[moximusParticipant]

Quite sad http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7537730/greg-oden-portland-trail-blazers-undergo-knee-procedure PORTLAND, Ore. — Trail Blazers center Greg Oden underwent an arthroscopic procedure to "remove debris" from his right knee, his fourth surgery since Portland selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, the team said.

The often-injured 7-footer had microfracture surgery on the same knee before the start of his rookie season, forcing him to postpone his NBA debut for a year.

Since then, Oden has appeared in just 82 career games for the Blazers, averaging 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Oden hasn’t appeared in a game for the Blazers in two years. He also underwent surgery for a fractured kneecap in late 2009, then early last season he had microfracture surgery on his left knee.

The latest procedure took place Friday afternoon in Vail, Colo. The Blazers said it was successful and that Oden remains out indefinitely.

It was expected that he might be able to play for the Blazers this season, but a checkup before the start of training camp in December reportedly revealed concerns about a non-weight-bearing ligament in the left knee, further setting back his rehabilitation. Since then, he has turned down repeated interview requests.

Oden was a restricted free agent heading into this season. The Blazers and Oden initially agreed to an $8.9 million qualifying offer for this year, but when the setback was announced the two sides restructured the deal, which was dropped to $1.5 million.

He will become an unrestricted free agent following this season.

Oden was selected over Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant with the top pick in the 2007 draft. The Blazers believed the former Ohio State star could lead the team — along with Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge — to an NBA championship.

But the trio has seen only scant playing time together, and Roy, a three-time All-Star, abruptly retired before the start of this season because of his own ongoing knee issues.

Oden’s repeated knee problems have drawn comparisons to Sam Bowie, the injury-plagued big man the Blazers selected ahead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 draft.

While Bowie played in 76 games his rookie season, averaging 10 points and 8.6 rebounds, he appeared in just 63 games over the next four seasons because of injuries. He missed the entire 1987-88 season. In all, he had five operations on his legs.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 Let the Suns training staff get a hold of him, if they can’t fix him no one can.  Or send him to Germany where they’re using stem-cells for knee injuries, ask Kobe hows that working out. 

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I know the common thing will be to say, "He is such a bust!" and "He still has a lot of money" and "He will never be healthy". Well, my common response to those will be, screw you. I feel Superbad (even worse than his dog Charles Barkley McLovin) about Greg’s injuries. I still am a huge fan and have faith that if you can get him healthy (or at 60 games+play-offs), he is a major impact player.

The bottom line is, it will be hard to give Greg Oden a long term deal. I think he 100% should go somewhere other than Portland and get a change of scenery (Not saying I would not want him back, because I would). Greg should play for a team that could use him and I know people will say Phoenix because of their training staff, but I think he is obviously getting looked at by pro’s and that it is hard to know whether it is the training staff or his body at this point.

Hindsight is 20/20, a lot of people on this site seem to suddenly have thought that Kevin Durant was the bonafide first pick in the 2007 Draft and that Greg would just be hurt or "not a starting center". Both of those are garbage, he had hurt his WRIST before his college season and was not hurt in HS. Also, he was CLEARLY a starting center and a potentially major one before he went down in 2009. Well, my regards go out to Greg and I am hurt by this news for him. Still am a huge fan and still hope we get the chance to see him play, even if it is only a few more seasons. If you think that there is a player in the NBA who could box out Greg Oden, besides possibly Dwight Howard, you are snorting cheese balls. That is cocaine and cheese.

[tuck243Participant]

injury is up there with Yao, McGrady, Penny, Grant Hill, and Allan Houston…  All great players cut short due to injuries…  I hope B. Roy comes back next year…   

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

 Grant Hill is still in the league, so clearly his career wasn’t cut short

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 @MikeyV 

I made a post about Oden Last Night contemplating whether people thought he could get and stay healthy and how strange of a situation this is because he is just seemingly dangled in front of Blazer fans like a carrot in hopes he can return.  

He’s too young to write off but he’s been rehabbing for so long you gotta wonder where his head is at.

And I had no doubts that Oden was going to be the 2nd best Center if not the best Center in the league.  His offense was more advanced then Howard and he could actually hit a mid range jumper.  Plus he was going to be every bit the dominant defensive force Howard had become.  Oden’s greatest asset was he was a true 7 footer who is remarkably strong, athletic, and smart.  He did what it took to win.

At the same time I really wanted the Blazers to get Durant cuz I’d never saw anything like him when he was at Texas.  He measured in at 6’11 in shoes at the predraft camp with a 7’6 wingspan I remenber watching him rolling off screen and hitting 3’s I thought somebody that tall and long who could move like that was absurd.  Putting him in Portland alongside Aldridge was going to give them one of the longest, tallest, and skilled teams for years to come.

 But at the same time you couldn’t blame them for picking Oden we still haven’t saw a center as skilled as him enter the draft since then.  Noels, Davis, and Drummond aren’t even the same level prospect Oden was.

[tuck243Participant]

Yea he’s still in the league but his best years are behind him…  Dude was suppose to be LeBron James before LeBron… A HOF so I think his career was cut short… Just like McGrady… 

[EntropyParticipant]

An anagram for Oden is done.

