Blazers GM Does Not Regret Drafting Gred Oden

Portland Trail Blazers general manager Chad Buchanan told CBSSports.com that he still stands by the team’s selection of center Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA Draft.

“Looking back on it, I would still draft Greg,” he said. “Hindsight, it’s easy to make an assumption [now]… You can’t predict the injuries that would come. Going back on it, I wouldn’t have changed anything in drafting Greg.” When asked if the decision was unanimous among those in the room, Buchanan politely declined to reply.

Since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2007, Oden has had five knee surgeries and played in just 82 regular season games. The seven-footer most recently went under the knife yesterday to clean out debris in his knee, officially ruling him out for the rest of the 2011-2012 NBA season.