The Portland Trail Blazers have made it known that center Greg Oden will undergo an arthroscopic procedure later today in Vail, Colo. to remove debris from his right knee.

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“It’s accurate that they found a blood clot in Greg’s left ankle,” Chad Buchanan said. “Out of respect for Greg, I don’t want to release further details but up we have the utmost confidence in the doctors in Vail that they will do what’s right for Greg.” (Comcast SportsNet Northwest)

What amazes is that with the amount of issues he’s had with his legs people still expected to see him on the court. Before this surgery the Blazers were hoping to get him back by the end of the season. They hoped so much that he was paid $8.9 million for the 2011-12 season.

Once the summer hits Oden will become an unrestricted free agent, my thinking is he’ll get no offers. I don’t see how any team would be willing to spend any money on him even at the league minimum.

There’s no way any team will be able to get insurance on him and I don’t see how anyone would risk having to pay all those medical bills. Especially when you consider that he’ll most likely never play at the level of a #1 overall draft pick.

So sad to see so much talent go to the waste as it has, especially when it’s health related.

@Chris_Broussard: NYK will trade Anthony Randolph for 1st round pick within next 2 weeks, sources say. Minny, Indy, Portland among likeliest destinations

A few minutes later, Broussard follows that up by adding the possibility of the Houston Rockets as they just received an injury exception for center Yao Ming.

@Chris_Broussard: Yes, maybe ARandolphRT @YeLLa_Boi: @Chris_Broussard with HOU getting trade exception for Yao can they get in mix for any of these trades?

I’d be ecstatic ff the Knicks could get a first rounder for Randolph. The reason being head coach Mike D’Antoni’s insistence on not playing the kid. In 2010-11, his third professional season, Randolph is averaging career lows across the board. A direct result of only playing seven minutes a game, his only action over the past two months have been in three blowouts.

The 6’11 forward/center was just coming into his own last year with the Golden State Warriors before his injury. He was averaging 22 minutes, 11 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. For a second year player those were fairly impressive numbers. For any team that needs help on their front court remember that and that’s why they’re willing to give up a first rounder.

For the Knicks to get a pick like that from a team would be huge in their pursuit of the Denver Nuggets Carmelo Anthony. Donnie Walsh said a while ago that he’ll get himself another first rounder to make the Melo deal happen, it looks like he may back that comment up. Now will the Nuggets pull the trigger?

Of course any Randolph trade would be contingent on the Knicks landing Anthony in a deal with the Nuggets. The New York Post reports that the Knicks have such a deal in place with the T-Wolves.

Nevertheless, the Knicks, according to a league source, have a contingent deal in place with Minnesota to trade Randolph for a Timberwolves 2011 first-round pick.

@blazerbanter: #Blazers actively pursuing trade for Rudy Fernandez. Team is willing to keep Fernandez, though, and will not give him away for “free.”

It’s surprising that the Blazers would be looking for so much as I’m not sure how much leverage they have. In two years he’s put up respectable numbers (about nine points and two assists over 25 minutes in two years) as a backup but hasn’t been given the chance to be a starter. That won’t change either with Brandon Roy around, in fact his role might decrease after Portland signed Wesley Mathews. By bringing in Mathews the team is kind of saying that Rudy doesn’t fit into their plans.

On the flip side, Rudy doesn’t have much leverage himself. Those kind of numbers aren’t going to make another team want to give up something of value for his rights. In fact, Rudy further limits his opportunities by saying he’d only play for four other teams.

Only one of those teams is actually known and that’s the New York Knicks. What a surprise right? He’d fit in perfectly in Mike D’Antoni’s system, at least he and most experts think he would.

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With that being said a trade is probably not likely. What Rudy really wants is to go back home and play in Europe. Would the Blazers be willing to sell his rights and allow him to do so?

This might actually wind up the most likely scenario in my opinion as the Blazers never gave up much for him. They acquired his rights in the 2007 Draft with just some dollars, no players.

Now if a European club would be willing to give up at least that much, more likely then some, then I’m sure the Blazers would facilitate selling his rights. I’m quite sure they’d also work into the agreement that he can’t join another NBA team.

It’s not a good situation for Fernandez or the Blazers but unless either side backs down he’ll be in camp this fall.

So let’s first start off with last years Slam Dunk winner, New York Knicks Nate Robinson. He’s been in coach Mike D’Antoni’s doghouse barely getting on the court but yesterday he got plenty of action and took advantage of it. Robinson will be back to defend his crown and wasted no time getting the hype going.

Loose balls create some of the best dunks in the NBA, but in the Sacramento Kings / Charlotte Bobcats game last night a dunk was created by some impressive loose ball acrobatics. Kevin Martin started it all with a steal, then came the bouncing ball and then an easy Jason Thompson dunk.

The Nets are pretty bad but Courtney Lee can definitely provide a spark when he wants. On this play the Los Angeles Clippers for some reason decided to help cover someone without the ball, leaving Lee and the rock all by himself. So what else would someone do? Take the rock and drive the lane for an easy dunk.

NBATV’s Dunk of the Night came from the Thunder’s Jeff Green and this one time I can’t really argue with their choice. Josh Smith of the Hawks was guarding him at mid-court and still gotten taken all the way to the hoop and jammed on. Smith never even left the hip of Green. Sick.

Jerryd Bayless of the Portland Trailblazers had a pretty easy alley-oop that was dialed up from long range. Andre Miller was about half way between the midcourt and three point line, and threw a line drive pass up to Bayless who snuck behind the Wizards defense.

