40 Acres Sports

How far can Kevin Durant take the Thunder?

Last week, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and then avoided the jinx when he went out and walloped the Missouri Tigers. The NBA preview edition is out and on the one of the regional covers of the magazine is former Longhorn basketball star Kevin Durant.

No big article on Durant or the OKC Thunder but he is of course the main feature on the team preview. Another form Horn LaMarcus Aldridge is also the focus of the Blazers’ preview, but of course the overrated Greg Oden gets an eight-page story. Whoever the real star is, the experts expect another big improvement this season for Portland.

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Hedo Turkoglu named NBA’s most improved player, former Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge is the runner up with 9 first place votes.

The book on LaMarcus Aldridge. Compares to Jack Sikma? Who the heck is that?

With the second pick in the 2007 NBA Draft the Seattle Supersonics select Kevin Durant…

Okay, it hasn’t happened yet but the Sonics won the right to pick second in the draft at tonight’s draft lottery. LaMarcus Aldridge’s Portland Trailblazers secured the number one overall pick despite having only a 5.3% chance to win the pick. The Spurs and Mavericks are breathing a little easier after the Atlanta Hawks won the third pick and therefore don’t have to hand it over to Phoenix.

Seattle isn’t a great situation for Durant, but there’s certainly worse places to go (namely Atlanta or Memphis). The team is in a state of disarray both on and off the court. Not a great place from a marketability standpoint either, as most of the team’s games start too late for the other time zones to watch. Plus, there’s still the rumor that they want to move the team to Oklahoma City. That would mean Texas fans could drive up and see KD play, but then he’d have to live in Oklahoma.

I was rooting for the Blazers to get the number two pick so Aldridge and Durant could team up together. That still could happen, while Greg Oden is definitely the likely pick by Portland it is not a given. ESPN’s Chad Ford even mentioned a possible pick swap between Portland and Seattle since Durant might be a better fit for Portland.

It should come down to the very last minute before we know what’s going to happen with the first pick of next month’s draft. Should make for interesting TV.

Related Links

• Blazers get #1 pick
• True Hoop lottery live blog
• FanHouse mock draft: Blazers take Durant

LaMarcus Aldridge named to NBA All-Rookie Team. Joined on 1st team by Portland teammate Brandon Roy.

The condition that caused LaMarcus Aldridge’s dizziness and irregular heartbeat has been diagnosed as Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.

Portland Trail Blazers Forward LaMarcus Aldridge underwent a series of tests today at Providence St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Portland. He was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW) and was treated for the condition by Dr. Daniel Oseran at St. Vincent’s. The procedure was successful.

Aldridge will be monitored by a cardiologist and will miss the remainder of the season. He is expected to make a full recovery and be cleared to resume physical activity, including basketball, in the near future.

Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome can be serious if untreated, causing dizziness, chest palpitations, fainting, or possibly cardiac arrest. However, the procedure performed on LaMarcus is relatively simple and if successful everything should be back to normal only a day or two afterwards. Sounds like if the issue had come up earlier in the season he could have been back on the court pretty quick, but with the season winding down they went ahead and shut him down. Glad to hear it was nothing too serious and it’ll be great to see Aldridge back on the court next year.

Source

LaMarcus Aldridge to undergo tests to discover source of dizziness. Could be a heart issue. Hope nothing is wrong.

Texas’ NCAA Tourney run may have ended Sunday with a loss to USC, but the Horns are running away with their first round game in SI.com’s What If Tourney. It’s the third year they’re running the tournament that tries to decide who would win the national championship if high school players had never been allowed to enter the NBA early and everyone had to spend four years in college.

The Longhorns add LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker, Daniel Gibson, and C.J. Miles back to the team. Those four guys along with Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin would make for an incredibly good and incredibly athletic team:

Kevin Durant is nearly impossible to stop. Add Aldridge, Tucker, and Gibson and you can subtract the word nearly from that last statement. Aldridge, who averaged 15 points and nine rebounds last season has shown great strides in his rookie year, including a 30-point performance against the Bobcats this month. Who knows how good he’d be as a junior in college?

Keep D.J. Augustin at point guard, and move Gibson, who goes from playing with LeBron to Durant, to his natural two-guard spot. Along with A.J. Abrams and Jazz guard C.J. Miles off the bench, Texas’ athleticism and depth are mind-blowing. If anything, the additions add some experience to a team whose top eight scorers are freshmen or sophomores.

Having Aldridge back in the middle of the Texas defense would have made a huge difference for this team. He’s easily the guy I’d most want back. He can run the floor well with all these young guys, play tough defense, and give the Horns a scoring threat down low. Of course having Gibson playing the two would be pretty nice as well. He’d have gotten a ton of open looks with Aldridge and Durant, and size at the guards was a real problem for Texas at both ends of the court this season.

A starting five of Augustin, Gibson, Durant, Tucker, and Aldridge sure would’ve been fun to watch. The three guys who left early probably aren’t regretting it one bit (especially when they look at their bank accounts), but it’s hard to believe at least one of them didn’t decide to stick around for a chance to play with Durant. Any one of those guys could have made a real impact on this year’s young group of stars.