Greg Oden: Can He Improve the Miami Heat’s Chances of a Three-peat ?

Earlier this year we heard preliminary talks surrounding the return of Greg Oden and interest involving several teams in the NBA such as the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat. It appears Oden is set to join the Heat in 2013, adding much needed size and depth to make up for one of the worst rebounding teams in the league last season – but will the acquisition of Oden be enough for the Heat to win the NBA title for the third consecutive season?

Honestly, Its difficult to predict Oden’s future due to the history of knee injuries which have plagued this promising players career before he had a chance to develop his NBA game. I, among many NBA fans remain optimistic but will continue to root for a player who was once considered the future of the Portland Trail Blazers franchise.

It appears the Miami Heat have set out to fill the hole in the middle and the biggest benefactor is Chris Bosh. If Coach Spoelstra can somehow figure out how to play both Bosh and Oden on the floor at the same time, Bosh should be able to focus more on his offense while Oden can perform all of the dirty work down-low. Lets take a quick look at the pros and cons of having Greg Oden play for the Miami Heat.

Pros: If healthy, Oden brings allot more than size to a small Miami Heat team. During his short time in the NBA he was ranked among the top 20 in rebounds, scoring, and blocked shots. The Heat are in desperate need of a legitimate rebounder and defender, looking for Oden to score will be just an added bonus. Oden attracts more focus under the basket which should free up perimeter shooters, most importantly Chris Bosh, Bosh was a virtual no-show throughout most of the 2013 NBA Playoffs last season because he was forced to defend some of the premiere centers in the league, I expect his situation to change dramatically this season.

Cons: Greg Oden has what we like to call “old man knees”, which means he would have to play limited minutes through most of the early season, his health is the only issue. Oden has more than enough skill and talent to make life difficult defensively for any NBA Center in the league.

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Offensively, Oden will certainly have some early issues scoring against some of the premiere centers in the league, while his contract agreement should allow proper management of his time on the court, the most important factor is his health leading up to the playoffs. The Miami Heat certainly appear to be a better team on paper, unfortunately Oden has allot of catching up to do. If Oden can remain healthy, the Heat are a scary team but if he fails to deliver, I’m not sure the Heat will three-peat. They have a huge target on their backs and biggest threats to their success are the Brooklyn Nets and the Indiana Pacers. The 2013 – 2014 NBA season will definitely be one to watch! Stay tuned.