Greg Oden is being cautious in his recovery from microfracture surgery on his left knee and may not return until January 2012, according to his agent Bill Duffy.

“You proceed with caution,” Duffy told Portland radio station KXL, via Blazersedge.com.

“We don't want to come back too soon. We're not going to even challenge it until we get to that 12 month threshold. If it were December or November or January we just can't afford any more slip ups. We'll wait until we get full clearance and then probably err on the side of caution, maybe a month or so after that.”