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Portland Trail Blazers put faith in Greg Oden; Offer qualifying contract – NBA Update

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Portland Trail Blazers put faith in Greg Oden; Offer qualifying contract – NBA Update
The Portland Trail Blazers have announced that they have offered Greg Oden a one-year, $8.8 million qualifying offer for next season. The Trail Blazers had hinted that they would make the offer to the player who has had a torrid
time with injuries since joining the league.
Greg Oden was drafted as the first overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers, ahead of current NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant, back in 2007. Such was Oden’s talent. However since then, Greg Oden has failed to give back any
dividends to the club that invested so heavily in him.
The player seems to have been under a curse since his arrival in Portland. Oden missed his complete rookie season, the 2007-2008 season, through injury.  He came back to start 39 games the next season for the Trail Blazers and
featured in 61 overall. During that season Oden averaged 8.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 21.5 minutes per game.
The next season his averages increased to 11.1 per game as well as 8.5 boards, but the player was only available for 21 games.
His recurring knee injury ruled him out for the rest of the season and he has not played an NBA game since then, missing the entire 20010-2011 season. 
Still, when Oden did play, he showed flashes of his undeniable talent, the same talent that persuaded the Trail Blazers to draft him in the first place. Portland have thus offered him the new one year extension in the hope that
they can cash in on the player when his injury troubles are finally behind him.
The offer Portland have made is a qualifying offer which means that Greg Oden is free to talk to other teams. However when a team makes a contract offer to Oden, the Trail Blazers reserve the right to keep the player by matching
whatever offer is made to him.
It is unlikely though that Oden will leave the franchise which has stuck by him in his time of trouble. The centre is scheduled to return to action in January of next year. He would be hoping that it is a permanent comeback rather
than the ill fated attempts at playing he has made in the past.
If Oden’s knee breaks down again, this time it could be the final straw for his sinking career and the player may be forced to retire at the tender age of 23.
The Trail Blazers have had no luck with injuries at all over the last few years as Oden is not the only player on their roster who has gone through career altering injury debacles. Brandon Roy, once the face of the franchise and
one of the most promising guards in the NBA has faced similar issues and is only now getting back to near the level, he was at before them.

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