I argued then and still would argue now that Oden was the better draft prospect. Yes, Durant was a great college player, but there were real concerns that a guy as weak as him--he couldn't even bench 185 at the NBA pre-draft combine--would get routinely pushed around by other NBA forwards.
From the pre-draft camp that year, you can see that Oden was an absolute freak athlete:
Oden was faster than Durant in the 3/4-court sprint, quicker in an agility drill and had better results in vertical leap tests, according to The Oregonian. Oden also had only 7.8 percent body fat, by far the best among big men tested.
Aside from that, all else being equal, a great center is more rare and more valuable than a great forward in today's NBA. Plus, Portland was still learning about what they would get from Martell Webster and LaMarcus Aldridge, both of whom were under 22 and forwards who had been drafted in the top-6 in the previous two drafts.
Yes, Oden has been injured pretty badly in his career, and had Portland or anyone else known about the injuries, Durant would have gone #1. Still, based purely on the information available in June '07, I think Oden was the better prospect.
