The Miami Heat reportedly had interest in re-signing free agent big man Greg Oden as recently as a few days ago, though that seems to have changed after the former Ohio State star was arrested on Thursday morning.
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Oden, who was out of the NBA due to injury the past few seasons was signed by the Miami Heat for the 2013-14 season and proved to be a rather solid big man off the bench. He wasn’t exactly what you’d call reliable nor was he going to be availble to play significant minutes, but as a third big off the bench you could certainly do worse.
That’s part of the reason why the Miami Heat were interested in bringing him back this year, but the arrest has seemingly derailed those plans as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentential hints a reunion is likely no longer in the works.
Now with Oden's arrest in Indianapolis on misdemeanor battery charges, it's safe to put Oden's Heat free agency in past tense.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) August 7, 2014
With Chris Bosh, Josh McRoberts, Chris Andersen, Udonis Haslem, Justin Hamilton in place in Heat power rotation, Oden was on way out anyway.
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) August 7, 2014
Even if the Miami Heat had passed on Greg Oden, it was likely that he would have found an NBA home at some point this offseason even if it was just on a minimum contract. However, with the battery charge it’s questionable if a team will take a chance on Oden given his injury concerns and now legal issues.
Assuming Greg Oden can prove innocence or has the charges dropped, it’s possible that a team would then be willing to take a risk but as things currently stand, it would be somewhat shocking to see him on an NBA roster before his legal issues are resolved.