Where are They Now? Greg Oden

Greg Oden has plenty of time and money to gamble with these days. (Facebook) Is it too early (and mean spirited) in Greg Oden’s career to do a “Where are they now?” on the Portland Trail Blazers bigman?

Probably. But watching Thursday night’s debacle between the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland – which saw the Trail Blazers blow an 18-point lead to lose their fourth straight at home – got me thinking … Where is Oden?

Greg hasn’t been blogging for a couple years. Odenized is no longer. And I didn’t see the big man on the bench Thursday, so I did some Googling and was absolutely shocked to find out he underwent another knee surgery earlier this month – his fourth since being drafted No. 1 in the 2007 NBA Draft.

This time around, the former Ohio State star underwent an arthroscopic procedure to clean out debris in his right knee.

The 7-footer, who hasn’t played in two years, has played in just 82 games in an NBA career that’s been plagued by knee injuries (fractured kneecap in 2009 and microfracture surgery last season).

It’s getting so bad, even the Blazers brass is admitting publicly he might not return to Portland.

“There’s a chance that he won’t,” Portland GM Chad Buchanan told KGW-TV. “Obviously, he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year and we, along with the rest of the league, we’ll decide if he’s a person that you want to take a chance on moving forward.”

Take a chance on couldn’t be more of an understatement.

In those 80-plus games, Oden has averaged 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds and has yet to play anywhere near his potential.

Instead he’s overshadowed by the play of another 2007 Draft pick, Oklahoma guard and defending scoring champion Kevin Durant – which begs the comparisons to Sam Bowie, another injury-prone Blazer who Portland selected ahead of one Michael Jordan in 1984.

Portland fans, however, might want to make another comparison with Oden – to Hall of Famer Bill Walton.

Like Oden, Walton’s career was devastated by injuries early on. Drafted in 1974, Walton didn’t play a full season until 1976-77, when he went on to lead the league in rebounds and blocked shots per game and carried the Trail Blazers to the championship over the Philadelphia 76ers.

So is it too early to write off Oden? Yes, it should be.

But in this day in age of Linsanity and the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately Twitterverse, no, it’s not.

So for now, Oden is going to continue getting ripped in Rip City. (Do a Twitter search for Oden and it’s not pretty.)

Fortunately for Rip City, it looks like Oden isn’t throwing in the towel just yet.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard the news by now that I’m having a scope on my knee today,” Oden said on his Facebook Page. “Unfortunately after months of intense rehab and training, the doctors discovered that a scope is necessary at this time. Thankfully this should be a quick recovery and I’ll be back to training soon. I’m committed as ever to doing everything and anything to get back on the court and be a part of the team’s success. Thanks for all the support, your well-wishes are much-appreciated.”