NBA Offseason: Bringing Greg Oden Home

Greg Oden's NBA tale is a sad one, filled with ups and downs (but mostly downs), and has been left in the same unfinished state for the last couple years. But with Oden reportedly interested in playing in the NBA again this year, we will presumably see the next chapter in his once-promising career. The question we should be asking of ourselves is whether or not it would be prudent of the Cavs to be the team to give Oden this second chance.

One thing that's undeniable is Oden's talent and production. In his admittedly limited amount of games played in 2009-10 (his most recent year) he put up 11.1 ppg on 60% shooting, 8.5 rpg, and 2.3 bpg in only 23.9 minutes per game. The only question in regards to his game is how his knee surgeries have affected it. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Oden as much of a leaper in the first place. He's always been more about height and length, and never was very quick, so if anyone could recover from a knee injury and regain his former basketball acumen, it'd be Greg Oden.

And of course we can't talk about Greg Oden without discussing his slew of injuries. Now, I'm just as skeptical as anyone else of Oden's knees. Having seen the injuries, what worries me the most is the seemingly simple movements that caused such devastating injuries. However, it seems as though the root cause of the problem has been pinpointed. Both Oden and Portland's training staff were negligent in regards to information they had on problems with Oden's body outside of his knees, and he predictably re-injured his knee because they failed to correct these issues.

If the Cavs are aware of the reasons for his knee troubles and feel they have the requisite medical staff to effectively take care of them, then I see no reason why we shouldn't offer Greg a 1-2 year contract in the $3-5 million a year range. How about you guys? Let us know what you guys think about Oden, whether or not you'd like him on the Cavs, and what type of contract you'd be willing to give him.