Trail Blazers injury woes: How the Jail Blazers became the Frail Blazers

Trail Blazers injury woes: How the Jail Blazers became the Frail Blazers

By Jason Quick, The Oregonian

The Portland Trail Blazers, regarded as one of the NBA's most promising young teams a little more than a year ago, enter the New Year with little reason for optimism.

Brandon Roy and Greg Oden, the two players who were supposed to play the biggest roles in helping the Blazers win another NBA championship, have broken down to injury so dramatically that the team and its fan base appear stunned and listing.

But the team's fall should not come as a total surprise to the Blazers' top decision-makers. With Roy, and to a degree with Oden, owner Paul Allen and his front office executives had information and medical advice suggesting the pillars of the foundation could crumble, as has happened this season.

Oden, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, has had three season-ending knee surgeries in four years. He will have played in 82 of a possible 328 games after this season.

Roy, who in the summer of 2009 signed a five-year, $82 million contract, has missed 10 games this season and is sidelined "indefinitely" because of soreness in both of his knees.

"We took some risks, but we also just had some bad luck," said Larry Miller, the team's president since June of 2007. "That happens in sports."

Drafting and acquiring players in professional sports carry inherent risks. Teams often gamble on a player's talent, character or health. The Blazers in the last decade have taken significant risks in all three categories.

From 1996 through 2002, an era when the team was often referred to as the "Jail Blazers," Allen and team president/general manager Bob Whitsitt valued talent over character. The franchise banked that the skills of personalities such as Rasheed Wallace, Isaiah Rider and Bonzi Wells could overcome the accompanying headaches.

It nearly worked – the Blazers advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 1999 and 2000 – but eventually the volatile group combusted in 2001.

By the summer of 2003, Allen had declared "a new era" in which the Blazers would value talent and character equally in the equation of acquiring players. The next three seasons, they took risks on unproven talent, opting to draft high-potential high school players in Travis Outlaw, Sebastian Telfair and Martell Webster rather than more experienced college players.

The team's record plummeted to 41-41 in 2003-04, and eventually an NBA-worst 21-61 in 2005-06.

Faced with declining attendance, the team stuck to its emphasis on character but took a different risk to increase its talent.

As a result, the Jail Blazers and Baby Blazers were gone. But waiting right around the corner was the Frail Blazers.

High-risk health ratings

Like many NBA teams, the Blazers medical staff assigns a ranking to a potential draft pick or player they are interested in acquiring.

Of the seven players on the Blazers' current roster who were drafted in the first round by Portland from 2006-2010, five were rated as high risk from a medical standpoint, including one who was essentially given a red flag as dangerous to draft. Because of laws protecting the privacy of players, the team would not disclose those players' names.

Steve Patterson, who served as Blazers president from June of 2003 through March of 2007 as well as handling general manager duties from 2006-2007, said the Blazers' medical staff was consistently spot-on in their evaluations. He called Blazers doctors Don Roberts and Tom Reis "among the best doctors in the NBA."

"They had an unique talent to look at a player – particularly Dr. Roberts when it applied to knees – and with great precision predict what would happen to that player in the future," Patterson said.

Patterson said the recommendations of Roberts and Reis were not always followed.

"There were points in time when there were others within the organization who weighed in on decisions who didn't have the same perspective as the doctors," Patterson said. "And those decisions came back to haunt the organization."

Patterson would not elaborate on which decisions he was referring to, but he said Allen was aware of the medical ratings issued to Roy before the 2006 draft, and to Oden before the 2007 draft.

Roy had left knee surgery in high school, and right knee surgery as a junior at the University of Washington.

"We recognized he had surgeries, and we looked at that, but we had no concern about his knees," Patterson said. "The only questions we had were about his feet and his ankles. He had pronated ankles."

Although Roy missed 20 games his rookie season because an elongated talus bone in his left heel, the Blazers felt like they made the right decision in drafting him with the seventh overall pick.

"Brandon came into the league and was a Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star," Miller said. "So if you look at that, the risk initially definitely paid off."

But in the summer of 2009, Roy went to the bargaining table looking for a contract extension. By that time, he had another surgery on his left knee in August of 2008, leaving him with no meniscus in that knee.

Roy wanted a maximum deal allowed by the NBA's collective bargaining agreement – a four-year deal with an option for a fifth year totaling $82 million. The Blazers wanted the deal to be four years. After more than a month of negotiations, Roy got his option year, and essentially, his $82 million guaranteed.

Miller, who was in on the negotiation of Roy's deal, said the team was fully aware that Roy's knees had little to no cartilage left when they granted the extension.

"That's one of the reasons why the decision and the signing took longer than maybe people thought it should have taken," Miller said. "Because there were a lot of discussions around Brandon's health."

The Oden decision

The selection of Oden in the 2007 draft has become more controversial, in large part because No. 2 pick Kevin Durant has become one of the best players in the NBA.

Prior to the draft, the Blazers held many discussions regarding Oden and Durant, who were the clear-cut candidates for the No. 1 overall pick.

It is difficult to get the full disclosure on the Oden pick. Allen did not respond to submitted questions for this article. And Kevin Pritchard, the general manager who selected Oden, was fired in June and said an agreement prohibits him from speaking on the Blazers.

