Woj: Roy not Oden, will break Blazers

[OSUBlazerfan]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-blazersinjuries11810

The Portland Trail Blazers have been playing without center Greg Oden(notes) for three years now, pushing past 50 victories and reaching relevance again. They stopped counting on him. The regime responsible for drafting Oden over Kevin Durant(notes) has been pushed out, and a fresh front office bears no burden for a broken No. 1 pick.

As much as the training staff likes Oden, it will have to take into account the mental toll that four years of flailing has taken on him. The issues which have surrounded him – his drinking, his deep emotional lows – play into the uncertainty around his future as much as the two microfracture surgeries on his knees.

The Blazers could survive without Oden, but its true star – Brandon Roy(notes) – has the knees which truly frighten the franchise.

The guard will miss the next two games with soreness in his left knee – a knee that has grown worse and worse. There’s damage and deterioration, and two league sources with direct knowledge of the medical prognosis on Roy say his days as an NBA All-Star, a franchise player, are probably over.

“There’s no real hope of it improving,” one league source with direct knowledge of the medical prognosis told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday. “It’s just about trying to manage it now. He’s not going to be the franchise superstar that [Portland] thought he would be. This isn’t something they consider ‘fixable.’ ”

The Blazers have gathered multiple medical opinions on Roy, but there’s been no clear consensus, no course of action. The scenarios are still wide open. The team could try another surgery. They could limit his minutes, his games, his back-to-back appearances. All of those things are being discussed and likely will be implemented sooner than later. They keep taking Roy to more doctors, but there remains one thing that no one can offer for the beleaguered left knee: a solution.

Another source privy to the discussions between Blazers management, Roy and the doctors, simply says: “It’s bad and it’s not getting better.”

Before the season, general manager Rich Cho and his staff were so concerned about Roy’s knee that they conducted internal discussions to weigh the possibility of including him in trade proposals, sources said. Only, they never did. The most serious talks the Blazers had were with the New Orleans Hornets about Chris Paul(notes), sources said, and Cho never raised the possibility of including Roy in a trade. Cho understood that he couldn’t walk into a new job and immediately trade one of the most popular players in franchise history.

Privately, Roy is deeply troubled over the perception that he had to ask for his minutes to be reduced, that he isn’t willing to play through the pain. He’s been playing with two troubling knees for years now and understands that he’s lost his explosiveness, his quickness, and that he must search for solutions to save his career. For too long, he pushed too hard with the knee. He cares deeply, and everyone surrounding him is truly worried about his future with the Blazers.


When the Blazers started talks on Roy’s contract extension in the summer of 2009, franchise owner Paul Allen pushed for multiple contingencies to protect the organization. Nevertheless, then-GM Kevin Pritchard couldn’t handle the criticism in the Portland public and media, and eventually caved with an $82 million extension with only limited non-guaranteed money in the contract’s final year. The Blazers should’ve challenged Roy to try restricted free agency, but they didn’t have the stomach to fight that PR battle.

The beginning of the end for Pritchard came during Roy talks, sources say. Ownership felt he had undermined them with Roy and his reps, and that Pritchard didn’t back up their tough initial starting point in the talks. Before Roy’s extension was done, Pritchard was largely taken out of the discussions, and Blazers president Larry Miller started to gain control of basketball operations. Pritchard never recovered within the organization.

So much has started to unravel for a franchise with so much promise three years ago. Oden may never play another game for the Blazers. Roy may never be the same. And one of the NBA’s most respected coaches, Nate McMillan, could leave as a free agent this summer. Slowly, surely, the Blazers try to hold tight to something that’s slipping away.

Ultimately, Portland can live without the franchise player they never had in Greg Oden. Brandon Roy is something else, something special. He is the franchise player, the All-Star guard, and every day the fears that he’ll never be the same again grow worse and worse.

Oden’s plight breaks everyone’s heart, but Roy’s? This one could break the Blazers.

 

[MIXUM]

wow.... if we werent depressed enough

 

[HailBlazers]

Roy has no choice now but to become a full on team player, his days of carrying the team on his back look gone. But I can see a silver lining in this. Rip Hamilton helped the Pistons win a championship, look at the way he played, Roy could easily do that.

 

[hasoos]

Roy has no choice now but to become a full on team player, his days of carrying the team on his back look gone. But I can see a silver lining in this. Rip Hamilton helped the Pistons win a championship, look at the way he played, Roy could easily do that.

I am not so sure about that. Roy basically hobbled off the court after just doing a little running. If he can't run, he can't play.

 

[HOWIE]

I wonder if anyone would take Roy for say expiring contracts at this point?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I wonder if anyone would take Roy for say expiring contracts at this point?

You mean like Luke Walton and Sasha?

Maybe.

 

[handiman]

We should send Oden and Roy to Phoenix to rehab with the Suns' training staff for a year (or two, if there's a lockout), with an agreement in writing that neither would suit up against the Suns in the regular season after that. We could send them a few picks for their troubles, and of course agree to buy them back if they're unwanted. Or, Paul Allen could just buy their training staff and pay them all double.

