Oden likely to miss season
Trail Blazers announce that the 7-foot center -- the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft -- has undergone microfracture surgery on his right knee. Full recovery is expected to take six to 12 months.
The Portland Trail Blazers' plans to return to contention were put on hold with the announcement today that prized rookie Greg Oden has been lost for the season.
The 7-foot Oden, the No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft, underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee today in Vancouver, Wash., which followed last week's exploratory procedure.
"There are things about this that are positive for Greg," said Dr. Don Roberts, who performed the operation, in a statement. "First of all, he is young. The area where the damage was is small and the rest of his knee looked normal. All those are good signs for a complete recovery from microfracture surgery."
Everything else goes under the heading of negative things.
The injury is Oden's second in two years, after starting his freshman year at Ohio State with a cast on his fractured right wrist. Oden averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds with Ohio State.
With Oden, the Trail Blazers were expected to make a run at the playoffs, after going 21-61 and 27-55 the last two seasons.
Without him, the NBA lottery beckons anew.
The 7-foot center is expected to be on crutches for up to eight weeks. Full recovery likely will take six to 12 months, the team says.
mark.heisler@latimes.com
