Your statement makes no sense to me. They knew no team would make an offer over the MLE. Why would anyone do so until they have seen him play for at least a half a season. So of course they are going to take the QO. It has nothing to do with Portland. It has to do with the fact they believe Greg will come back from his injury. As usual it is all about the money. This strategy will give him the opportunity to get the best possible contract. IMO it is foolish to think that this is an exception to the rule. Get the most money possible. That is what it is all about. That is what it is always all about. At least for players in their 20's. Any agent advising otherwise is an idiot.
I find it funny that the Oden haters are now pissed that he's 'leaving' at the end of the season...how miserable is life for these people?
Maybe if he was healthy, but the guy didn't play at all last season and has only played in 82 games out of four seasons during his career. Those are the facts. It's a huge gamble on his part to take a one year deal over the security of a multi-year contract. Hell, it's a gamble for ANY player to take that deal, let alone someone with the history of injuries that Oden has. How am I an Oden hater? I'm just giving my opinion on what this move could mean for the franchise. I haven't said anything about Oden's ability to play or how I think he will do this season. I am interpreting what I think this move means from Oden's point of view.
Insecure much? I was speaking to all the Oden haters, both in this thread and in others. You have to admit it's funny to see these Chicken Little wannabes freak out that Oden the bust is bolting to any other team other than Portland....lol
And, all this 'Oden leaving' negativity is based on a Canzano article, who just about everyone here hates! He sure does a good job getting people to talk about him through his shitty articles...I remember what my mom used to say, "negative attention is still attention'...trolls
I haven't even read his article. I just think it's blind optimism to think that this move is a good thing, but hey, think what you want. We will revisit this topic in seven months.
Oh yeah, I will admit to it being blind optimism, you do have that right. I won't claim to know what Greg will do, and it is really silly to see others acti like they know. It is a forum disease when people speak so definitively...'Brandon's knees are done', "Greg wants to leave Portland'...no one knows any of this, other than the docs or the players. Certainly not a bunch of middle-aged men reading a Blazer forum at 10:30pm.
My preference has nothing to do with it. The Blazers did what they had to do. They tendered the qualifying offer, which is common practice, and waited to see what kind of offers Greg could field. It would have been stupid to offer him a max contract right off the bat. He took the qualifying offer and he's putting his chips on the table. This will either turn out very well for him and he will collect a big contract next summer, or he will bust out and find a barren market because he either sucked this year or he suffers another injury. I just think people who are saying that this is a good move are delusional. Greg isn't making a good decision, which means he's either doing it for money or other reasons. Greg has never struck me as the kind of guy that would gamble this much for money, so I suspect he's rolling the dice because he wants to have the power to choose his own future next summer.
It's not that it is a good move, but the fact that it is the only move. For both parties. What gamble? He is gettng the most he can get. No one is delusional here. Everyone involved knows that we have to wait and see how he responds to yet another surgery. Greg is not rolling the dice here because he has very little options. And I suspect he is OK with that. He probably wants to prove to himself he can play as well. Before he signs another contract.
Not quite. For some of us, the biggest fear is that the Blazers will sign him to a long term deal that robs them of financial/roster flexibility. If some other team wants to shoot themselves in the foot by over-paying for him, I won't lose a wink of sleep over it!
Honestly, I don't see why that's so complicated. If he comes back, has a meh but healthy season, you offer him approximately his value (whatever you value a serviceable center at) and if another team bids more, you let him go and move on. I don't think anyone's wringing their hands over losing an average center, regardless of his name. I suspect when people worry about losing Oden, they're worried about losing a guy who seems to be an impact player on the court. I hate to simplify, but there are three broad categories of outcomes for his coming season that matter in terms of how you handle him in the off-season: 1. He misses all or most of the season (regardless of how he plays in the few games he happens to play, if he plays any) 2. He plays most of the season, but is nothing special 3. He plays most of the season and is an impact player In situations (1) and (2) you either don't offer him a deal, or you only offer him a deal based on his performance (in the case of category 2). If he leaves, you feel poignant about an exciting draft pick not panning out but at least avoid the risk of a disaster contract. In situation (3), the situation where you'd be torn up about losing him, you offer him more than anyone else is offering, which the Blazers will be able to do. The fact of the matter is, things have gone on too long that you can afford to pay for mystery any more. This is the final season to see, the final season where he's affordable to merely evaluate. Either he wows and you pay up, or he doesn't and you don't worry about him leaving. That's my view of it.
Its amazing how many "fans" of our team hate the players on our team. If we sign Oden to a long-term deal the Blazers management are idiots for sticking with an injury prone player. If Oden signs for a short deal the Blazers are idiots because he will leave.
Totally disagree. Even if Oden is injured again and misses this entire season he will have interest in the free agent market. Kwame Brown was earning $8 million a year from the Lakers and Grizzlies after he had proved to be a bust playing 7 crappy seasons. Darko Milicic got almost $30 million last offseason and he was a bust pick back in 2003. NBA teams can't help handing out huge deals for big man prospects years after they prove on the court they are busts. Greg hasn't proved he a bust yet, he has only had injury problems and somebody will strike out with the top tier free agents, then gamble Greg is going to finally get healthy. Greg will be able to get a mid tier contract for his next deal no matter how injured or crappy he plays. Now if he is healthy and averaging only a modest 9 points 9 boards at the end of the season he will get paid close to the max.
I get the sense that the management really don't have a plan in place for this team. They're just going with the flow, Forrest Gump style.
Yeah, I think they're doing a wait and see since we have so many possible directions we could go next offseason. I'm still glad we haven't done anything horrible such as the Theo/Zbo/Miles extensions! That offseason hurt our franchise more then any point the last 15 years. Even if you are right that management doesn't have a plan at least doing nothing is better then doing something bad
I agree with many of your observations of Gregs personality. But he could have other reasons for taking the QO. Perhaps Greg really wants to prove he deserves a contract, he doesn't want to be handed a huge deal when he has contributed so little while other more deserving peer teammates are earning far less. Remember how Nate said he only wanted to coach on 1 year contracts? Maybe Oden has a similar mindset at the moment, he wants a season to really show what he's worth and receive the rewards of playing well but not rip off Paul Allen any more if he disappoints. Greg has already earned tens of millions and he will earn many millions more even with an injury, so I don't think he is risking as much as you suggest by passing on a multi-year deal. Sure there is risk of injury which would reduce his career earnings but that risk doesn't put him on food stamps or anything. He is financially set for life no matter what.
