Greg Oden is still part of Portland Trail Blazers’ future
Portland Trail Blazers centre Greg Oden is set to undergo micro-fracture surgery that will sideline him for the rest of the season, but the Trail Blazers are not ready to give up on their
oft-injured centre.
Trail Blazers president Larry Miller said on Thursday 18 November that they would likely give an $8.8 million qualifying offer to the 22-year-old centre that will prevent him from becoming
an un-restricted free agent next off-season. Oden will be a restricted free agent and the Blazers would be able to match any offers that other teams will put on the table.
“We will see where things are at that level,” said Miller referring to Oden’s rehabilitation. “But at this point, I don't see us not giving the offer if Greg is doing the things we need to
see him doing to get back on the court. If he is doing those things, we want to keep Greg around. I do not feel like I am ready to give up on Greg Oden. I don't think anybody in our organization is ready.”
Although the former Ohio State standout has only played 82 games in his first three years with Portland, Miller still believes that Oden will recover from all the setbacks he had since the
Trail Blazers selected him as the first-overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft.
“We want Greg to be a part of this team,” said Miller. “I still think Greg Oden is going to be an impact player in the NBA, and that's the way we are going to approach it. We want to see
Greg give the effort to rehabilitate, but I have no doubt he will do that because he has done it and proved he has done it before.”
Oden, who averaged 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds in the 82 games he played with Portland, will undergo his third season-ending micro-fracture surgery on Friday 19 November that will be followed
by six to 12 months of rehabilitation.
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