Miami Heat Rumors: Greg Oden open to returning next season
By Josh Hill
The Miami Heat didn’t mourn the loss of LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers as Pat Riley moved fast to keep as much of his championship caliber team together. Obviously, it’s missing the biggest piece but the Heat are more well off than you’d think and one player is ready to comeback even if it’s in the same minor role he had last year.
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According to the Sun-Sentinel, Oden is open to a return in 2014-15 and wouldn’t mind coming back with the Miami Heat.
"Mike Conley, agent for Greg Oden, said a return by the center to the Heat remains possible as Pat Riley continues to restructure his roster.“Greg just wants to be somewhere where he plays,” Conley said, with Oden appearing in just 23 games for 212 minutes for the Heat during the regular season, and in just three playoff games for a total of seven minutes. “He is open to a return.”"
This says a few things about Oden and it says a few things about the Heat as well. We can’t forget how involved the former No. 1 overall pick was in the Eastern Conference Championship trophy presentation, at the behest of Pat Riley, so there’s obvious admiration there.
But Oden’s willingness to commit to the Heat, much like Chris Bosh and others did, proves that even without LeBron James the Heat are a team that has chemistry and has something that players want to fight for. Oden could have used his association with the Heat to get a bigger role somewhere else, but his loyalty is telling of just how well off the Heat are in the wake of losing LeBron.
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