2 (thankfully there’s no Darko this year to push either of these guys to the third spot) he will be a fantastic NBA player. There’s no argument here that either Durant or Oden should go ahead of the other because one will be a better NBA player than the other. Both are going to be awesome in the pros, and the NBA needs guys like Durant and Oden to boost its troublesome image and its fading popularity.
But with that being said, I like Durant at No. 1 for a few reasons. For starters, he’s more NBA ready than Oden. Oden himself admitted he’s not completely ready for the rigors of the NBA, mainly because he played his entire freshman season as a Buckeye with a surgically repaired right wrist. He was awesome in the title game loss to Florida (25 points, 12 rebounds) but for the most part he struggled with foul trouble all year and especially in the first few rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Durant didn’t have any of these problems. In fact, his biggest problem was that he didn’t have enough support at Texas and was relied upon to do everything himself. I would start listing some of his accomplishments, but to be honest we don’t have that much space to work with. But the bottom line is Durant was the best player in college basketball this year, and for that he should be selected No. 1.
Now of course a lot of this depends on who wins the draft lottery and that team’s specific needs. Some might be looking for a big man who will take some lumps early (Oden), whereas others might want a guy who can step right in and score 20-25 points a game (Durant). (For the record, I think Boston would select Durant at No. 1, while Memphis would probably go with Oden should things shake out that way.)
The debate is not an easy one for me to pick a side on, because I’m high on both players. But if Durant improves his defense then I feel he can be one of the best NBA players to play basketball in the past 25 years, and I can say that without ever seeing him play a professional game. Oden I’m a little less sure of, mainly because of injury concerns and his problems with foul trouble.
Either way, it’s going to be one heck of an exciting draft, even if my consensus No. 1 pick happens to slip one spot down the draft board.

Sure, the consensus No. 1 pick is Greg Oden. Though is Kevin Durant more deserving than the OSU freshman?