Recovering Oden aware of ‘Sam Bowie talk’

Greg Oden knows that he can’t dodge the Sam Bowie comparisons. Sitting at his home, the often-injured center acknowledged that before watching his Portland Trail Blazers play the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday evening.

Once Oden returns to play, as he strongly expects, will the free agent be helping the Blazers or another team?

“Some people may think it’s best for me being out of [Portland], getting out of that mode of being injured or Sam Bowie talk,” Oden said. “Some people are probably saying, ‘You owe the Blazers for four years.’

“I don’t know. For me, I just want to get out there and play. … I just want to get on the court and compete because that’s something I’ve been missing the past two years.”

He says his current rehab, from November’s micro-fracture surgery on his left knee, includes weightless squats, leg strength and balancing exercises, and cardio. The 7-footer, who has played in only 82 games in his career, hopes to get back on the floor to do light shooting without movement sometime later this month. He is “aiming” for a complete return by November.

Oden misses the game. After watching his Blazers fall to the Hornets, he lingered on the night’s highlights, watching them three times along with other games.

“It’s kind of brought back the love of the game through humbling you,” Oden said of his injuries. “You go out there and do it. Some people might not work as hard on their game. But when it’s taken away for two years that’s all you want to do is go back on the basketball court and do whatever you can.”

The projected NBA lockout could aid Oden’s hopes of getting a better contract as each passing day would give him more time to heal and get stronger before next season. Portland declined to offer Oden an extension prior to the season. The Blazers, however, have from the day the Finals end until June 30 to extend an $8.8 million qualifying offer. Oden said he and his agent, Bill Duffy, haven’t had recent contract talks with Portland.