Isaac
Years ago
Did the Spurs offer Duncan for Oden?
Interesting story from Oregon about the Blazers' GM deciding on Oden.
Oden wasn't a slam dunk
First, was an offer from an Eastern team:
The executive made an offer that was moderate in shock value: A five-time All-Star and this year's lottery pick in exchange for the No. 1 pick and the Blazers' 2008 first-round pick.Then:
As enticing as the offer was -- the Blazers in years past had made a run at the All-Star player -- Pritchard declined on the spot.
A team within the Blazers division proposed a trade involving a future Hall of Famer and a standout rookie for the Blazers' No. 1 pick.
As Pritchard described it, he stayed up until 3 a.m. in his hotel room with his staff considering the offer.
Ultimately, Pritchard and his staff came to a conclusion: They would not make the deal, determining the No. 1 pick was so valuable, that only a trade involving Cleveland star LeBron James would be considered.And then another tempting offer:
It would take eight hours for Pritchard's conviction to be tested.
Pritchard that morning was approached by a general manager of a Western Conference power.Spotted some guesses on TrueHoop - they narrowed it down to Nash (thought the Suns wouldn't trade him at all), Dirk (might not be an easy straight-in for the HoF) and Duncan.
With bright lights illuminating the court below, Pritchard sat in a darkened corner with the general manager. The general manager wanted the Blazers' No. 1 pick. And he was willing to offer a player that will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Within the span of 24 hours, the Blazers had offers for two certain Hall of Famers in exchange for the No. 1 pick.
That article is split over a bunch of pages, but you can read it on one (just ignore the printer pop-up): Full article.
