'84 draft set standard for NBA

The NBA draft comes every June, only this time it's more like once a generation. Talent evaluators rate it the deepest in years, with about half the lottery adding to the buildup by playing into the Final Four, and league brass benefiting from no longer having to introduce their fans to high school kids.

So Ohio State center Oden is audaciously compared to the greatest winner in team sports history, Texas small forward Durant gets a grandiose ranking, and team executives speak of both as future stars with a certainty unheard since the mania of LeBron James in 2003. The first-round depth is an equal selling point.

The league at least has its bounce after the San Antonio-Cleveland Finals played in secrecy. Now all everyone has to do is wait 10 years and reconvene to judge how the Class of '07 actually held up to time and the proven-great drafts.