The Greg Oden Watch "OFFICIAL" Thread...

I hope he plays great.

 

Ironically, Colgate has a crest:

 

Repped for repping PtldPlatypus!

 

I'll be the first to admit that I hope he does well wherever he goes (as long as it's not to the L*kers), but that every dominating performance will hurt.

 

Just wait, You'll be changing your tone.

 

Or you will.

 

Honestly, what would be your reaction if he signed with us?

I'd be cautiously excited. He'd probably come cheap, so there's less risk of him hitting your cap for several years.

 

Same here. I wish Greg wanted to be here. But he doesn't.

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9530611/greg-oden-plans-choose-next-team-friday-sources

Former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden plans to choose his new team Friday, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources told ESPN.com that Oden, after showing off his skills for several teams over the past few weeks, has not yet ruled out any of the six teams chasing him but is most likely to select his destination from the trio of Miami, San Antonio and Dallas.

New Orleans, Sacramento and Atlanta are the other known suitors for Oden. One source close to the process said Thursday night that the Pelicans are the only team from that group still "in the mix."

Every team from the final six but Dallas sent a representative to Indianapolis last week to watch Oden work out, with multiple witnesses telling ESPN.com later that Oden has noticeably slimmed down and is moving well more than a year removed from his last microfracture knee surgery.

Sources said all six of the teams in the Oden chase then presented offers early this week that detailed not only financial specifics but also each club's medical plans for overseeing the 25-year-old Oden's ongoing recovery from a multitude of knee problems.

Oden hasn't played in an NBA game since Dec. 5, 2009, and underwent his third career microfracture surgery as recently as February 2012. He was selected No. 1 overall by Portland in 2007 but has played in just 82 career NBA games thanks to injury woes. In 21 games in the 2009-10 season, Oden averaged 11.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game before succumbing to injury again.

Sources said Cleveland, Boston and Memphis, in addition to the six finalists, all expressed interest in Oden, but those three teams declined to make a formal offer.

Miami long has been considered the favorite to land Oden by a number of rival teams because of the championship environment it offers and the fact that Heat president Pat Riley has been personally recruiting Oden since before the end of the 2012-13 regular season. Yet it remains to be seen whether Oden will opt to join a team farther away from the spotlight to lessen the pressure as he makes his return.

 

What's the hold up Mr. Glass? It's 6:33 EST!

 

Perhaps the hold up is him having thoughts of re-signing with Portland.

Maybe he is growing a conscience.

 

I had such high high hopes for Oden. I can honestly say that I don't wish any more bad luck on Oden and hope he is able to come back and contribute to a team for years to come. I think that is in the realm of possibility and its still possible for him to have a big impact for a team and I wish him the best of luck...
With that being said its going to be Hard as HELL to watch and listen to anything about him if he comes back and starts to contribute in a big way to any team that isn't the Blazers.

 

How much cap space do we have? I would be perfectly okay with giving Oden the remainder of our cap space on a year deal.

 

My jaw would hit the floor if this happened.

 

I still think the chances of him remaining healthy enough to help any team is small. He hasn't proven it. Shown it. I think it's a feat by itself. A feat I'm not certain his body is made for. But if he does, I think he helps whoever he is with. Maybe substantially. All he need is health.

 

I think there is enough to sign him.

 

The bottom line is he has never played a game in 100% basketball shape. And if you look at the impact of his presence when he was on the court, his stats didn't matter. He changed the way we were able to play, both on offense and defense.

Let's say his ceiling is now 80% of what it was when he was drafted. That is still one hell of an impactful player.

Which would you rather have? Thomas Robinson for the 2nd rounders or Greg Oden for free? If you're taking a flier, I would argue you'd rather have GO.

Fuck, this is going to sting.

 

He still has to make it and stay on the court for the impact to translate. As I said, I think that is a feat by itself. Will see.

 

I'll throw in my thoughts from OLive earlier.....


I'm firmly split on how I feel about Greg Oden.

My first season as a ticket holder, Greg finally began his first season with the team as well. It was an exciting time in Blazers basketball as we won 54 games that year and made the playoffs for the first time since 2003. I was really happy with his progress and could deal with the fact that he missed some games that year, but was still generally healthy. He had monster potential.

The next year, he started out strong (for you PER fans, I think he finished in the top 10) and then came the big injury. After that, I became less interested and increasingly frustrated with Greg. Right when he was ready to come back....ANOTHER surgery. I was close to not caring about him anymore. He put down Portland and didn't take his rehab seriously. I grew tired of the word "setback." I can understand being depressed and all, but basketball was his JOB. It is your job to get healthy and sacrifice your vices for your career. What was his quote, "Doing things I shouldn't have been doing," something like that. Then, when we finally released him, he eventually got serious about his rehab and is now trying to play again. F Greg for that.

I will admit I was curious if we were going to try and offer him something this offseason. You know he can score the basketball and has a big body to defend with, which is exactly what we need. What you don't know is when the next big injury happens.....which is what we don't need.

For his own personal health, I hope he's able to walk when he gets older and can take up that gym teacher job he was talking about. But I won't cheer for him if he comes back to the RG.

 

Cleveland losing lbj stung. This will just be hard to watch