Very sad deal. If you think the Blazers lost some money, remember that Oden probably loses around 90M (!) in potential money (see Durant). I agree with others that the Blazer's medical staff is a joke. I mean last year Blake went from a cold, to sinusitis, to bronchitis, to walking pneumonia, to full blown pneumonia and hospitalization - and nobody on the medical staff noticed!? Even a blind country doc could spot that and prescribe antibiotics well before things got out of hand. Seems to me they are not really monitoring player conditioning until it's too late.
I think some people just aren't ready to let the dream die, but I've seen enough. It'll be just one more injury and one more injury and one more...... etc. At what point do people accept that the guy is not capable of playing anymore without injuring himself?
So what will Gregs XXX porn screen name be? It's time for him to start thinking about that second careeer!
Oden makes Sam Bowie look like Cal Ripken. A player sitting behind the bench in a suit is of ZERO value. "Why is this hard to understand??"
Psychic - or psychological? You can't fix a problem if you are in denial that the problem exists. As long as Oden is on the payroll, he is a built in excuse for Cho, Nate, and everyone else to just tread water. Oden - and Roy - need to go, and the "brain trust" needs to be held accountable for fixing this mess. I've had enough "ifs", "buts", "maybes" and other excuses to last me several lifetimes.
How does the presence of Oden impact how they build the rest of the team? It will cost some money, sure, but other than that? I don't get it. Ed O.
You don't succeed by giving people an excuse to fail. As long as Oden is part of the team's long term plans, as Miller says he is, that is exactly what he is - an excuse.
this is my line of thinking... really we cant do anything else money wise we dont have a MLE we dont have anything of that nature, if paul allen can put up the money whats another year? shit we have been waiting at least 10+ years waiting for the right shit whats another?
Its not hard to understand a injured player isn't contributing THAT game.. Is it hard to understand injuries happen and so do recoveries? Lets just cut ties with every player who gets hurt.. Wow youd be a great GM..
I don't think anyone, least of all Cho who wasn't even here when Oden was added to the team, views Oden as an "excuse" or will gain added job security/less accountability due to Oden's presence. So I really don't see your objection as being a good one. Oden is an afterthought now...but since his presence on the roster doesn't limit what they can do to continue building the team, they may as well keep him. Just in case. Even it's only a 1% chance that he ever has a healthy season, since his presence's harm to the franchise is 0%, it's worth it.
3 SEASON ENDING INJURIES IN 4 YEARS!!! ... 20 million dollars for 82 games played. This is not some sudden onset of pessimism about Oden's viability as a basketball player amongst the fan-base, and if management is really doing their job then this absolutely has to be part of their calculus when it comes to roster building.
I learned from the Kevin Prichard/Tom Penn fiasco that Paul Allen is a very stubborn and a very proud man. Knowing this now, and after digesting the Oden news for 24 hours, I believe that Paul is not going to let Oden just walk away until Allen is sure that Oden will never be a solid NBA player. I fully expect the Blazers to offer the QO, and if Oden actually agrees on it, I fully expect Paul Allen to potentially overpay for Greg as an UFA in the summer of 2012. If Oden declines the QO, I fully expect Allen to match any RFA offer. What Oden does is the only wildcard, IMO. The franchise has invested too much into Greg. You could see/hear it in the press conference last night.
