That’s the rumor in the City of Roses. Oregonian beat writer Jason Quick – who caused quite a stir in December when he said Oden wasn’t a very fun guy to be around – did a radio interview yesterday and was asked about the party habits (he just turned 21 last month) of Portland’s center. And by party, the radio hosts implied booze and weed:

“I know where you’re going. I have certainly heard it. I don’ have any evidence … basically, what you’re [asking] is, is he a partier, enjoying his life, all that stuff. I can’t speak to that because I have not seen it. It has gotten back to me in various forms, but nobody from the team has said anything along those lines as far as being concerned or anything.”

This, of course, has devolved into another “Does Oden really care about basketball?” debate, and the large vocal Blazer contingent couldn’t have expected this from the #1 draft pick in 2007. A dominant defender like Bill Russell? Sure, that might have been uttered. A lazy, uninterested, emotionless partier? Not quite.

The No. 2 seed in the West is up for grabs, and Portland’s got an outside shot of picking up 3.5 games to leapfrog a few teams. Of course, the opposite is true – they’ve only got a scant three-game lead over the Suns, who are currently 9th. Not having Oden (whose knee remains creaky) isn’t going to help.

“I’m where everybody else is with it,” McMillan said. “I get a daily update and we thought, everybody thought, that he would be moving by now, if not playing. But things just keep getting bumped back … It goes from day-to-day, then after the doctors look at him, it’s a few more days,” McMillan said, shaking his head.

We’re still not ready to adhere the “bust” label. That being said, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll finish in the Top 5 for ROY. He better get in a gym this offseason with Dwight Howard. (Oregonian)