Former Blazers Center Greg Oden to Return to Portland For First Time in a Decade

The No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft is heading back to the Rose Garden at last.

Jan 17, 2010; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers injured center Greg Oden (52) looks on from the bench during the fourth quarter of the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Rose Garden. The Blazers won the game 113-102. Mandatory Credit: Steve Dykes-Imagn Images / Steve Dykes-Imagn Images

The No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft is heading back to the Rose Garden at long last.

7-foot former Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden is set to pay a visit to his old team's home court this month, sources inform NBA insider Chris Haynes. It will mark his stint back in town in more than a decade, Haynes notes.

Per Haynes, Oden is set to arrive on December 27, and will be feted with courtside seats for Portland's home clash against the Dallas Mavericks. He'll be joined by family for the occasion.

"He’s expected to share his story with players and staffers on how he overcame some difficult obstacles," Haynes writes.

Oden is now best remembered as being the latest in a long line of injury-prone would-be stars selected by Portland brass ahead of Hall of Famers, joining the ranks of Sam Bowie (drafted one pick ahead of, yes, Michael Jordan) and Oden's own teammate Brandon Roy (in fairness, probable Hall of Famer Kyle Lowry wasn't even in that year's draft lottery, and was selected 18 spots below Roy).

Expected to usher in a new era of glory for Portland alongside second year standouts Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, Oden instead instantly got hurt, undergoing a year-ending microfracture surgery in his left knee ahead of the 2007-08 season.

In 2008-09, he enjoyed his healthiest NBA season ever, appearing in 61 of 82 possible regular season bouts (starting 39 of them). He averaged 8.9 points on 56.4 percent field goal shooting, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked 1.1 shots a night in 21.5 minutes per. Even during that relatively happy run, Oden struggled with foot and knee injuries all the same. Just 21 into games the subsequent season, Oden incurred a fractured left patella and missed the rest of the year. That would mark his last season playing a single game for Portland.

He had yet another a microfracture surgery on his left knee the next year, 2010-11, and underwent a third microfracture surgery in 2011-12.

Oden eventually resurfaced for a fringe role on the NBA Finals-bound Miami Heat in 2013-14, playing just 23 games. He concluded his pro basketball career with the CBA's Jiangsu Dragons from 2015-16.

Across parts of just three healthy NBA seasons between 2007-14, Oden appeared in just 105 games (66 starts), averaging 8.0 points on 57.4 percent shooting from the floor and 65.8 percent shooting from the foul line, 6.2 boards, and 1.2 blocks.

Oden, a highly-touted rim-rattling big man, was selected with the top pick out of Ohio State over future Hall of Famers Kevin Durant (the No. 2 pick out of Texas), future Hall of Fame bubble prospects Al Horford (the No. 3 pick) and Marc Gasol (the No. 48 pick), and future All-Stars Mike Conley (the No. 4 pick who, like, Oden, was a Buckeye), Joakim Noah (the No. 9 pick out of Florida).

That year's draft may have been short on All-Stars, but it did also boast eventual championship role players Jeff Green, Marco Belinelli, Corey Brewer, Jared Dudley, Wilson Chandler, Glen Davis, Nick Young and Tiago Splitter, and long-lasting role players Thaddeus Young, Wilson Chandler, Arron Afflalo, Josh McRoberts and Aaron Brooks.

Among Oden's draft class, only Green and Conley remain active in the NBA today.

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