Heat, Spurs “co-favorites” to sign Greg Oden
By Mike Dyce
A lot of teams have been feeling out Greg Oden and his comeback after not playing in the NBA for three years. He is still only 25 years old and very young, but his knees have prevented him from living up to the hype leading up the draft where he was taken #1 overall.
The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs are the front runners to sign Oden, however other teams including the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans remain in the mix.
From ESPN.com:
"Sources told ESPN.com on Monday that the Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings will all send representatives this week to watch Oden work out in person.Sources say that the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks — which had face-to-face meetings with Oden last week — also remain in contention for the 7-footer’s services. But the Heat and Spurs established themselves as the frontrunners to land Oden last month and, according to one source close to the process, remain the co-favorites to sign him.Sources have maintained since last week that the Kings are longshot contenders for Oden."
The Dallas Mavericks have been using the same training staff pitch they used on Andrew Bynum for Greg Oden.
"The Mavericks, sources say, continue to try to press for Oden even after last week’s signing of Samuel Dalembert. The Mavs have pitched Dallas — under the auspices of longtime Team USA trainer Casey Smith — as the ideal launching pad for his comeback."