Of all the teams with a rooting interest in that year's lottery, the Celtics had the second-most ping-pong balls in the hopper on May 22, 2007. Mathematically, they were most likely to get the No. 2 pick in the draft that summer, which meant they would be in line to select Texas Longhorns superstar Kevin Durant. It was perfect — Durant would fit perfectly into a one-two-three punch with Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson, he was projected to fall to the Celtics, and Boston GM Danny Ainge loved him.
While it's possible that this is just a good old-fashioned dose of revisionist history, the refrain around Boston is that Ainge liked Durant even more than Greg Oden, the Ohio State big man hyped as the unanimous No. 1 in that draft. Maybe it's true, maybe not. But we know what the C's coach thinks.
"I was for Oden," Doc Rivers said this week. "I wanted the size and all that. And anybody that tells you otherwise, they have amnesia. That's all I'll say. Everyone now, they'll say, 'Oh, I wanted Durant, Durant, Durant.' I loved Durant, but I saw Oden's size and I thought, 'Go with Oden.' Clearly, I would have made a mistake."
Yeah. A pretty giant one. You look at Durant now, and it's pretty hard to believe that he's still only 21 years old. He's become one of the best players in the NBA, and he's the leader of a shockingly young team that's somehow right there in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.
Durant is one of the game's great success stories. He's taken a team with no pedigree and no real expectations and turned it, almost overnight, into a contender. You watch him on the floor, and he's an amazing physical specimen. He's got speed, and he's got athleticism, but that's not what he's all about. Durant beats you by overpowering you. He'll back you down, he'll shoot over you, he'll dunk on you. He's got the size and strength to outplay just about any forward in the NBA.
He's a great teammate, too. All these no-name kids surrounding Durant — Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Thabo Sefolosha — none of them are superstars. But with Durant facilitating everything and making everyone around him better, they come together to form a contender. Everyone has his role, with Westbrook as the point guard, Green as the other physical body at forward and Sefolosha as the defensive stopper. The Thunder are a well-oiled machine.
Because of it, Durant has become a legitimate MVP candidate. The short list is LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Durant and maybe Carmelo Anthony. Beyond that, forget about it.
We've reached the point where we can consider Durant, above all others, the future of the NBA. When Kobe's out to pasture and LeBron enters his declining years, this guy will be the class of the league. He's the game's icon of the future. Without question, he's the next big thing.
In Boston, it's easy to look at Durant and ask "what if?" What if the Celtics had gotten the No. 2 pick in the lottery? What if they'd never traded their first-round pick for Ray Allen, or dealt Jefferson as part of that huge package for Kevin Garnett? What if the Celtics, three years later, tried to win a title with a starting five of Pierce, Jefferson, Durant, Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins?
In a crazy hypothetical world where NBA GMs (and ping-pong balls) think altogether differently, it just might have worked. And if you bleed Celtic green, it's tempting to think about what could have been and maybe kick yourself once or twice.
Either that, or you can just enjoy a heck of game Wednesday night between one of the NBA's best veteran teams and its absolute best young one. Talk about a fun matchup.