Now this next play took place in the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic game, it’s not quite a dunk but more of an attempted dunk. Shannon Brown decided to take it to the hole and go up against one Dwight Howard, that’s usually not a good idea. Maybe Brown was feeling a little bigger then he actually is as he was named to the 2010 Slam Dunk contest as well. Yea, Howard got called for the foul but it was still embarrassing for Brown nonetheless.

A new feature debuts here today, and that’s the Daily Dunk. There won’t be game highlights and recaps, it will be a six pack of dunks that I found exciting from the previous day. The dunks could come from both the NCAA and the NBA. Most days this will be up by noon, so if you got a dunk you want to see listed, email me early on mysportsrumors [@] mysportsrumors.com and you could see it here.

The first video comes via my boys over at Pippin Ain’t Easy. This is Shannon Browns fast break jam in the Lakers / Bulls game.

The next video comes from the Pistons / Rockets game where Aaron Brooks and Chase Budinger dialed it up from long range on a deep alley-oop.

Up next is Michael Beasley of the Miami Heat. He has a great defensive play on one end turning it into a big jam. This one has to be the favorite of the day.

Gerald Wallace absolutely embarrassed my Knicks last night, scoring 21 points. Two of the points came from a monster windmill dunk.

Out in Portland the Sacramento Kings Beno Udrich and Jason Thompson teamed up on a pretty sweet dunk themselves. The best part of this dunk was actually Udrich’s drive to the hole that opened up the lane for Thompson.

Finally, we’re going to go back to the Pistons / Rockets game. Jonas Jerebko had a pretty nice dunk that really shouldn’t of been all that impressive. Well that’s till Carl Landry thought he had a chance to block it.

Miller’s former team the Sixers were rumored to be offering $6 million but for only one season. The New York Knicks, another team interested in his services, were also interested in just a one year deal.

So the Blazers talked with money and length, giving Miller no choice but to take the deal. ESPN.com says the first two years of the deal are guaranteed, with an option for a third year.

Miller is a clear winner in this as the Blazers went well above what he should of received. There are a few other winners in this deal thou, as well as a couple losers. Lets look at that aspect of this deal.

WINNER – Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers have been looking to bring in some veteran experience all summer, especially at the point, and have been getting turned down left and right. They had the well publicized diss from Hedo Turkoglu. The Utah Jazz matched the teams offer to Paul Millsap. All while losing out in the Jason Kidd swepstakes.

Bringing Miller in gives them a much needed veteran point guard. He can provide a solid 35+ minutes a game and be a leader to the young kids on that team. With his size he gives the team another weapon on offense as he excels in the post-up, back your opponent down type of game that most point guards don’t.

“He’s got great savvy and leadership,” GM Kevin Pritchard said. “We like him as a player for sure.”

LOSER – Steve Blake

A big loser in this is last years starting point guard, Steve Blake. Blake’s minutes are going to take a huge cut next season. As a starter he only averaged in the lower end of 30 minutes per game, look for that to drop to upper teens, low twenties next season. Miller is the clear cut starter and its at the sacrifice of Blake.

Surprisingly Blake is bigger then Miller height wise but doesn’t play it. He’s more of an outside guy, while Miller likes to mix it up all over the court. Blake should still see plenty of action due to his ability to knock down the three, one area where Miller is not good at, at all.

But even with that, Blake’s stock takes a huge hit. What makes it worse? He’ll be in the final season of his contact as a backup. Not good for a guy who would like to strike it big in free agency next summer.

WINNER – Lou Williams

Lou has been a career backup in Philadelphia, never starting once during his 252 game tenure. He gets his chance now, a chance he’s been waiting for. He let the public know it was a long time coming too.

“It’s something I felt like I’ve been prepared for for a long time,” Williams told Comcast SportsNet. “Hopefully, the opportunity remains and I’ll take full advantage of it.”

Well Lou, the opportunity is here and it’s your time to shine. With Coach Eddie Jordan’s Princeton offense, Williams will be put in a position to succeed. As long as the team doesn’t go sign a veteran to back him up, he’ll get more then enough chances to prove he belongs in the starting lineup.

His game differs a lot from Miller, which isn’t a bad thing either.

“I’m not going to be perfect,” Williams said. “One thing I would ask people – just don’t expect Andre Miller out of me. I’m not that type of player. I use my scoring ability to create opportunities for other guys; he used his passing ability to create opportunities for other guys. Hopefully, people will stay open-minded.”

So get ready Sixer fans he’s definitely a change of pace, a scoring point guard.

UNCERTAIN – Philadelphia 76ers

I’m not sure whether or not to call this a win or loss for the Sixers. It literally could go either way. The team could either take off with Williams at the helm, or fall apart at the seams. We won’t have an idea till the season is a few weeks old.

The team does have a glaring need for an experienced guard now thou. Currently their only point guards are Williams and rookie Jrue Holiday. There was a rumor out there yesterday talking about Jamaal Tinsley who was just released by the Indiana Pacers and another about C.J. Watson. Both are possibilities but will either sign for just one season.

But yea, the Sixers stay undecided till the NBA season starts.

Here’s a link to other blogs about Andre Miller joining the Blazers.

Blaze of Love – Blazers Offer Andre Miller 3 Year $21 Million Deal
Rip City Project – Report: Blazers to sign Andre Miller