Not only is Oden NOT gonna come back a badass, but the chances he comes back as even a contributing ROLE PLAYER seems tiny to me. And it's not just health issues, either. This dude hasn't played any sort of significant minutes since he left Ohio State. I'm not so much worried about whether he can withstand a schedule that will put even more strain on his body in 66 games than a regular 82 game schedule would - I'm worried that the guy has spent more time getting paid to NOT play basketball than he's played highly-competitive basketball in his WHOLE LIFE. 3 years of High School ball, 1 year of college - and that's it. There are AAU ballers with more experience and savvy at this point.
I believe that the return of the Vanilla Gorilla IS being discussed in the Portland front office - such as it is.
Then again, these are the same decisionmakers who didn't want to amnesty Brandon Roy because they thought he could compete for the starting job again. Apparently without asking Brandon if he had any knees.
I swear to God 2/3rds of the NBA makes decisions based on the season simulator in NBA 2k11.
Very sad, unbelievable news. But the Blazers still have a pretty great roster. And LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE, who decided to become great last year when faced with my constant mockery.
@TSW: The word on the twitters and internets is that Roy had two separate medical evaluations this week, and both doctors told him yesterday that he had to stop playing or else he most likely wouldn't be walking in a decade. For a guy under 30, with two young kids, and staring at the rest of his life, that was probably the deal breaker news.
Then again, these are the same decisionmakers who didn't want to amnesty Brandon Roy because they thought he could compete for the starting job again. Apparently without asking Brandon if he had any knees.
I swear to God 2/3rds of the NBA makes decisions based on the season simulator in NBA 2k11.
Sorry about the OG break-in. I swear I saw Sean Marks skulking about N. Killi on my bike ride in today.....