11 replies to this topic

[Oswego Chris]

I really don't follow the NBA anymore. In my opinion it's become very similar to the WWE. In fact, the officials may do a better job in pro wrestling than they do in the NBA. I really quit paying attention when MJ left. I always think of the line from Superman II delivered by the lovely(sarcasm) Margot Kidder as Lois Lane..."Clark, once a girl has seen Superman in action, Niagra Falls leaves you kind of cold."

However, last night I watched a bit of the Thunder/Spurs and I saw something amazing. (No, not the fact that the entire crowd was white, although I did see one African-American fellow) No I saw Kevin Durant. I knew this dude was good, but man he is a freak.

Then I realized something. Back in 2007, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden first overall, passing over Kevin Durant. Oden has been an injury bust so far, while Durant just might be the best player in the game. Then it dawned on me. Portland! The same team that selected Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan.

Now I am not sure how many die-hard Trail-Blazer fans are out there( I am sure they at least number in the hundreds)...but can you imagine knowing that your team may have made the two biggest draft blunders in the history of the universe!( yes I said universe, there have been some very questionable pod-racing drafts on Tatooine)

So my question to you BN readers( maybe reader in my case): can you think of a team that has made TWO decisions like this that have turned out so poorly. Good luck.

[King Jeff]

I was a Supersonics fan when they drafted Durant, so I was holding my breath from the end of the lottery to the day of the draft hoping that Portland took Grandpa Oden. There are some NBA writers that still defend the Oden over Durant pick, saying that a franchise center is the most important player you can draft, so they did the right thing taking Oden.

That is a pretty terrible track record, but overall the Blazers have been pretty good at drafting and trading guys. I know it's no excuse, but they did have Clyde Drexler, so taking Sam Bowie at the time probably made a lot of sense.

[Cubbie Blues]

I'll start with the Vikings getting Hershel Walker from the Cowboys. That trade turned around Dallas and Minnesota wasn't heard from until Culpepper and Moss. Now, I have to add another to their decisions. I don't know, signing Favre?

[Luke]

The Chargers should be up there. They drafted Ryan Leaf, and then a few years later traded away Eli Manning. Arguably they had no choice in either of those situations, but that' s about as snake bit as a team can get.

Short of, you know, passing on both Jordan and Durant.

[Brett]

The Chargers should be up there. They drafted Ryan Leaf, and then a few years later traded away Eli Manning. Arguably they had no choice in either of those situations, but that' s about as snake bit as a team can get.

Short of, you know, passing on both Jordan and Durant.

I'm not sure that the Eli trade was all that bad for them, though - they got Rivers, who's been OK. Probably better with Eli, but still.

[pkclimber]

Tennessee Titans. Pacman Jones, Vince Young, Derrick Morgan (although he could still turn it around), and taking Andre Dyson over Randy Moss.

Pacman needs no explanation. Good player that couldn't stay on the field.

Vince Young had a good season but he was not the kind of player you thought you were getting that would be a team leader for years to come. Oh, and later that draft they took Lendale White. Bowling ball of a human was a decent back when he took the time to put down the cheese burger and do something. But apparently he liked cheese burgers more.

Derrick Morgan just hasn't lived up to what he was supposed to be. He has pretty much stayed hurt. And the times he isn't hurt he isn't good enough to be on the field.

Andre Dyson over Randy Moss. If anyone needs an explanation on this one, just find a solid surface and run your head into it until you realize why this needs no explanation.

Edit* As far as cursed franchises, you could make the argument for the Raiders. Al Davis (may he rest in peace) in recent years made so many decisions (good, bad, or otherwise) the team has been left in a constant state of change. I'm curious to see how the Raiders change as an organization now that he isn't involved in the decision making process. Same could also be said for the Cowboys.

[Spencer]

The Miami Dolphins elected to sign Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees because they were concerned about Brees' shoulder. oops.

That's just one decision, but it was stupid.

[Luke]

Vince Young had a good season but he was not the kind of player you thought you were getting that would be a team leader for years to come. Oh, and later that draft they took Lendale White. Bowling ball of a human was a decent back when he took the time to put down the cheese burger and do something. But apparently he liked cheese burgers more.

If I remember right, there was a pretty good QB from Vanderbilt in that draft, and the Titans left him on the board to take Young. I believe he plays for the Bears now.

[pkclimber]

Vince Young had a good season but he was not the kind of player you thought you were getting that would be a team leader for years to come. Oh, and later that draft they took Lendale White. Bowling ball of a human was a decent back when he took the time to put down the cheese burger and do something. But apparently he liked cheese burgers more.

If I remember right, there was a pretty good QB from Vanderbilt in that draft, and the Titans left him on the board to take Young. I believe he plays for the Bears now.

Can we just ignore that for a while. Like, until Jake Locker is an MVP and such.

