Category: Portland Trail Blazers Blog

The Portland Trail Blazers have come to terms with center Greg Oden on a one-year deal, the team announced today.

The contract agreed upon today comes after both sides mutually agreed to negotiate a new deal that is independent of the qualifying offer.

“Following Greg’s most recent physical examination and evaluation, we’ve determined that he has suffered a setback,” said Trail Blazers President Larry Miller. “We’re hopeful, but less confident that he will return to the court this season. We’ve stood by Greg from the day he was drafted and we continue to do so now with this agreement.”

Oden, 23, has averages of 9.4 points (57.7% FG), 7.3 rebounds, 1.43 blocks and 22.1 minutes in 82 games (60 starts). He has notched 21 double-doubles and grabbed 10-plus rebounds 26 times.

“I’m obviously disappointed with the setback, but I’m as determined as ever to return to the court,” said Oden. “I appreciate the support of the Trail Blazers and our fans and that they continue to stand behind me.”

The first overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Ohio State, Oden missed his rookie 2007-08 campaign after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee. He would later miss the 2010-11 season after microfracture surgery was performed on his left knee.

The seemingly never-ending saga surrounding Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy and his balky knees has reached a stunning conclusion.

Two sources with knowledge of Roy’s decision told The Oregonian Friday morning that Roy  plans to retire because of degenerative knees, confirming a story first reported by ESPN.

Roy made this decision, one of the sources said, after meeting with doctors on Thursday. After evaluating Roy’s knees, which have been operated on six times and no longer have any cartilage, the doctor flatly told Roy he should no longer play.

Trail Blazers Brandon Roy’s Game 4 heroics against Dallas Mavericks (video)

Brandon Roy has given Portland a mountain of memories but none more dramatic than last season’s monumental comeback against Dallas in the NBA Playoffs. Roy brought his team back from a 23-point deficit to level the series at 2-2. The all-star guard scored 18 fourth quarter points in one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history.

“You can’t do this,” the doctor told Roy, according to one of the sources. “You might end up not walking.” …

One of the sources described Roy as very “emotional” and said he needed “time to rest” and come to grips with his situation. It’s unclear when Roy will be prepared to publicly address his retirement.

— Reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian

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Greg Oden is returning to the Trail Blazers.

The free agent center will sign a one-year qualifying offer with the Trail Blazers on Friday according to agent Bill Duffy. Oden, who turns 24 in January, will be paid $8.9 million this season.

Starting Friday, Oden was eligible to receive free agent offers from other teams, after which the Blazers would have three days to match. But Oden took other teams out of the equation by deciding to return to the Blazers.

“The mission has not been accomplished,’’ Duffy said Thursday. “The Blazers have stood by Greg, and now he is going to stand by them.’’

— Reported by Jason Quick of the Oregonian

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The Portland Trail Blazers announced today that Head Coach Nate McMillan has finalized his coaching staff for the 2011-12 season by retaining Bernie Bickerstaff, Bob Ociepka, Buck Williams, Kaleb Canales and Dean Cooper, while adding Larry Greer as assistant coach and Dan Dickau as player development assistant.

Greer has spent the past four seasons as an advance scout with the team and Dickau, a former Trail Blazer who played in the NBA for six seasons, begins his first year on the coaching staff.

Bickerstaff returns for his second year in Portland after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach with Chicago. Bickerstaff’s 38-year NBA career includes head coaching positions with Seattle (1985-90), Denver (1995-96), Washington (1997-99) and Charlotte (2004-07). He has also served as general manager of the Denver Nuggets (1990-97) and Charlotte Bobcats (2004-07), and as Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Bobcats (2007-08).

Ociepka also enters his second season with the Trail Blazers after a two-year stint as an assistant coach in Chicago. With 21 years of NBA experience, Ociepka has spent time as an assistant coach with Minnesota (2006-08), Milwaukee (2003-06), Detroit (1998-99, 2001-03), Cleveland (1999-2001), Philadelphia (1996-97), L.A. Clippers (1993-96) and Indiana (1989-93).

Williams, one of Portland’s most beloved former players, joined the Trail Blazers coaching staff last season. The team’s power forward from 1989-96, Williams helped lead Portland to the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992 as Western Conference Champions. Williams is the team’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (55.0%), ranks fourth in rebounds (4,861) and seventh in games played (557).

Canales is set to begin his third year as Trail Blazers assistant coach and eighth overall with the team. He joined the team as a video intern in 2004 and spent the next three seasons as the team’s video coordinator, where he prepared scouting video for coaches. He was promoted to assistant coach/video coordinator in 2008-09. The Laredo, Texas, native guided the Trail Blazers to a 4-1 record as head coach of Portland’s 2010 NBA Summer League entry in Las Vegas.

Greer, entering his first season as assistant coach in 2011-12, joined the Trail Blazers in 2007 as an advance scout. Prior to his time in Portland, Greer served as advance scout for Houston from 2005-07. A graduate of Northeastern University in 1989, Greer spent the first 16 years of his career in college basketball, including assistant coaching roles with Wright State (2003-05) and Boston University (1994-2003).

Cooper will serve as the team’s player development director for a second season in 2011-12. In that role, Cooper works closely with the coaching staff to track each player’s individual development and improvement on the court. Cooper’s 12-year NBA career includes two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2008-10 and nine years in several roles with the Houston Rockets from 1999-2008.

A Portland area native who starred at Prairie High School, Dickau played six seasons in the NBA from 2002-08, including parts of two seasons with the Trail Blazers (2003-04, 2006-07). In his new role as player development assistant, Dickau will work with Cooper on player development, focusing on the team’s point guards. He finished his NBA career with averages of 5.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 300 games (57 starts) with Atlanta, Portland, New Orleans, Dallas, Boston and the L.A. Clippers. A graduate of Gonzaga University, Dickau was selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by Atlanta.

Restricted free-agent center Greg Oden is leaning strongly toward re-signing with the Portland Trail Blazers, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Oden would sign a one-year, $8.8 million qualifying offer with the Blazers and become an unrestricted free agent after this season. The No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft has played just 82 games over four seasons because of injuries. The Blazers made the qualifying offer in June to ensure Oden was a restricted free agent.

— Reported by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports

The Trail Blazers have not made any decisions on using the amnesty provision to waive Brandon Roy.

Team president Larry Miller, in a packed news conference at the Rose Garden on Wednesday, was adamant a that column by The Oregonian’s John Canzano — which quoted a source saying Portland had decided to waive Roy — was dead wrong.

“We have not, and regardless of what’s been said by John Canzano and others out there, (made a) decision on amnesty as of yet,” Miller said.

In addition to Canzano, KATU.com and at least one national website reported that the Blazers intended to use the amnesty clause to jettison Roy’s contract from the salary cap.

— Reported by Mike Tokito of the Oregonian

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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With the NBA lockout heading to the courtroom and the 2011-12 season seemingly one step away from Armageddon, the Trail Blazers have decided to suspend their search for a new general manager, an NBA source familiar with the team’s plans told The Oregonian.

The Blazers already had slowed their search in recent weeks, as the NBA and its players dug into intense negotiations designed to salvage the season. And when the players shot down the NBA’s most recent offer Monday and elected to dissolve their union, the Blazers decided it was most appropriate to halt their search, in part to protect jobs.

After all, the salary of a new GM — possibly millions of dollars a year — would be equal to the costs of countless other jobs in the organization.

— Reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian