During the infamous 2007 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers chose Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick, while the Seattle Supersonics drafted Kevin Durant with the No. 2 pick. Because of injuries Oden never got to live out the high expectations many had for him, and Durant went on to become one of the top 5 players in the NBA. Now of course in hindsight Durant should’ve been the No. 1 pick and he definitely wanted to be, but he eventually was glad to be chosen by Sonics instead.
Initially, Durant said he desired to play for the Trail Blazers.
“I definitely wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but I landed in a great situation,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better. I would love to play with LaMarcus and Brandon Roy, but when I was the second pick, I was very excited to get to Seattle. We had traded Ray Allen, like, two picks later, and I was like, ‘Wow. They’re really opening it up for me and really allowing me to grow as a player.’ So I didn’t even worry about being the No. 1 pick after that. Once we traded Ray Allen, I was like, ‘This is my team.’ They’re going to allow me to grow and make my mistakes. So I was looking forward to it.”
