I spent 11 hours on Thursday dealing with the aftermath of Greg Oden’s 11-second soundbite about his health.

I talked to his agent, Michael Conley, Sr. - three times. I got through to Blazers General Manager Kevin Pritchard at NBA summer league - on his 41st birthday.

I interviewed them both about Oden’s “I won’t be 100% this year or next” statement. Then I thought. And thought some more. And here’s what I came away with: Oden is a 20-year-old rookie who, understandably, is both excited and scared about next season.

Think about it: In one breath he leads us to believe his surgically-repaired right knee isn’t as healthy as we’ve been told. A split-second later, he proclaims he’s ready to play.

Sounds to me like a young man who is trying to make sure we don’t run wild with any thoughts of him leading a parade through downtown Portland next June with the NBA championship trophy in hand.

Here are the important points both Conley and Pritchard made in my interviews with them on Thursday:

1) Oden’s knee is in great shape. Both camps tell me he has full range of motion and that both legs are back to being equally strong. His agent says he will be at full strength by the start of training camp, and Blazers insiders are secretly giddy over how fantastic he has looked in closed-door workouts.

2) Oden is ready to go for next season – with one important “if”. That is if his knee keeps holding up once he’s cleared for five-on-five full-court basketball in September. At this point, both sides say, there’s no reason to think it won’t.

3) Oden understands he is viewed as the franchise savior and he does not want to disappoint. Conley told me he’s had to remind Oden that he’ll need time to adjust to the speed of the NBA game. Pritchard conceded he may need to start taking steps to take the mental weight of next season off Oden’s shoulders.

From the moment Oden underwent the knife last September, the Blazers have played their hand painfully safe, even this summer while Oden has been back in Ohio taking classes toward his college degree, the Blazers had someone back there monitoring his knee almost every week. There’s no cover-up here. No conspiracy theory. No trying to make gray skies blue.

Think about it: If Oden’s knee really was a problem, would he really have played in two pickup games at a Tualatin health club four months ago?

Not a chance.