 

[hasoos]

We should send Oden and Roy to Phoenix to rehab with the Suns' training staff for a year (or two, if there's a lockout), with an agreement in writing that neither would suit up against the Suns in the regular season after that. We could send them a few picks for their troubles, and of course agree to buy them back if they're unwanted. Or, Paul Allen could just buy their training staff and pay them all double.

I was thinking more like going to Chicago to train with a certain trainer who used to train Jordan and Pippen, and who recently helped Wade rebuild his body.....

 

[handiman]

I'd be okay with that, too. Basically, send them to anyone with a proven [good] track record.

 

[Natebishop3]

Woj is pleased as punch right now.

 

[KingSpeed]

I am not so sure about that. Roy basically hobbled off the court after just doing a little running. If he can't run, he can't play.

Yes but that was during our 11th game in 19 days. It was the second game in a back to back in which they had not gotten in until 3am the night before. That was the tougher stretch than any other team had had this season. And he was playing major minutes.

 

[Pinwheel1]

"His drinking" ...............I stopped after I read that. Does he ever quote a real live person? or is it always a "league source"?

 

[maxiep]

I was thinking more like going to Chicago to train with a certain trainer who used to train Jordan and Pippen, and who recently helped Wade rebuild his body.....

Tim Grover, IIRC.

 

[Sinobas]

The last couple of games without Roy, I've seen the Blazers play a totally different kind of basketball. One, I think we've all been asking for. Players moving, cutting to the hoop, running the fast break. And I think it's because Miller is running the show, and they're playing like a team, instead of holding it back for Roy to go 1 on 1.

I wonder if we'll revert back once Roy returns. Roy never liked running, even before these injuries, and he's going to be a big defensive liability.

 

[Weav]

Sensational journalism by a guy known to have a hard-on against Portland. The only two Yahoo writers worth their salt are Spears and Hollinger.

 

[DaRizzle]

You mean like Luke Walton and Sasha?

Maybe.

no thanks

 

[zeded]

Woj is pleased as punch right now.

He's obsessed with Pritchard. And a world class hater. And has a platform to spew his vitriol. Bad combo.

Nate has said repeatedly that he wants one year deals to be like his hero Sloan and maximize his own accountability. Woj has repeatedly used Nate's unwillingness to sign a multiple year deal as one of several key pieces of evidence of the Blazers dysfunction since it implies he's leaving. We'll see.

 

[crandc]

This is fucked! Pardon my language, but it is.

Both local and national media were all over the Blazers' ass because they took so long to sign Roy to a new contract. All about how the Blazers were being unprofessional and ungrateful and disrespectful and everydamnthing else. Roy has an injury and all these self-appointed medical experts now talk about how he won't ever be good again and the Blazers were wrong to sign him.

 

[BBert]

Before the season, general manager Rich Cho and his staff were so concerned about Roy’s knee that they conducted internal discussions to weigh the possibility of including him in trade proposals, sources said. Only, they never did. The most serious talks the Blazers had were with the New Orleans Hornets about Chris Paul(notes), sources said, and Cho never raised the possibility of including Roy in a trade. Cho understood that he couldn’t walk into a new job and immediately trade one of the most popular players in franchise history.

WTF!!! I've been begging for the Blazers to do just that for two years! I think a better response would have been, Roy never would have passed the physical. Obviously.

 

[BBert]

This is fucked! Pardon my language, but it is.

Both local and national media were all over the Blazers' ass because they took so long to sign Roy to a new contract. All about how the Blazers were being unprofessional and ungrateful and disrespectful and everydamnthing else. Roy has an injury and all these self-appointed medical experts now talk about how he won't ever be good again and the Blazers were wrong to sign him.

Too true. During that negotiation process thre were worries about Roy's "wheels" and his longevity. Well founded worries, it turns out.

 

[BBert]

Woj is pleased as punch right now.

He may be pleased, but he's also right.

 

[maxiep]

Reading one of Woj's articles on the Blazers reminds me of situations I often find myself in with my wife: I'm either going to lose the argument or I'm going to sleep on the couch. Either way, it's going to be bad.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Hey our team is winning, there is ball movement and defense like we haven't seen in years.... what the hell is the problem here! Blessing in disguise if you ask me. Bring back Joel and let's keep rolling!

 

[BBert]

I also enjoyed the play I witnessed last night and I expect to enjoy this team all season long. It's still a shame if it turns out we have an $80 mil player for five years who may be both unplayable and untradeable. I have been more worried about Roy's injury history and longevity than Oden's since the beginning of last season, and I still am, so it's no surprise I agree with Woj on this.

 

[Natebishop3]

Reading one of Woj's articles on the Blazers reminds me of situations I often find myself in with my wife: I'm either going to lose the argument or I'm going to sleep on the couch. Either way, it's going to be bad.

I would love to hear Bill Simmons and Woj on the radio together. They could sit around over a cup of coffee and discuss how much they hate the Blazers.