I'm not sure that the Oden/Durant discussion was quite the same as the Ayton/Doncic/Bagley/(JJJ)/(Bamba)/(healthy Porter) discussion was this year.
My recollection - which could be wrong or different than others' recollections - is that Durant was really debated as more of a Devil's Advocate case than a serious discussion about who should be #1. It was kind of like "Obviously the can't-miss generational big man Oden is #1, but WHAT IF the Blazers took Durant instead? Is that even possible?" Big men were still the prize, and however good everybody thought Durant would be (the Sonics were obviously not complaining at #2) I think Oden was projected by almost everybody to have a larger impact due to the nature of the game at that time. I never doubted Oden would be #1, for what it's worth.
This year I think there were a lot of legitimate cases being made for up to 6 players at the #1 slot, and I wasn't sure that Ayton was going #1 until the Suns basically tipped their hat late in the game. I think a lot of that had to do with the game moving away from big men, and I think some of that had to do with the sort of motor issues that Ayton seems to be subject to, and I think some of that had to do with the reality (average quickness for his size) not matching up with the sales pitch ("Fleet-footed center! Agile as a deer, as a gazelle, even! A ballerina in high-tops!"). That's not to say that Ayton is a bust, or that he's not going to end up as a stellar example of his style of player, but the NBA pendulum seems to be swinging away from Ayton-style players and there were several solid players at the top of the draft that many truly believed had the ability to make more of an impact in today's NBA than Ayton.
