I will never forget the day Greg Oden was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers #1 overall.
I had been beating the Kevin Durant drum even though I was a proud graduate of The Ohio State University.
You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see Oden was fragile, I had insiders at OSU who told me he the had knees of a 50 year old man (not to mention he looked like Lebron James’ father).
I got a text as soon as he shook David Stern’s hand and it simply said:
“BOWIE”
I sent a text back saying:
“If Portland is lucky he will be as good as Sam Bowie.”
Not shocking that he isn’t going to sign an extension, just not enough games to verify if he warrants one, here are the details:
While it’s not a surprise, considering Oden has played in just 82 games in his first three seasons due to injuries, the 2007 NBA top draft pick will become the first No. 1 selection to not have signed a contract extension after his third season since Kwame Brown was taken by Washington in 2001 and became a restricted free agent in the summer of 2005.
Bill Duffy, head of BDA Sports, which represents Oden, confirmed to FanHouse on Tuesday that Oden will not sign an extension by Monday’s deadline.
“There’s too much that he needs to do,” Duffy said of Oden, who still has yet to be cleared to play after suffering a serious knee injury last December and missing the rest of the season.
I wish Oden well, he is one of the nicest guys that you will ever meet, but I can’t honestly say I see things getting better. At best he will become a serviceable Erick Dampier style TV.
Kwame Brown is still in the league, so it isn’t like Oden will be out of job, but I doubt the Blazers will be spending any more #1 picks on 20 year old centers who looks like Bill Russell.
