Darius Miles = Greg Oden?

[vjcsmoke]

Both highly drafted.  Both coming of season ending/serious injuries.  But now could make an impact in their return year as long as they are healthy.  Does anybody else see the similarities?

[Amir]

Darius Miles is coming off a potential career ending injury, Oden not. I dont think he had anywhere as near a ceiling as Oden has either. Greg Oden is a player that comes around every 20 years or so.

[Roy Hobbs]

Not really.  Not all knee injuries are created equally, you know?  Miles had an injury deemed by multiple doctors to be career ending.  Oden had surgery that doctors expect him to make a full recovery from.  I think there's a huge, huge difference.

Also, Miles was never seen to have nearly the potential of Oden at any point in his career.  Additionally, Oden has a history of being a class act while Miles...  doesn't.  Lastly, in terms of contributions this year, best case scenario Oden becomes an anchor on defense and a consistent scorer on offense, while starting for an up-and-coming team.  Best case scenario for Miles, he contributes at about 75% of his pre-injury condition, at which time he just wasn't a very good player.

[johnnyrondo]

Both highly drafted.  Both coming of season ending/serious injuries.  But now could make an impact in their return year as long as they are healthy.  Does anybody else see the similarities?

Darius Miles has shown what he can do in the NBA when healthy, and that's not much. He was mediocre at best when healthy. Comparing Oden and Miles b/c of injuries is like comparing Durant and Pruitt b/c they are both second yr players, or Scalabrine and KG b/c they are both one time NBA champions. Oden's gonna be an all-star for many years at the minimum. Best case scenario for the C's regarding Miles is that Portland trades us a future first rounder in exchange for cutting Miles before he's played 10 games.

[Steve Weinman]

Not really.  Not all knee injuries are created equally, you know?

In a related story, not all hoopsters are created equally either.

-sw

[kw10]

I thought you were going to say somethig along the lines of "Oden will be a complete bust"...and then I was going to reply...possibly, him getting 19 fouls in 2 preseason games last year was not impressive at all (there's no limit as to how many fouls you can get in preseason games). And I'm sure no one's impressed by that either. While that does not tell us a lot about Oden, maybe, just maybe, the slightest chance that Oden might not be as good as he's hyped to be (while not a complete bust, but not a big time player either). But I am willing to wait for one more season before I make further judgements about his future success in the NBA.

[PRIDE]

For Portlands sake, lets hope Oden has 10x the year Miles has. I don't think Miles will make it past the preseason. And by the looks of his non guarantted contract, Danny Ainge doesnt either.

[durpman]

Greg Oden is no flop yet in fact he is still very promising. Oden's personality is charming and his attitude seems good. Miles is a dud who brings more problems then help. He was a physically gifted player but never amounted to much now even his physical ability is in question. Oden will be a guy who may change the franchise. Miles may not even make the team and definitely will not fill Posey's role as a formidable sixth man. Nope, sorry that’s like comparing Ricky Davis to Kevin Durant. Miles is a gimpy Ricky Davis. 

[Roy Hobbs]

Miles is a gimpy Ricky Davis...

... without the jumpshot or the passing skills.

[cdif911]

if Darius Miles + Greg Oden = David Robinson/Cherokee Parks then what is the square root of Mugsy Bogues?

[crownsy]

Darius Miles is coming off a potential career ending injury, Oden not. I dont think he had anywhere as near a ceiling as Oden has either. Greg Oden is a player that comes around every 20 years or so.

yea know, i heard this about darko too. not that he's a once every 20 year guy, but that he was a super dominate guy who couldn't miss.

how bout we see how oden plays in the NBA before we crown him the next patrick ewing, deal?

[guava_wrench]

Both highly drafted.  Both coming of season ending/serious injuries.  But now could make an impact in their return year as long as they are healthy.  Does anybody else see the similarities?

A better comparison would be Miles and Livingston, but even that is a stretch.

Miles, health-wise, is in his own league. Hopefully it works out.

[boscel33]

Darius Miles is coming off a potential career ending injury, Oden not. I dont think he had anywhere as near a ceiling as Oden has either. Greg Oden is a player that comes around every 20 years or so.

Actually, micro fracture surgery that Oden had is career threatening.  There have been athletes who have had this and never been the same.

It is definitely something to keep an eye on.

[LarBrd33]

well with my hometown team now in Oklahoma, I plan on following the Blazers a lot this year as my new secondary team.   But I really don't expect much from Oden this year.  I remember watching him in summerleague against Boston prior to last season.  The guy looked extremely raw as it was.  He looked awkward and lost the majority of the time and certainly didn't look like a dominant guy (yet).   So now he comes off this kind of surgery... I would expect he has a major loss of athleticism... plus he's gained a lot of "muscle weight" he's dealing with.  Yeah... i don't expect much from him at all.   I remember seeing him play in College and the guy had freakish jumpability.  I saw some hype clips of him scrimmaging in Portland recently and although he was dunking he seemed slow, out of shape and pretty grounded.   

We'll see what happens.  I'm actually rooting for the kid.  I just don't have very high expectations.