Miami Heat Sign Center Greg Oden
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NBA via Portland Trail Blazers(NEW YORK) — Greg Oden’s road back to NBA has finally become a reality as the oft-injured center has signed a contract with the Miami Heat.
Oden’s deal will pay him $1.03 million next season $1.14 million if Oden picks up that option.
The 25-year-old Oden was the number one pick in the 2007 by the Portland Trail Blazers. That same draft, the Seattle Supersonics drafted Kevin Durant with the second overall pick.
Durant has won multiple scoring since entering the league and is one of the best players in the NBA, while Oden’s career has been derailed by injuries.
He hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since back in December of 2009, and has only appeared in 82 total games during his pro career.
“When I had a conversation with Coack [Erik] Spoelstra and hearing how much he knew about the training stuff that I was already doing, it kind of made me feel like they know what’s best for me,” Oden said.
The Heat plan on bringing along Oden slowly, and won’t rely on him for heavy minutes to start out the season.
For his career, Oden has career averages of 9.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
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