Perhaps he isn't even PO'd at the Blazers, but he's just over it all here, and is finding reasons to leave? I wouldn't blame the guy if he wanted to try and start over his career in another city. I wouldn't be at all happy, and I would want him to fail, but sometimes being happy is more important than making money. Plus, if he goes to UFA, there is always the chance that an Indy or a Cleveland goes all in on his potential.
Thanks for posting that, Minstrel. The TV interview he came off as much more, um, distant? Is that the word I'm looking for to describe him? Anyhow, I'm glad Greg opened up more to Freeman about coming back to the Blazers. I just don't want the guy to leave. We've all invested too much time in him to not see how this movie ends.
I guess you're a better man than I am. That's just too bitter a pill for me to swallow if he goes somewhere else and stays healthy, because if that happens he WILL be a top 5 Center in the league. Probably not HOF type good, but good enough. I have this fear that Oden is gone no matter what. I know so many have written him off. You know what? He's 22. Look at how bad Sabonis struggled with injuries in his 20's. When he got to Portland at age 31, he was a shell of himself physically. But he was a big guy with skills, and even a 50% Sabas was a really good NBA Center. It's quite possible Greg could come back from all this, but I don't think there's a chance it will be here (long term anyways). Even if we dangle the QO, and he accepts . . . he becomes unrestricted FA at the end of next season. Can you imagine how nerve racking it will be if he comes back next season and starts tearing it up? Everybody that hated on Greg will beg him to stay and he'll be right there showing Portland we're #1 while riding out of town on his horse. I know that I'll get blasted for this, but I privately wished they would have tried to extend him. It's a huge gamble, but his price tag couldn't have been that high. Maybe 8 million/year? And if he comes back healthy you know you get way more value than that. Not only that, but at least if they would have offered something . . . in my way of thinking that might have meant something to Greg. That they would reach out and say "We can't max you up big fella, but we still believe in you." He may have declined a low offer anyways, but at least he might still feel as though people wanted him around. And that could have factored in to a potential decision as an UFA. As it stands right now I just don't see a scenerio where he's a Blazer in 2 years, no matter what happens next season.
You picked the exact part I was going to quote. He gave good answers except for that. The correct answer is, "I owe Portland fans for their patience, and Paul Allen for the pay I've taken, and so I hope to stay with the Blazers on my next contract." Funny. I expect him to be the opposite, to the employer who has paid him $22M for nothing but pure trouble. (At least verbally, he should pretend there's no chance he'll dump us, even if he's planning to.)
If Oden had remained healthy and been one of the two best centers in the league the last few years, the Blazers wouldn't have made sure to pay him more for those years. It's a risk/reward proposition for the team: you may get more value than you paid for, you may get less. I don't think Oden "owes" the Blazers anything, for injuries that were beyond his control. Similarly, I don't think the team would have owed him anything if he had been far more valuable than his salary.
I think a little loyalty from Oden would be nice, especially after all that we've invested in him. If he chooses another team over us now, I would be pretty pissed.
How many times do you hear players thank organizations for believing in them and wanting to prove themselves to the organization. Blazer managment has done nothing but support and believe in Oden since the day they have drafted him. They have done everything to help foster and develop him. They invested the #1 overall draft pick in him and paid him millions over the years. . . maybe he isn't legally obligated to the Blazers but it disturbs me that he doesn't feel some moral obligation to prove that he was worth a top draft pcik and there is a reason the Blazers have supported him for all these years. It's that kind of lack of feeling passionate for his organization that I sense is his whole personality. Where is the passion big guy. You hate to compare but Durant signs a max year no player option for OKC. He could have had a player option after year 3 or 4. Instead he shows a passionate commitment to an organization . . . which is just like he plays the game.
Loyalty is overrated in sports. The second Roy got hurt the city wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Expecting the players to show loyalty when the fans don't is ridiculous imo. I hope Greg Oden does what's best for him and is able to stay on the court.
I fully agree. No one bats an eye when a team tries to cut ties with a player that they perceive to have no more value to them. It's smart business...fans would be outraged if a team kept a worthless player at a high salary, when they could ditch him, just for sentiment's sake. Yet, for some reason, players are supposed to feel a great deal of loyalty. It is a business...for both sides.
Our organization has epitomized loyalty when it comes to Roy. According to Larry Miller, we signed Roy to a max deal knowing his knees were looking bad because he had "earned it". I don't know how you can be more loyal than that.
He may have earned that contract, but as of right now he's certainly not worth it anymore. If the Blazers had an option to take Roy's contract off the books they would do it.
We signed him knowing there was a risk this could happen. Even if we could use an amnesty clause he still gets paid. I don't think you can spin this to be anything other than the Blazers being loyal to the face of the franchise. You can argue it was dumb to sign him (it probably was) but this example shows that sometimes loyalty is factored in, even though it is a business. As for Oden, I agree he doesn't really "owe" us anything. There's no law or rule saying he has to sign our qualifying offer. But sticking around and being loyal would show good character. That seems like something us fans should hope for...maybe even expect.
At the time, sure, the Blazers were being loyal. But I don't buy for one second the team wouldn't terminate that contract if they could like teams can in the NFL. They know there's no option like that and they know they're stuck paying Roy a MAX salary. And while Roy eventually did get the MAX salary it wasn't a easy process at all. If I'm in Oden's position, I make what I think is the best decision for me. If it's staying with the Blazers, awesome. If the best decision is going to another team, good luck. I don't think for one second Oden would be showing a lack of character if he didn't stay, but that's just my opinion.
So what if they would terminate it now? My point is that it's not unheard of for loyalty to come into play when negotiating contracts, and we have to look no further than the Blazers & Brandon Roy. I think if Oden thinks there is a situation out there that is significantly better for him, then you're probably right & he should take it. But I can't think of what that situation would even be. So if Portland is near the top of his list, hopefully loyalty will come into play.
Part of me thinks the Blazers knew something in terms of the new CBA while offering that contract. Amnesty + cap relief? It would make sense at that point for Paul Allen to reward an injured player who quite literally saved Portland's NBA franchise (IMO). IF Brandon is ever waived as an amnesty player, regardless of cap implications, I think he'll be a part of the Blazer franchise after his playing days are over.
It's highly debatable that they did the deal out of loyalty. Knowing his knees were a risk doesn't mean they were showing loyalty...it means that they knowingly took a risk. They may have felt the downside of not taking the risk was too great (potentially seeing their face of the franchise walk and have a healthy career elsewhere), they may have felt the risk was not that huge, etc. Maybe it was loyalty, but I certainly wouldn't default to that. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that the team was unwilling to face the wrath of fans if they didn't lock Roy up.
The new CBA's amnesty will pay him in full, and take him off the cap. With wealth like that, he'll never work on any team staff in a salary position.
