Greg Oden News - Our Official News Page About Greg Oden

  
Greg Oden Online - our website for everything about Greg Oden
    Home - Biography - Stats - Links - News - Sitemap - Contact us
 
Greg Oden Menu

Greg Oden Home
Greg Oden Biography
Greg Oden Stats
Greg Oden Links
Greg Oden News
Greg Oden Team News
Greg Oden Gallery
Greg Oden Sitemap

Contact us

Greg Oden in the Headlines

Syndicated content not available

Blazers Paving Road to Greg Oden

By: John Canzano | OreganLive.com

The Trail Blazers made a trade. Then, they handed out bottles of water. And someone taped a giant table cloth with the team logo printed on it on one wall of the team practice facility, providing the backdrop for what must go down as the performance of the season.

General Manager John Nash, sleeves rolled up, television cameras trained on him, said he was disappointed, and that they were oh-so-close to a blockbuster deal. But in the end, Nash asked you to believe the upshot of trading Ruben Patterson, Charles Smith and Sergei Monia was that they'd just cleared more salary-cap room.

Except, this wasn't what the day, or the deal, was about at all. Rather, Thursday was about the public unveiling of Operation Greg Oden, the Blazers' latest master plan.

Greg Oden, if you haven't heard, is widely considered to be the best amateur basketball player on the planet. He's 18, 7-feet tall, and plays high school basketball at Lawrence North High in Indianapolis .

"Greg Oden is the complete package; mentally and physically," one NBA executive said. "He's the next David Robinson. That sort of all-around talent, on and off the court."

Greg Oden will play one season of college basketball at Ohio State , then he'll be eligible for the 2007 NBA draft, where he'll be the No. 1 selection. Which is why the Blazers, who have foolishly adopted and abandoned three or four other master plans in the last 36 months, have officially begun angling for Greg Oden?

The big myth here is that this trade gives the team valuable salary-cap flexibility. Though owner Paul Allen just saved $2.5 million in salary next season, the Blazers' payroll for 2006-07 remains so high they still only have the mid-level exception available. Which is exactly where the Blazers were when the most important day of their season began?

"That's if we use (the mid-level) exception," Nash said. "It hasn't been proven you can get a quality player (with it)."

Think the Blazers are bad on the court this season? Just wait until next year, when they might lose Joel Przybilla to free agency, fail to use the mid-level exception, then get younger through the draft, and lose games at a franchise-record rate, thereby positioning them for a desperation shot at Greg Oden, ping pong balls willing.

Cross your fingers, right?

Let's see. Management's $167 million plan (Zach Randolph, Darius Miles, Theo Ratliff) flopped when they overpaid all three. The Sebastian Telfair era fizzled. And even when management tried to overpay Trenton Hassell, he wouldn't let them. And then, it was rookie Martell Webster and this "rebuilding" charade.

And now, the Blazers appear to have zeroed in on Greg Oden.

There's no other explanation for what happened Thursday.

Hey, give them credit. It's thin. But it's a plan. And please know they'll publicly deny Greg Oden is the end goal until he's in hand. Yet when asked about Greg Oden, Nash said Thursday, "Getting lucky in the lottery is one proven way to turn things around in the NBA."

By transitioning from the quest to "repair team character and the franchise brand" into the era of "fiscal responsibility" and "rebuilding through youth," Nash and Blazers president Steve Patterson are counting on Allen to extend their contracts until he can see if the plan works.

Nash's deal is up for renewal at the end of this season. And Patterson's contract runs through the 2006-07 season, and includes a team option for 2007-08. But while we're waiting to see what happens with Greg Oden, how many season tickets do they expect to sell for next season?

Guard Voshon Lenard? He goes free in 29 games.

And center Brian Skinner at $5.3 million in 2006-07? It's possible we're looking at Przybilla's replacement on the low post.

If you didn't get the opportunity to see coach Nate McMillan's facial contortions during his portion of Thursday's production, don't worry. Just imagine the face a 5-year-old might make when he or she's presented with, say, a giant plate of cooked squash for dessert.

Meanwhile, Blazers scouting personnel are busy drooling over Greg Oden, and imagining a team with Greg Oden, Webster, Randolph, and, possibly, Gonzaga's Adam Morrison or Duke's J.J. Redick playing together in 2008-09.

The free-agent market and draft in 2006 are weak. The Blazers probably aren't alone in targeting Greg Oden and 2007. But while the deal may have saved Allen money, and liberated the ever-emotional Patterson, what the trade really did is make "Operation Oden" obvious to anyone willing to stare long enough through the looking glass that was Thursday's trade.

The Blazers should probably just go ultra-honest and blunt and make "Greg Oden in '07" the slogan for next season. Because the philosophy would make sense out of the bizarre slashing of talent, the reduction of payroll, and the flurry of head-scratching, hodgepodge activity Blazers management has been involved with in recent years.

Hey, don't be shy about this, Blazers management. Don't worry that the philosophy will be mocked by other league executives. Greg Oden is your last best shot. You're entitled to it. But if it doesn't work out, just promise fans you'll fire yourselves, OK?

John Canzano: 503-294-5065; JohnCanzano@aol.com; To read his Web log, go to www.oregonlive.com/canzano Catch him on the radio on "The Bald-Faced Truth,"

OTHER GREG ODEN NEWS HEADLINES:
Greg Oden Links
Syndicated content not available
Home - Biography - Stats - Links - News - Gallery - Sitemap - Contact us