Besides playing for the
Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden don’t
seem to have much in common. And that was the case when the Sonics/Thunder selected
them in three consecutive drafts, except for one key factor.
All three players were exceptionally young for
their class. At 18.74 years old on
draft night, Durant was the youngest freshmen
(and player) taken in the past five drafts combined. One year later, they
landed the youngest sophomore from
these five draft classes. Westbrook, at 19.62 years old, was actually younger
than many freshmen in the 2008 draft.
Then they took Harden in 2009. Only one other sophomore besides Westbrook was
younger than Harden at 19.83.
As a result, the Thunder
nabbed three players with far more college playing experience than prospects
their same age. The Sports Resource Newsletter covered this topic last year. Westbrook,
for example, had played 75 games for UCLA. Most of the draft selections close
to his age had fewer than half that many.
Obviously, it wasn’t just
about their age relative to their class. Durant and Harden also put up
outstanding statistics, but so had many others in their draft class. Their numbers were made far more impressive
by the fact that they were over one year younger (in some cases) than
players that shared the same college class.
Maybe other teams valued
this common factor, but went another direction on draft night. Perhaps it’s
just a coincidence that Oklahoma City
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