Anyone interested in Greg Oden?
Apparently, the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested in Greg Oden. And based on a report from CBS Sports, Greg Oden is interested in the Cavaliers. It's like a match made in heaven, kind of.
Miami would likely offer a deal for minimum salary while the Cavs could pay up to nearly $4 million. The Boston Celtics are another team that has expressed interest, but the source said that Oden is leaning towards making a comeback with either Cleveland or Miami.
So it seems as though Greg Oden is trying to make a comeback to the NBA and will be deciding between the Heat and the Cavs. I would love to see the Cavs sign Oden to a team-friendly contract that was something like $3 million for a year with a team option on a second year. He's obviously an awesome talent and when he's healthy, he could be a gamechanger. But of course, he's never healthy. For a team in the Cavaliers' situation, it's a very low-risk, high-reward situation.
Between the Cavs and the Heat, I have to figure that Cleveland has the inside track. They can offer more money. They can offer a lower pressure situation to take his time to succeed. And they can offer more playing time without the expectation of winning a championship.
I'm not sure what the timetable would be on this sort of deal and I have no idea how healthy Oden is right now. But even though he has only played 82 NBA games since he was drafted, I'm intrigued. You aren't going to get a lottery ticket as good as Oden anywhere else. He deserves a shot and the Cavs should be the ones to give it to him.
Let's just hope Oden doesn't go on ESPN to decide between Cleveland and Miami. That didn't turn out so well last time.