NBA Rumors: Former Blazers Feel Portland Set Bar Too High For Oden

The Portland Trail Blazers were seen as one of the top teams back in 2007 when they got their hands on Greg Oden. But as most know, the top pick of that NBA Draft Class hardly got his basketball career off the ground. Injuries kept him from staying on the court and he is now seen by most as one of the busts the league has ever seen.

Harsh as it may seem, it is a reality that Oden will have to live with. But for people who were around him that time like Channing Frye and Travis Outlaw, the Blazers could have alternatively enjoyed a winning run. Portland had a big three of its own at that time. Aside from Oden, there was also Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Like Oden, Roy was also bothered by the injury bug and some could say that it was all just a stroke of bad luck.

Frye and Outlaw discussed the curious case of Oden during a recent episode of "Talkin' Blazers" where they shared memories from the era of Trail Blazers basketball. Both were among the teammates Oden had when he entered the league in 2007 and gave their takes.

Both agreed that things could have been different had Oden and Roy been healthy. All were on rookie-scale contracts and Frye dared to think on what could have been for the Blazers at the time. He witnessed how Oden worked hard and kept himself in shape. Even with Kevin Durant available in that class, he says he would have taken the product out of Ohio State University with the first pick.

Outlaw felt that the bar set by Blazers management was a bit high for Oden. He feels that Portland wanted to speed up things and get results. Rookies are normally given time to adapt but Outlaw feels that it was not the case with Oden.

"I felt like they tried to push him too hard. I really thought, like, let him feel his way out first and then you feed him," he said.

But then again, such expectations should not come as a surprise especially if that NBA player is the top pick. Oden's case is a mix of bad luck and health issues that may have been overlooked by scouts at that time. Lady Luck just frowned on Oden who tried to get up from the microfracture surgery to his right knee.

A look at Basketball-Reference.com shows Oden played a total of 105 games and averaged 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds. The most games he played was during his sophomore year, 2008-09, with the Blazers at 61 games. He normed 11.1 points and 8.5 rebounds. These are hardly impressive numbers and people can do for now is wonder about what could have happened if Oden had not gotten injured.