Greg Oden hasn’t played in an NBA game since December 2009. (Photo: commons.wikimedia.org)
FOX Sports Florida reported Friday, June 21, that the Miami Heat are interested in signing free-agent center Greg Oden this summer.
Oden, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft hasn’t played in more than three years—since December 2009—because of recurring knee problems. He was released by the Portland Trail Blazers in March 2012, less than five years after they took the Ohio State center ahead of Kevin Durant in one of the more scrutinized draft decisions in recent memory.
The Heat, coming off their second consecutive NBA title, played this season with a “position-less” philosophy, often going small with Chris Bosh—a power forward by nature—shifting to the 5 and LeBron James, more of a small forward, playing the 4.
As a result, Miami was the worst rebounding team in the NBA, averaging a league-low 38.6 boards per game in the regular season. Their rebound rate of 49.0 tied with the Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns for 21st in the league, according to ESPN.com.
In the playoffs, the Heat’s rebound rate slipped to 48.6 and their 38.1 rebounds per game was 14th of the 16 teams in the postseason, ahead of only the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks.
Moreover, the Heat struggled contending with the size of Roy Hibbert in the Eastern Conference Finals, as the Indiana Pacers pushed the Heat to seven games. Hibbert averaged 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game—including a whopping five per game on the offensive glass—for the Pacers and shot 55.7 percent from the floor in the conference finals. That compared to regular-season numbers of 11.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 44.8 percent shooting.
The Heat did improve markedly after signing free-agent Chris Andersen on Jan. 20. Brought in first on a pair of 10-day contracts, Andersen provided energy and, more importantly, size off the Miami bench. The Heat were 55-11, including the playoffs, after Andersen joined the team.
Andersen averaged 4.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in 14.9 minutes in the regular season and put together an amazing postseason during which he averaged 6.4 points and 3.8 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per night while shooting an NBA postseason record 80.7 percent from the floor. He also averaged 1.1 blocked shots per game and his per-36 minutes numbers were 15.2 points, nine rebounds and 2.6 blocks.
But Andersen will be 35 on July 7 and may be looking to cash in on his postseason heroics. Oden is 10 years younger (he turned 25 on Jan. 22) and over parts of the two seasons he was able to play, averaged 11.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots in 22.1 minutes per game. That pace works out to 15.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks over 36 minutes.
Of course, the Heat won’t likely be looking to get 36 minutes a game from the fragile Oden.
There are other teams in the mix for Oden, however. While taking classes at Ohio State, Oden has attracted a lot of interest from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“He still likes Cleveland, but we’ll have to see what they do in the draft,” said Oden’s agent, Mike Conley Sr.
The Cavaliers have the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday’s draft and Maryland center Alex Len is reportedly on Cleveland’s radar, according to Don Markus of The Baltimore Sun.
Conley said Oden would make himself available to work out for teams next month, but stressed that Oden “wouldn’t do contact” in a workout.
Miami will only have a midlevel exception of $3.183 million available for a free agent this summer, but that might be enough to get a deal done with Oden, who has played the equivalent of one full season—82 games—in the six seasons since he was taken with the top pick in the draft.