There has become a possibility that the Boston Celtics may take a shot at the No.1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
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According to Celtics general manager Danny Ainge on WEEI, Boston is keeping an eye on Greg Oden in hope of a possible signing.
Currently, Doc Rivers’ team is ranked 30th in NBA rebounding with 38.7 boards per game. Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass, and Jared Sullinger, who is also a former Ohio State Buckeye, are the only members of Boston’s front court.
With the NBA trade and free agency deadline approaching fast, Boston could bite the bait early if Oden looks healthy enough. Additionally, since the green team doesn’t really have valuable assets on the table, the 24-year-old power forward may be the direction to take.
In the brisk NBA career with the Portland Trailblazers, Oden has averaged 9.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. Those number of games are incredibly low due to his Styrofoam-esque body. In his two-year stint, he has played a total of 82 games after experiencing multiple surgeries. CBSSports.com provides us with the history of Oden’s injuries:
- On September 13th, 2007, during preseason before his rookie season, he underwent microfracture surgery to repair his right knee. He would miss the entire 2007-2008 season.
- Oden managed to return from his first microfracture surgery only to have Andrew Bynum land on his foot on October 28th, 2008, injuring it . He would miss only two weeks, though.
- Then on February 13th, 2009, he bumped knees with Corey Maggette and chipped his left patella . It was the first injury sustained to his left knee and he missed three weeks due to it.
- He recovered from that and 2009-2010 was set to be his year. He was looking very much like finally the player he was supposed to be. Then on December 5th, 2009, he landed without contact on his left leg, and badly fracturedhis left patella. His recovery was projected to take him right up until training camp of 2010.
- After missing training camp, preseason, and the start of the regular season , and after saying he wouldn’t return until he was 100% healthy but that he could still be an impact player and that he was not a bust, it was announced on November 17th, 2010 that Oden would undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee and would miss the entire 2010-2011 season.
According to Rant Sports, Boston isn’t the only team that has interested in the 7-footer. Teams like the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks have showed some interest.
