The Heat may have gotten a little hotter.
Greg Oden, the former Ohio St. Buckeye and number one overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft signed a two year deal with the defending two time champion Miami Heat. According to ESPN's Marc Stein, Oden's deal is for the league minimum for veterans (I don't know how many seasons Oden is considered to have played, but if contracts go by how long someone was on a team roster, then his deal would be worth about 1.1 million dollars). According to the article on Pro-Basketball Talk above, Oden has the option to opt out of this deal after the 2013-14 season if he's healthy in order to receive a better deal from the Heat or another team.
Oden has been in the NBA since the 2007-08 season, but didn't play until the 2008-09 season. He hasn't played in an NBA game since December 5, 2009 and was released by the Portland Trail Blazers before the 2012-13 season. He played in 82 games over those years years and recorded 21 double-doubles in that time (all points and total rebounds, in roughly one quarter of his games).
This is win-win for the Heat: if Oden is healthy and returns to the form he had in college and the brief flashes he showed in the pros, then the Heat will be even more dangerous than they already were. If Oden is as injury riddled as he was in his time with the Trail Blazers, then the Heat are still the favorites in the East and don't lose a lot of money.
It's a great move by a stable franchise. If nothing else, Greg Oden and LeBron James can bond over what it's like to look like you're 45 when you're in your mid to late twenties.
No comments:
Post a Comment