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

To be honest, even back in the 2007 draft, I prefered Kevin Durant than Greg Oden.  I don’t know why but I thought the Blazers made a huge mistake taking Oden, even though it was the national consensus.  I loved the way Kevin Durant played in Texas and was much more dominant than Oden was in Ohio St.  Although, that’s completely arguable I still prefered Durant.  I still remember my friends telling me Oden was the next big thing while Durant would just be another Richard Jefferson-type guy.  Not by his skills but his stats — flirting with being a franchise player and an All-Star but never really achieving it.  Boy, do they hate when I bring that up.

I never really saw Gred Oden as a 20-10 center, much less a 25-12 center that a lot of people were predicting.  I just saw him as a big body that would be a good fit on a team that needed a center, which the Blazers needed at the time.  I always saw him as a 15-10 type of guy on a championship contendor.  The Blazers really have had some bad luck, to think what they could have became if these guys would not have been injured and others reached their potential.  Bayless(20)-Roy(24)-Webster(21)-Aldridge(24)-Oden(22) with Outlaw (24), Fernandez (23), Batum (20), Frye (25), and Diogu (25)  That line-up looked scary in NBA Live 08, and they almost always won a championship by 2010 or 2011. 

I really hope my Rockets give Greg Oden a try.  We’ve really got nothing to lose, a two-year deal just to see what he has in the tank and a team-option for the 3rd year.  I hope he can still be an 11-11 + 2BPG kind of guy that brings defense and toughness.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

It’s hard not to take the word "knee surgery" whenever it’s concerning Greg Oden as a big deal, BUT… This really isn’t a big deal.

This is a procedure A LOT of players have. The removal of debris/scar tissue, etc is very normal and has nothing to do with the reason he’s out.

What I want to know is wtf this "nonweight bearing ligament" injury is…

 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

@TOL,

I was the same way that was the year the Sixers traded A.I. and had like the worse record in the league before Andre Miller just caught fire and lead them to the playoffs.  I still get mad thinking about because it was stupid we’re still suffering from that dumb playoff run when it was obvious by anybody who had a brain we should of tanked and traded Miller.  

But thinking we were gonna have one of the top picks I was watching every Texas, Florida, and Ohio State game that was on TV.  Durant was hands down my favorite and most dominate player in college that year.  He was also the most dominate player I ever watched in college besides Michael Beasley.  

Oden was/is too team first.  After just trading A.I. the Sixers needed another killer on the court.  And Durant was a cold killer at Texas.  

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

IF Oden never got injured and both he and Durant reach max potential, I pick Oden over him everyday of the week.

He impacts the game in more ways than Durant and that was the case all throughout high school. That’s why Oden was ranked number one since like the 8th grade. Oden’s AAU teams, high school teams, etc always won… Even Ohio State almost won against a veteran Florida sqaud during college.

Teams that dominate the paint at both ends win championships. That’s a fact. Unless it’s Michael Jordan, I’m picking a dominate big man over a high scoring wing every day of the week. I don’t care how tall he is or how smooth he scores.

 

 

 

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

The minor issue that was glossed over in an article I read was that he was being treated for a blood clot in his ankle at the same time.  The guys body isn’t made to handle the stress basketball puts on him.   If he was my kid I’d talk to him about quitting and finding another line of work.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Where’d you read that? 

And a blood clot isn’t that big of a deal… There’s medicine to make that go away. He probably got that due to his surgery and flying so much.

I had surgery to repair a torn ACL and caught one in my calf. Hurts like a b*tch, but the blood thinners, etc make it all good. The good thing is it was all the way down in his ankle. It being close to your chest is the problem.

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

I read it in  Oregonlive.com  By itself a bloodclot might not seem so bad…  but now consider everythinng else that he’s been through..

[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

@BumOutLike23, Oden still could be 20 and 10 if he makes a full recovery and he definitely would have been a 20 and 10 guy had these string of injuries not come up.

Oden was the better prospect than Durant going into that draft. Hindsight is 20/20. Not Oden’s fault that he has had all these injuries. Portland made the right choice at the time.

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

I read it in  Oregonlive.com  By itself a bloodclot might not seem so bad…  but now consider everythinng else that he’s been through. Plus maybe another surgery next week to clean up his other knee.

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2012/02/trail_blazers_center_greg_oden_to_undergo_yet_anot.html

[WizardofOzParticipant]

 This isn’t a big deal. It looks like he’s just cleaning out his knee before rehabilitation. But I’m having doubts about him playing in the NBA again.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 He does seem to have some structural issues. I remember that was a concern coming out of college because one of his legs was shorter than the other. But he still was so tall and jumped so well and had some speed as well. Now who knows how good his vertical is. But he was dominant when he played in 09-10. It wasn’t just the scoring and rebounding, which were solid. It was the defense that he brought. Like Chandler, some of it doesn’t show up in the box score, but he had major impact on the defensive end. 

The thought was that you can find a small forward who can score. But a center who can dominate defensively and contribute on the offensive side is the stuff of championships. That is why Portland went with him and that is why Portland is waiting for him still. 

[JunkYardDogParticipant]

Good news he still got some knees to have surgey on !!! (hollow laugh)

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