NEW YORK — Opening week in the NBA has been fraught with trade gossip concerning Jason Kidd, TV talk about Mike Woodson and Marc Iavaroni (to name two head coaches) beginning the season in grave job jeopardy;by the end of the telecasts both Atlanta and Memphis upset Orlando, picked by at least one ESPN expert to reach the Finals), and indispensable perishables, notably Greg Oden, again listed as damaged goods.

"Oden couldn't get through one game," column contributor Rasheid McCorvey sorrowfully notes. "He's making Bill Walton and Sam Bowie look indestructible."

Days before Oden hurt his right foot, shelving him for at least two weeks, the Frail Blazers (Martell Webster sustained a preseason stress fracture, while Brandon Roy and Channing Frye experienced injury issues during the offseason) had begun hunting for elite leadership.