Greg Oden

Last week, when the Trail Blazers announced that Greg Oden would have another microfracture surgery and miss the rest of this season, and possibly the next as well, there was a collective groan from the city of Portland. Oden has been such a big failure that even the hipsters are complaining about the woes of his knees. However bleak it may seem, though, there is still light at the end of the arthroscopic tunnel.

Bill Walton missed the majority of his first two seasons with various injuries related to all of his major appendages. At age 24, the mark of his first full season of health, the Blazers won their first and only NBA title. Although Walton’s career was marred with injuries and consequently left the Blazers, he only needed one season to impact the team enough to propel them to a title. That’s what I’m hoping Greg Oden can do.

Oden has a ton of talent, nobody can argue that. In his only college season he averaged just short of 16 and 10 without the full use of his right hand. I understand we haven’t seen him in a game this decade, and it appears more and more likely he’ll spend his days trading “if only I’d been healthy” stories with Sam Bowie, but the Blazers have to wait him out. Paul Allen has the money to continue to pay him, and the risk of Oden leaving and becoming successful somewhere else would be a crushing blow for a passionate fan base that has no other professional sports to focus its unbridled energy on. Steve Kerr called him a “once in a decade player,” and Oden is only in his fifth year.

I don’t expect him to be the NBA’s version of Cal Ripken Jr., but one season doesn’t seem unreasonable. With the nucleus they have now, the Blazers would be a serious contender. They have an All-Star power forward in LaMarcus Aldridge and a number of effective role players. The center position is so thin in today’s game that Roy Hibbert just got his first All-Star nod. I know it’s a long shot, but in the infamous words of Kevin Garnett…