Greg Oden’s Knee Injury Major Blow For Portland Trail Blazers & NBA

The Associated Press reports on Greg Oden undergoing knee surgery:

Trail Blazers center Greg Oden, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, will undergo exploratory arthroscopic surgery this week because of pain in his right knee.

An MRI taken last week showed Oden may have some cartilage problems, general manager Kevin Pritchard said Monday.

A timetable for Oden’s return will be set following the surgery, which will take place Thursday in Vancouver, Wash. The Trail Blazers open training camp in three weeks and the regular season starts Oct. 30.

My Quick Take: First, a tonsillectomy. Now, exploratory arthroscopic knee surgery. Greg Oden has had a tough go of things since getting drafted first overall by Portland in June’s draft.

There are a few obvious concerns here:

• Exploratory means the Blazers don’t know what the problem is. Oden could be out a few weeks, a few months, or longer.
  

• Because it’s exploratory surgery, nobody is talking about when he’ll return. Coach Nate McMillan is silent. Portland’s front office and doctors are silent. And Odens’ agents aren’t returning calls. Silence is never a good sign.
  

• The Blazers traded power forward Zach Randolph to make room for Oden. So they’re short of posts. Dealing Randolph was, and still is, the right move, but Portland could struggle in the short-term without a low post threat.