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First, about Oden’s health: The restricted free agent center has not been cleared to participate in scrimmages or any basketball-related activities that include contact, according to his agent, Mike Conley. He has been cleared to run, ride a bike and participate in non-contact basketball drills — shooting, dribbling, etc. — but there remains no time line for a possible return.
“There have not been any setbacks,” Conley said Saturday of Oden’s health. “That’s the best way to word it. Doctors really did not give him a hard time line (for a return) … but he’s working hard and trying his best to get back.”
Oden has played just 82 games over his first four NBA seasons because of three separate knee surgeries. The last came Nov. 19, 2010, when he underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee.
Despite this, the Blazers have expressed a desire to keep Oden with the hope that he avoids further injury and develops into the player they projected he would become when they drafted him No. 1 overall in the 2007 NBA Draft.
— Reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian
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