No one is going to give him a big pay check. Now I could be wrong and someone will pay him but he certainly won't make a 'big pay check' because of how big of a liability his knees are.
Doesn't mean he won't play. He'll take a small, 1 year deal to try to prove himself.
No, he'll get a BIG paycheck. And the team will take an insurance policy out on him, in the event it doesn't work out, to cover the cost of his contract, after the team doctors and the insurance company doctors have checked him out. And they'll insure him. Who was the last person you heard who COULDN'T get this kind of deal. The team will lock him up for years, on the off-chance that he gets healthy, preventing him from going elsewhere, for the max contract kind of paycheck after a year.
Carlos Boozer, the definition of "walking wounded," got a big paycheck, and he's yet to play for Chicago. Bill Walton scored a huge deal with the Clippers, who also had to give compensation in those days (Kevin Kunnert and Kermit Washington together, in a twist of irony) to the Blazers for signing him. Heck, Lloyd's of London insured Walton's ankles. Amare Stoudemire - microfracture surgery, plus something to do with his eyes - still got a HUGE deal. Oden will get his money - for far more than the MLE.
Centers are a rare commodity, and someone will to after Oden for that reason. DARKO got paid this year, and Oden injured might be better than Milicic playing!