When Miami took a chance on signing Greg Oden this offseason, the plan was to bring him along slowly, with the hope that he’d be healthy enough to contribute at some point before the postseason run to a third straight title began.
All indications now are that he’ll be ready much, much sooner than was expected.
From Michael Wallace of ESPN.com:Greg Oden is likely to be cleared for full practice work with the Miami Heat next week and could see his first NBA action in four years during one of their final preseason games, sources told ESPN.com on Saturday. ...
“The next step for me now is just doing some five-on-five work and just getting out there,” Oden told ESPN.com. “Every little step for me, I just get excited. I just want to get out there and do more and more, get my wind back, get my legs back under me. I’m hoping in the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to get a couple of minutes out there.”
The Heat publicly remain cautious and continue to take the long view in their approach to Oden’s comeback. But there were promising signs last week when Oden went through a pair of four-on-four scrimmage sessions and responded without any unexpected concerns with his knees.
We obviously have no idea the level at which Oden will be able to contribute when he makes it back to the court, or if the knees that have caused him so many problems will hold up for any type of regular workload throughout the regular season or the playoffs.
But should Oden turn into even a serviceable center, he’d be a major asset to a Heat team that will likely have to go through Roy Hibbert and the Indiana Pacers at some point in order to make it back to a fourth straight Finals.