They pulled Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge from the 2006 Draft and took Greg Oden the following year. Seemingly the pieces for a future championship run were in place. One was a scoring guard, the other a double-double power forward and the third a center with a tendency to rebound and defend. Pretty much everything was covered. The Young Three was diverse in talent, filled important roles and had room for growth and greatness.
And yet, almost five years later, the Big Three is reduced to a Big One-Third after having that group literally sliced apart by a surgeon’s scalpel.