Basketball Prospectus Breaks Down Loss Of Oden

From the Blazers' perspective, while the loss of Oden is painful, there is a silver lining in the short term. Oden's emergence as a go-to player on offense had created some issues as Portland figured out how to incorporate his skills into an attack that was already one of the league's best. Neither LaMarcus Aldridge nor Brandon Roy has played as well early this year as they did in 2008-09, and the Blazers' offense as a whole (currently 10th in the league in Offensive Rating) has dropped off compared to last year's efficient performance.

Aldridge will now return to his role as Portland's go-to player inside, giving him more of the quality looks on which he thrived during the second half of last season. He and Roy also have had more success on the two-man game, whereas Roy has never been entirely comfortable working with Oden on pick-and-rolls.

As was the case when Oden missed all of 2007-08 and two extended periods in 2008-09, the Blazers are fortunate to have the luxury of a starting-caliber center in backup Joel Przybilla. Przybilla is another Portland player who has slumped in the early going, but it is possible he will be more effective in longer stints as part of a starting lineup that already has more than enough scoring.

The biggest concern for the Blazers in the short term is depth. Channing Frye served as Przybilla's backup the last two seasons when Oden was out, but he is now in Phoenix and Portland does not have either a natural center or anyone taller than 6'9" on the bench.

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Surely, no injury is as important to the Blazers' long-term future as Oden's. The evidence and precedence suggests to me that Oden should be able to return to health next season. Certainly, losing the balance of the season will set back Oden's development, robbing him of valuable court time. But where Oden's last rehab saw him trying to live up to the expectations placed on him as the No. 1 overall pick--a process that clearly took a mental toll last season--now Oden merely needs to return to the level at which he was playing before Saturday night.