[MichiganGoat]

Greg Oden (and Eric Montross if you remember that name) both come from my High School's sister school (same district). I even student taught while Oden was at Ohio State and everyone talked about when he was returning- now seems sooner than later without the fanfare. So yeah the Trailblazer are really cursed with those picks, and somehow Boston (who actually played to have the worst record to win the lottery pick for Oden) misses out on both Durrant and Oden then trades themselves to a title. Damn I hate the NBA why do I remember this... Oh yeah it was all over Indianapolis media while I lived there.

[MichiganGoat]

The Chargers should be up there. They drafted Ryan Leaf, and then a few years later traded away Eli Manning. Arguably they had no choice in either of those situations, but that' s about as snake bit as a team can get.

Short of, you know, passing on both Jordan and Durant.

It's as if San Diego was once abused by some guy named Manning and just had to stay away.

[fromthemitten]

Eli refused to sign with San Diego which is why they were forced to trade him to the Giants.

Portland is a pretty big mess, not only with poor drafting but with poor character. I remember about six or so years ago they were the Portland "Jailblazers" and half the roster was facing criminal charges.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the good ole Lions. They haven't won a championship since the 50s and went decades without having a franchise QB.

Here are their last ten #1 picks:
2002: Drafting Joey Harrington with the #3 pick. He had NO chance to succeed with the awful offensive line and wide receivers corps around him. Drafted ahead of Ed Reed, Dwight Freeney, Bryant McKinney, Lito Sheppard, and Jeremy Shockey
2003: #2 overall pick Charles Rodgers was hopefully going to be Harrington's go-to guy. Wound up injured and decided the crack pipe was more important than catching footballs. I'm pretty sure he's in jail (which is a longstanding tradition of former Michigan State WRs)
Drafted a head of ONE PICK BEFORE ANDRE JOHNSON WHO HAS BEEN ONE OF THE BEST WRs IN FOOTBALL, Terence Newman, Jordan Gross, Terrell Suggs, and Troy Polamalu.
2004: Hey even though our roster has holes all over the place lets draft another WR in the first round. With the 7th overall pick Roy Williams was a hot dog who would do this god awful annoying thing where whenever he got a first down he would imitate and official signaling first down. EVEN IF THEY WERE LOSING 42-0 and the only good thing to come out of him was that we were able to fleece Dallas for a first round draft pick for him.
Drafted ahead of: DeAngelo Hall, Jonathon Vilma, Steven Jackson, Shawn Andrews, and local talent Jason Babin.
2005: Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Fool me three times my name's Matt Millen. FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR DETROIT SELECTS A WIDE RECEIVER IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE DRAFT. This time it's Mike Williams at the #10 pick who was fat, ineffective, and was out of football until recently when his college coach Pete Carroll gave him a second chance.
Drafted ahead of: the three picks that followed all went to the pro bowl: DeMarcus Ware (one of the best defensive players in the league), Shawne Merriman, and Jammal Brown. Some guy named Aaron Rodgers was sitting in the green room as well as a more effective receiver in Roddy White.
2006: WIth the 9th overall pick the Detroit Lions shocked the world and drafted a player on defense. He was decent during his tenure but was traded after three seasons.
Drafted ahead of: Jay Cutler, Haloi Ngata, DeAngelo Williams, Mercedes Lewis, and DeMeco Ryans.
2007: ANOTHER WIDE RE-oh wait it's Calvin Johnson. Even a blind squirrel finds the nut every once in a while.
Drafted ahead of: It doesn't matter. It's CALVIN F'N JOHNSON.
2008: 17th overall pick goes to Gosder Cherlius. A severely underwhelming OT who still makes boneheaded errors will probably lose his starting job to Reiley Rieff (the team's first round pick).
Drafted ahead of Chris Johnson, Joe Flacco, Mike Jenkins, DeSean Jackson, and Matt Forte.
2009: All of these draft picks culminated into Detroit's record breaking winless season. The first overall pick went to Matthew Stafford. If he stays healthy he can be a top 5 QB in the league for years to stay. IF HE STAYS HEALTHY.
Drafted ahead of: Who cares? It's Matthew Stafford. Go figure: this was the first draft pick after Matt Millen was fired.
2010: A beast named Suh. Good player but needs to get his head on straight. His suspensions and unnecessary penalties really hurt the team last season, plus he had an underwhelming sophomore slump. Verdict's still out on him.
Drafted ahead of: Too soon to tell.
2011: Oh god now here's a disaster of a draft. The first round pick, Nick Fairley, was injured on the field and a pain in the ass off the field racking up a possession charge and DUI + evading the cops. 2nd round picks Titus Young and Mikel Leshoure also found themselves in trouble. Leshore missed the season with a torn achilles tendon and was arrested twice for possession. Titus Young was in trouble for sucker punching S Louis Delmas during OTAs. A later round draft pick, Johnny Culbreath, was also popped.
2012 TOO EARLY TO TELL

So out of 10 years only three players developed into solid contributers: Stafford, Suh, and Johnson. If that's not a curse I don't know what is...