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Forgot he is only 25 years old.
Born: Jan 22, 1988
Height: 7-0 / 2.13
Weight: 285 lbs. / 129.3 kg.
Prior to NBA / Country: Ohio State / USA
Years Pro: 3
Info
Forgot he is only 25 years old.
Saw somewhere he wants to go to the Heat.
That's the rumor. Although they don't have much cap flexibility & limited front line options. Can they afford to invest much in a guy who isn't a great bet to make it to last until the postseason?
It's one thing for a ring chaser like Allen who already made $180M+, to take less to play with James/Wade. But Oden (likely) will feel need to maximize his financial return while he still can.
Spurs reported to have interest, so worth discussing.
Many unknowns, starting with his health. Even if healthy then there has to be a fair degree of rust.
Portland was intimately familiar with his injuries and chose to drop him.
The only example of a big who had serious injuries early in his career and then came back to have a productive career that I can think of was Ilgauskas.
Oden undoubtedly is seeking the payday that seemed all but guaranteed when he entered the league. One wonders if the Spurs interest and the putative reciprocal interest from Oden was based on the Spurs cap flexibility entering free agency.
If I had to guess he ends up in Miami. There's the potential for more minutes if he's healthy and of course the exposure. Yet the Spurs remain interested.
One can't help but think the Spurs interest is being played up by his camp to get who he really wants to end up with to commit to him.
Jeff Ruland count as someone who came back from a knee injury? (center)
There is no map for where Oden wants to go. No one has ever played or returned to play in the NBA after three microfracture knee surgeries, let alone two on one knee. He needs to sign for the minimum and prove that he can still play wherever he wants to play instead of continuing to around looking for more money. Everyone knows it's SA or Miami. The rest are just stalking horses.
Given the dearth of true centers in the league, he's worth a look. Still, Portland knows all about his knees and dropped him.
Interesting that the Spurs and Heat are his rumored two top choices. Almost like that was spread to gin up interest in him. You couldn't go into the season counting on him in your rotation. There's always the off chance that he does manage to regain his form and turns into a solid reserve big. With TD and Splitter that would make for a nice defensive and big front court. So many unknowns though.
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