Patterson was fired three months before the 2007 draft and Miller was hired eight days before the draft and admits that he was not intimately involved in the draft process.

However, Patterson said that as far back as March the Blazers were gathering information on draft picks and that there were concerns about Oden's body.

Oden had hip surgery in sixth grade, and one of his legs is shorter than the other, causing a natural limp. While in high school, he also had ligament damage to his right wrist, which was later operated on at Ohio State University.

"I did have concerns with a guy who was hurt as much as Oden," Patterson said, noting that he was in favor of drafting Durant.

Miller said the Blazers did their due diligence, none of which suggested Oden would have knee problems. In fact, athletic trainer Jay Jensen remembers being at the NBA pre-draft camp in Orlando, where all 30 NBA teams had the opportunity to examine and test Oden. The Blazers, Jensen said, were the only team who took magnetic resonance imaging on Oden's knees.

"I remember Greg saying that was unnecessary, that there were never any problems with his knees," Jensen said. "But Dr. Roberts, bless him, thought it would be a good idea. The MRIs were fine. There was nothing there."

Adding to the debate between of Oden and Durant: The Blazers graded Durant's health as "pristine." In three-plus years, Durant has missed eight games, as well as becoming the youngest player in NBA history to win a scoring title.

Jensen would not reveal what his medical grade was for Oden, and he would not say what he answered when Pritchard casually asked who he would select in the days leading up to the draft. Miller also would not reveal the medical staff's recommendation.

"We had medical information to look at," Miller said. "But in evaluating everything that goes into the total picture, we felt Greg was the right choice. And in Greg's situation, there was no indication that he would have knee problems ... he had some other injury issues, but not the knees. So I don't think we took as big of a risk there.

"That's why I just think we've had some really bad luck in addition to taking some risks that maybe didn't pan out or that have caused us some issues lately, specifically with Brandon's knees," Miller said. "But the reality is, there was nothing that told us that there was the potential for this with Greg."

Uncertain future

It's difficult to say whether Allen and the Blazers have learned a lesson about valuing medical information. In last summer's NBA draft, the Blazers selected guard Elliot Williams with the 22nd overall pick. The first week of the season, the team announced Williams would have season-ending surgery on his right knee. Another surgery, on his left knee, is scheduled for this month.

Miller said when the Blazers drafted Williams, they were aware he would need surgery. Miller said the bright side is that Williams should only miss a season.

The team's new general manager, Rich Cho, said he values medical history and the advice provided by medical personnel when acquiring players

Meanwhile, Miller insists that the team has never ignored medical information and will continue to make it a part of their player evaluations.

"Talent, medical and character all need to be on an equal plane," Miller said. "Sometimes you can get all three, but sometimes you only get two of the three. Sometimes the talent doesn't always pan out. Sometimes the character doesn't pan out. And sometimes the medical doesn't pan out. I think there will always be risk involved."

-- Jason Quick


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Blazers' draft risks

Key players acquired on the day of the NBA draft since 2006 and their health before and after joining the Blazers.

2006

Brandon Roy

Health history: Had left knee surgery in high school, and right knee surgery as a junior at the University of Washington.

Since joining the Blazers: Was rookie of the year and made three All-Star teams but has had two knee surgeries – on his left knee in August of 2008 and on his right knee in April of 2010. Has missed 61 games due to injury (heel, knees, hip, ankle, hamstring, shoulder) and is currently out of action indefinitely with soreness in both knees.

LaMarcus Aldridge

Health history: Missed all but 16 games of freshman season at University of Texas after undergoing left hip surgery to repair torn cartilage.

Since joining the Blazers: Had right shoulder surgery before playing a game for the Blazers, then missed nine games at the end of his rookie year after undergoing a heart procedure related to Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome. In all, has missed 25 games (shoulder, heart, ankle, knee and foot). Has averaged 16.4 points and 7.6 rebounds in four-plus seasons and recently has become the team's No. 1 scoring opiton.

2007

Greg Oden

Health history: Hip surgery as a sixth grader and right wrist surgery as a freshman at Ohio State stemming from a high school injury.
Since joining the Blazers: Has had three season-ending knee surgeries, two of them before he even played a game. Will have played in 82 of a possible 328 games after this season.

2008

Nicolas Batum

Health history: A week before the 2008 draft, Batum had to stop his workout with the Toronto Raptors after a stress-echo test came back "borderline" as he ran on a treadmill.

Since joining the Blazers: Missed first 45 games last season after undergoing surgery to repair torn labrum in right shoulder. Missed one game his rookie season with sprained left ankle. In his third season, Batum has become a fixture in the Blazers lineup.

2010

Elliot Williams

Health history: In college Williams was diagnosed with patellar subluxation, or loose knee caps. He twice suffered what were called right knee bruises in college at Memphis, and suffered a knee-to-knee injury during a pre-draft workout in San Antonio.

Since joining the Blazers: Out for the season before playing in a game. Underwent right knee surgery on Nov. 12 to repair a ruptured patella tendon. Will undergo surgery this month on his left knee

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