MIAMI – The Knicks never inquired about comeback center Greg Oden over the summer. Too much of a risk – but one the two-time defending champion Heat could afford to take.
And after all, the Knicks were too busy wooing free agents Metta World Peace and Beno Udrih – who have since been bought out.
While the Knicks still lack a backup center to Tyson Chandler, it’s still to be determined whether the Oden experiment will pan out in South Beach. We won’t know until the playoffs. The Pacers were concerned enough about Oden — the 2007 No. 1 overall pick (Kevin Durant went No. 2, by the way) — that they recently signed center Andrew Bynum, whom the Knicks coveted.
Oden made his first start in four years on Sunday vs. the Bulls in a reshuffled lineup sans LeBron James. He will play against the Knicks for the first time since Feb. 8, 2009 and for only the third time in his injury-devastated career.
Oden has now played 11 games this season and has shown flashes. He’s averaging 8.3 minutes, 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds, while shooting 52 percent. Oden, who sat out the last three seasons with multiple knee injuries, has guarded expectations, no longer the affable, cocky teenager coming out of Ohio State as the next Bill Russell.
“I don’t give percentages,’’ Oden told The Post when asked where his game was at. “I would like to be better. In everything. I’m not the player I used to be when I was 100-percent healthy. For me it’s still a work in progress.
There’s still things I’d like to improve on – conditioning-wise, offensively, defensively, rebounding-wise, blocked-shot-wise.’’
Can he still be an X-factor for the center-starved Heat in the playoffs?
“We’re working on it,’’ Oden said. “Nobody can predict the future, but we’re working on it.’’
Miami president Pat Riley had monitored Oden’s recovery from a while, not just this summer. Oden said signing with Miami was a no-brainer.
“It was the comfort level of the training staff and Pat Riley,’’ Oden said. “That was the No. 1 thing to me. Being able to come to a place that would help me get healthy again. Pat was a big factor — talking to my agent for a long time now.’’
The Heat don’t need an impactful Oden to win another title. Chris “Birdman” Anderson continues to excel in his gritty bench role. But the Pacers keep loading up, so it wouldn’t hurt..
“I’d like to contribute to the team as much as I can for what they need,’’ Oden said. “There’ll be times they won’t need me to play because ‘Birdman’ is playing really well. It’s hard to say they need a lot.’’
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra was asked by a Heat writer if he can envision spot-starting Oden down the stretch to see what it looks like.
“Not there right now but anything can happen,’’ Spoelstra said. “The biggest thing is look at how far he’s gone. Let’s keep it in perspective. You see what he can bring to the table and you immediately say more. But that can’t be in our vocabulary. The fact he’s available and in uniform is the biggest victory of all right now. ‘’