NBA Rookie Expectations

The NBA season is fast approaching and we are all expecting a lot if things. We all want to know if Kobe will be traded or not and we’re all excited to see Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and Paul Pierce play together wondering if the trio will really work out as planned. While Greg Oden’s season ending knee injury is a huge disappointment, I can’ wait to see Kevin Durant play and show his offensive explosiveness. I know that we all have a lot of anticipation in the coming season so I’ll give you my thoughts and expectations about the upcoming NBA season.

Here goes:

Greg Oden
Dubbed as the next Bill Russell, Greg Oden’s entry to the NBA is very much anticipated. As the Overall No. 1 draft pick of Portland Trail Blazers, Oden was expected to lead the Team back to its winning form. Unfortunately, Oden’s arrival in the pro league was hampered by injuries. His NBA summer league stint was cut short because he needed surgery to remove his tonsils. He was expected to heal and recover nicely when Portland found out later that he needed another surgery to repair a cartilage damage right knee. He’s expected to miss his entire rookie season and this is a huge blow to Portland. The upcoming season is supposed to be a stellar season for the former Ohio State standout, but I guess we’ll have to wait for next season to see if Oden is really the next Bill Russell.

Kevin Durant
Since Greg Oden will miss his entire rookie season, the rookie spotlight now turns to Kevin Durant. This University of Texas standout was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics 2nd overall. As a Longhorn, Durant was a prolific scorer and if he can bring his A-game to the NBA, then Sonics’ standing will surely elevate this coming season. But even if Durant is a potential offensive threat, we must take into consideration that he is still young and Sonics as a team is relatively young. The team may reach the playoffs but I doubt that they can win the NBA championship this year. Durant needs more experience and he needs to beef up his lanky frame if he’s to compete with the NBA’s best. Sonics also need to acquire key players to support Durant, give them 2-3 years to gel, then we’ll see how it goes.

Keep on checking my page; I’ll be posting more NBA blogs over the next few weeks.
Many thanks.