Durant’s defense isn’t that bad, at least when he’s guarding small forwards or perimeter oriented power forwards. He was Big 12 All-Defense at Texas, remember.

Nearly every playoff team last year had a legit center. Most of those that missed the playoffs (including OKC) had a makeshift PF playing center. Oden will give us defense. Durant’s defense is absolutely pathetic. Assuming Oden stays healthy, he’s still the guy. You’re a statmonger.

Considering the title of the piece is, “How much better off would the Blazers be had they drafted Durant instead of Oden?” I think the author getting “bogged down in the possibilities of various draft decisions” was the exact thing the author was trying to accomplish with this piece. Had the title been, “This is what the Blazers would have looked like with Durant” then I could see your point.

And why is it pathetic that an author defended his work when it is attacked?

The pathetic thing is that people can’t leave comments on sports sites without attacking the author personally. Now that’s pathetic.

You didn’t focus on what could have happened, instead getting bogged down in the possibilities of various draft decisions.

Why couldnt you have said- this is what the team would have looked like with Durant __________.

See that part about not being “in a position to draft those other guys in subsequent years”? I’m allowing for Portland’s improvement if they had drafted CP3 in 2005, so your rant about my inability to account for the Blazers’ potential rise in the standings in that situation is ill-advised. You’re committing the same sins that you are so self-righteous about in your rant.

As for the Blazers cap space, did I ever say they had a “ton” of cap space? Nope. You did. Besides, when I was talking about cap space, I was referring to the summer of 2010…

“and with the Blazers cap flexibility, they’d have a great shot at landing Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire next summer.”

FYI, I did my research (before writing the piece) and the Blazers are only on the hook for around $28 million next summer. Counting their likely signings/extensions, that pushes the number up to about $39-$40 million. That’s a ton of cap space, bud. (It’s all right here, if you care to do the research.)

Your last criticism is about the “what if” nature of my piece. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Most people like to think about “what if” and the angle of my article is about the Durant/Oden decision and how it might affect Pritchard’s long-term reputation. I guarantee you that a lot of Blazer fans are watching Durant blow up and are thinking about this very topic right now. “What if” is something that drives sports conversations all over the country, so it definitely has a place here.

As for the ESPN trade machine, get a grip. I plugged in the trade to see what it said. There’s a lot of research that goes into John Hollinger’s PER, and while we’ll never really know what Kevin Durant’s presence on the Portland roster would mean for its record, it’s an approximation, and that’s it. Do you think it’s outlandish to believe that Durant’s presence would yield five extra wins this season? If so, WOW you’re ignorant. Have you seen Durant play? If he were with Portland, the franchise would be building around him, and Roy would probably be playing second fiddle when it comes to shots. At worst, they’d be options 1 and 1a in the Blazers’ offense. Your premise that Aldridge and Roy wouldn’t give up any attempts is ridiculous. Durant’s talent demands them. Besides, the Celtics have proven that there are enough shots to go around for three stars – why wouldn’t it work in Portland?

I’m sorry that my piece rubbed you the wrong way, but if you’re going to be critical of someone’s work on a national site, you should at least make sure that your argument is air tight — and yours is littered with half-baked points. It’s not cool to misrepresent someone’s position and then take pot shots at it.

Also, the reason the trade machine says that is because it’s dumb. If you truly follow what an espn trade machine says and take it to heart, WOW you’re ignorant.

Do us all a huge favor, instead of writing articles that have no substance (seriously, a 5 year old could write an article about “what if this happened”) and no real point. You say the Blazers would win 61 games with Durant, well I doubt that. Durant needs shots, and with BROY and Aldridge he ain’t gettin those in the first unit. So he’d either be a 6th man (probably taking Travis Outlaw’s spot)or a mediocre SF in the first unit on the Blazers.

Please do some actual research and use deductive reasoning to figure out the obvious flaws in your story. Think about what you’re going to write before you put it on a national site.