I sat and watched the 2007 draft lottery like most other Blazers fans, and I remember exactly what I said and thought when Portland got the first pick.
“We got Oden.”
On a team with a young star in Brandon Roy, and a rising power forward with a great outside game like LaMarcus Aldridge, there was never a question in my mind that we should pick Greg Oden. It’s so easy to look back on that decision now and change it, or ask what the Blazers were thinking. But with the knowledge they had at the time, Portland was doing exactly what they needed to do; create a team built to win championships.
Portland announced last Friday that center Greg Oden would have arthroscopic knee surgery, and that he will be out indefinitely. Oden has played in 82 games in five seasons for the Trail Blazers.
So as fans, we have to move on from the Oden era. There have been enough knee injuries to last a life time in the five years Oden has been a Trail Blazer.
Portland has a greatly talented team. They’re off to a rocky start so far, especially on the road. We forget that this team beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road early this year. This team, led by Aldridge, has so much potential, yet they are struggling to play up to it. Seeing the way the Blazers play at home and how good this team is makes it so hard to watch them when they are away from the Rose Garden.
The Blazers will always be stuck as an average team that can only make it to the first round of the playoffs if they don’t figure out their problems. It’s getting harder and harder to watch them on the road, even against mediocre teams. If Portland keeps this up, their already-in-jeopardy sellout streak may come to an end.
It would be so sad to see a team with this much potential not live up to it. Especially with a fan base that is arguably the most deserving of an NBA championship.
The Blazers have a good team, with or without Oden. It’s time for the city to move on from the Ohio State center instead of looking back at draft day 2007 and regretting it.