Greg Oden plays all 82. Well, sure, he's already played 82 games. Combined. In three years. We're talking about a complete, full and uninterrupted season here, if only because fate must be kind to Oden after putting him through so much grief. As long as he looks both ways before crossing the street, he should be healthy enough to make it through 2010-11 without a black-cat moment. Besides, the Blazers are taking quite the beating on the message boards for passing up Kevin Durant. As if they knew Oden would be this brittle. And that Durant would be seriously pressing for MVP before turning 21. This is a crucial year for Oden and the Blazers, who need to see a body of work before deciding whether to extend his contract (easy call), and for how much (not so easy). http://www.nba.com/2010/news/featur.../crazy.predictions/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1
Just a couple of comments. First, I don't buy the bad luck/random chance/witch's curse argument. Oden is like Bowie, in that his body cannot handle the rigors of the NBA. Second, you are correct: unlike Bowie, Oden's problems were not obviously forseeable. At the time, drafting him was a sound decision. (and I say that as someone who was a huge KD fan)
