Is there any downside to signing oden?

[D.Brasco]

Apparently there are right now no teams interested at all in oden. Would the heat have anything to lose by signing him for a minimum?

An unrestricted free agent, Greg Oden is available, but apparently without a team in sight. That sounds a little weird to say, considering Oden starred at Ohio State during the 2006-07 season, leading the Buckeyes to the NCAA championship game as a freshman and becoming the No. 1 overall pick (by Portland) in the NBA draft that followed.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumo ... &eref=sihp


If and it's a huge if he can play at even 60% of what he ever was wouldn't that alone make him better than every c on the roster? Is he worth the chance maybe?

[Glen20]

the downside is we give him a god chunk of rotation minutes hoping he delivers, thereby failing to develop Pittman and any other big we may bring in, only to have him collapse in injury when we need him the most in the playoffs.

don't think i really need to address the upside.

[Miamis3rdRing]

I thought he's supposed to be out this entire up-coming season, and could possibly even miss the early part of the 2013-2014 season?

[This IsMy House]

I thought he's supposed to be out this entire up-coming season, and could possibly even miss the early part of the 2013-2014 season?

Is he even supposed to come back ever?

[dolphinatik]

Oden needs to develop on his own and show teams he is rehabbed and worth another shot. The days of him getting paid on potential are over. Heat would use that spot instead to sign someone that actually has a chance to contribute in practice or in a game.

[Mars]

"I would love to play [in 2012-13], but I'm not going to rush anything. I need to take a year off." © Greg Oden

[Pimpwerx]

If we sign him, we lose cap+luxury money. I believe that'll be like 3-4M. That's a lot for someone who can't play. Plus we'd lose a roster spot. I'd rather have kept JHam than that. PEACE.

[Big Dee Chi-Born]

The Heat definitley shouldn't be looking to sign Oden, but letting him do his rehabbing with our trainers should be taken into consideration. Let the Heat doctors evaluate the condition of his knee's and if there is something left to work with get it done. Get his weight down, his legs stronger and his footwear correct and then give him an opportunity in camp next season. But there's no chance that Greg Oden is ready to play an NBA schedule this season. So again, see if his knee's are in any condition to spend time rehabbing on and go from there.

[orangeparka]

He's rehabbing until the 2019-2020 season.

But on a more serious note, I don't see any downside other than him taking one roster space. If he gets to the point that he can't play at all, then we could always just cut him.

[orangeparka]

If we sign him, we lose cap+luxury money. I believe that'll be like 3-4M. That's a lot for someone who can't play. Plus we'd lose a roster spot. I'd rather have kept JHam than that. PEACE.

We would be paying him the veteran's minimum, which is like 850k.

[WinisKing]

I thought Oden wanted to be a high school gym teacher

[Damond Talbot]

I believe if he is cheap, why not, we can use another option at Center. Joel Anthony is ok, but if we can get Oden playing ball like he did in OSU we would be set

[raps_aviator]

we should let him recover for 1 year and next year throw a vet min. Dex-Pitt is really awful.

[JustAwesome]

The only downside is using a roster space on the guy. That could be used to develop a younger player.

[Pimpwerx]

If we sign him, we lose cap+luxury money. I believe that'll be like 3-4M. That's a lot for someone who can't play. Plus we'd lose a roster spot. I'd rather have kept JHam than that. PEACE.

We would be paying him the veteran's minimum, which is like 850k.

That's better, but we'll still have to pay the tax on top of that, which makes him more than a minimal bet. That's still over $2M, and Micky is probably eyeing the payroll these days. I don't think he's worth the money given he probably won't be able to play at all this year. When he's ready to go, I'm sure we'll give him a look. If we put him on a 1 year deal, he's just as likely to walk then as he is if we wait. There's no rush. PEACE.

[-Illmatic-]

Any FA at this point in the offseason has some sort of major flaw, but not all of them come with major upside like Oden. He'd be a solid addition to any team at that price.

[twozeroMM]

I would love to see a video of him having some kind of workout our even just walking. Imo the only downside would him being another Curry.

[DWadeno3]

As for right now, we should just keep in touch with him and follow his development. He has an entire year to rehab and work out to get in basketball shape. Once he's at that point, bring him in for individual workouts and Summer League and see how his body responds. If there are no major issues, then you bring him in for training camp. His advisors need to make him understand that he has to prove himself. If he can just be healthy while not playing as powerful and athletic as he used to (for a guy his size), he's still a good player due to his size and skill. Plus he's still young, so you could form him into a below-the-rim center. But first and foremost, he needs to get in shape and prove that his body can deal with the wear and tear. That's when you consider signing him.

[SmushedPennies]

Any FA at this point in the offseason has some sort of major flaw, but not all of them come with major upside like Oden. He'd be a solid addition to any team at that price.

But not all of them come with the caveat that they won't be able to play this coming season. Still, I'd do it. Wouldn't be any different than Juwan or Curry. Just way more upside. He'd be huge for us if we can find a way to get him steadily healthy.

[narmerguy]

It's kind of just wasting money at this point. I mean, if we're going to spend it on someone, sure spend it on him. No one ever plays that deep in the bench anyway. Let's be honest, we can talk all we want, anyone that's signed for the vet min will probably see Juwan Howard minutes. Might as well make it a former #1 pick who is recovering and actually has the potential to be great (potential).