Was Oden The Right Pick?

Tim Kawakami thinks Oden is still worth it.
“Even when I realized that Greg Oden has been hurt almost constantly since he was 18 (wrist, back, now knee), even when I hear all those NBA executives murmuring about red flags throughout Oden’s medical charts in the pre-draft camp, even when it was decided that he had to undergo exploratory knee surgery earlier this week, even when Kevin Durant lit up the summer league in his final few games, then kept up the momentum with eye-popping shooting in a practice vs. the Olympic team, all the way up to the point during surgery today that doctors decided they need to perform immediate microfracture surgery to repair ligaments in his knee, I would’ve remained steadfastly behind Portland’s decision to draft Oden over Kevin Durant in last April’s draft.”
I said then it was a no-brainer to take Oden. I say it now, even knowing that Oden will miss his entire rookie season.   I’m saying that Portland made the smart pick. Oden was the pick the Trail Blazers had to make.

Source:  San Jose Mercury News