"I don't know if he's convinced himself, mentally, that he can do it,"

[MIXUM]

its amazing so many here are still obsessed with this guy. we are sinking to the bottom of the west and we are worried about where odens head is at 2 days after surgery. that about sums up the blazers fan base.

 

[TehChad]

Oden will be back. He's a tough kid. Hell I'd feel the same way if I were in his shoes.

 

[STOMP]

its amazing so many here are still obsessed with this guy. we are sinking to the bottom of the west and we are worried about where odens head is at 2 days after surgery. that about sums up the blazers fan base.

sometimes you post stupid stuff and sometimes (like here) you post really stupid stuff. that about sums up your contributions to the board

STOMP

 

[maxiep]

its amazing so many here are still obsessed with this guy. we are sinking to the bottom of the west and we are worried about where odens head is at 2 days after surgery. that about sums up the blazers fan base.

Obviously, you weren't around in the Walton days. There's nothing unusual about the focus of this forum.

 

[Sinobas]

Durant comes across as a very nice person. Much better than most of the cocky creeps in the NBA. Too bad he's not a trailblazer right now instead of Oden.

The thing with Oden is, let's say he goes through this rehab, but what is the point if his knees can't take it? He's just going to get injured again anyway.

 

[HailBlazers]

LINK​

Much better, there is actually some substance in that article. Thx

 

[gatorpops]

its amazing so many here are still obsessed with this guy. we are sinking to the bottom of the west and we are worried about where odens head is at 2 days after surgery. that about sums up the blazers fan base.

Well, only those of us with compassion for a fellow traveler in life. But to each his own I guess.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Do the Blazers, and new general manager Rich Cho, want to continue to be the team that’s waiting in purgatory for Oden to return and magically decide their fate? Or, do they want to explore all options, including trading his injury-insured expiring contract prior to the trade deadline, in an attempt to get better now and increase their salary cap flexibility. Paying Oden to rehabilitate has not proven to be a winning strategy in the past, and there’s no reason to believe it will be a winning strategy in the near-term future.

While there’s a chance Oden can return to have a productive NBA career in Portland, the odds are longer than the Blazers should feel comfortable with. It’s time to move on, release the burden of Oden, and the burden on Oden. Getting to work on life without Oden, unfortunately, is the best chance Portland has to salvage a promising era of Blazers basketball.[

Ben from B-Edge with some good points. However, with no Oden and a hobbled Roy there is no salvaging.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Ben from B-Edge with some good points. However, with no Oden and a hobbled Roy there is no salvaging.

Maybe "salvaging" is the wrong choice of words. A more honest term would be "reinventing." I'm sure most people know my position on Oden and I won't rehash it here, but suffice it to say I think Ben is dead-on in his assessment; it is time to move on and it is time to consider all options instead of seeing the team paint itself into a box in terms of cap inflexibility and slim prospects of big time success moving forward. The hard reality is that with a diminished Roy, a completely unreliable Oden, Joel's uncertain status and aging guys like Camby and Miller, the specter of those players absorbing (potentially) around 50 million per year in salary, seems like a pretty high risk, low reward proposition, when it comes to getting this team close to true contention.

I don't know what can be done, but if Cho were somehow able to parlay Joel, Andre' and Greg's expiring deals this year into a real player or two with an eye towards the composition of the team post-lockout I'd be all for it. I think expiring contracts tend to get over-valued at times in the media and amongst fans, but Joel, Oden and Miller represent 21 million dollars that could be pretty attractive to a team looking to shed salary before the next CBA; it's impossible to know what's out there, but there could be a real opportunity to reshape this team's future only if the powers that be are willing to turn the page and stop dwelling on what might have been.

 

[jlprk]

After Walton left the Blazers, he went through this during the Clipper years. Jabbar would say that Walton was calling him, depressed. Walton is still in pain and broadcasts Kings games only when they come to Southern California, I think. His most recent operation is one of many that Oden will undergo all his life, ripples from the more famous operations he's gotten lately. Oden should phone Walton. He might learn something. Can't hurt.