can blazers go over the cap to sign powell olshey is in for some big decisions (powell, nurk, covington, collins, kanter)
More from the article: https://theathletic.com/2527784/202...nues-working-to-keep-a-promise-to-his-family/ Back to Portland? When Norman Powell first walked into his Portland home, the Blazers had hung a sign. “WELCOME TO PORTLAND NORMAN POWELL.” Amazed, he went from room to room, noticing every personal touch the team had added. The snacks, the dog toys, the Kombucha, six bottles of Simply Lemonade, three bottles of red wine. “He called me and told me they asked him all those questions,” Margaret said. “I think he was amazed by the little things. He was like, ‘Wow! It really seems like they care and want me here.'” It has been a seamless transition. On the court, Norman is excelling, averaging 17.2 points while making 38.3 percent of his 3-pointers. And off the court he says he is enjoying his teammates, especially Harry Giles. “Harry has been the one I have talked with and joked the most with,” Norman said. “DJ, Covington, too. And Nurk (Jusuf Nurkic) he already calls me Jon Snow from “Game of Thrones.” He walks around saying (imitating Nurkic’s accent) ‘King of the North! King of the North!’ Everybody has just been super chill.” The homey touch is in part a sign of the times. Often, players traded in midseason stay at hotels until the end of the season, but because of COVID-19, teams have to be careful about exposure and contact tracing, so a more private living arrangement was secured. The team did a similar gesture for Derrick Jones Jr., aligning him with Hassan Whiteside’s vacant home, and they found a furnished home in Lake Oswego for Robert Covington. But Olshey admits that their setup for Norman was especially personal. Jones had signed as a free agent, and Covington was acquired in a trade. The hope with Norman is that come free agency they will have more than just his Bird Rights, they will have some of his heart. Norman says he is too engulfed in the playoff race to consider his future. “Honestly, I’m looking at everything, evaluating everything,” he said. “It’s a little different for me now because I thought I would be in Toronto. It was like home, and you always want to stay home. But now, it’s like a different perspective, learning about a different organization and how they operate. So, we’ll see. A lot of it depends on how the season goes. First and foremost, I’m focused on what I have to do now. I’m not getting ahead of myself. I’m just staying in the moment, staying with these guys and trying to help them any way I can.” He says he sees his trade to Portland as a chance to chase a championship, and once that has been decided he will consider his options. “But I think a lot will be in play: I want to be close to my family,” he says. “Things like that you don’t really think about when you are with just one team. It’s what you know and that’s where you want to be. But now, the seas and doors have opened to a lot of possibilities and a lot of options. So, we will see when we get there.” He will see it through the lens of his family. His mom. His sisters. And the memory of Uncle Raymond. But as of right now, he is happy. “The thing I remember him saying is that ‘it feels good to be in a place where they actually want you,”’ Margaret said. “And he said he liked how the team feels like a team, and that they are there for him. So, he feels good there. And I’m happy if Norman is happy. And he definitely seems very happy.”
yes. Not only can Portland go over the cap, they could go over the tax line and the apron (assuming they weren't hard-capped) to re-sign Powell. The power of full Bird Rights
he wants to be close to his family. I guess they are in the San Diego/LA area? No west coast team will have any cap-space...well, the Kings could but I wouldn't consider them a threat
What this article actually shows is this team is run by idiots. This season has strong potential to finish with wet slap in the face. "Friendly culture" experiment seems to be big failure. All Blazers achieved with it is CJ and Melo running free on the court like it was happy high school team playing for their moms to watch. And yet, they keep askin about "his mom favorite color". I think Damian last chance is to realize, that none of his friends is half as professional as he can be. Maybe he can play in "the culture", but CJ can't, Melo can't and Stotts can't. After all this years they are closer to spoiled kids than to professional basketball players. This team is further and further from championship. It become a kindergarten.
I really see only one way to keep Powell. Portland fails to make the playoffs and so retain their lottery pick in a good draft. Before the draft they trade the pick and CJ for a really good forward. I wish I knew who that was, only feasible trade seems sending CJ to New Orleans and Siakam to Portland. NO assets (and our pick?) to Toronto. Would probably want to know what Powell thinks about Siakam. Fire Stotts. Neglect Jones so he doesn't exercise his player option. It's a risky strategy, because I think Powell wants to sign with a winning team, so have to persuade him that we were losers this year but with the changes we will be winners!
So much anger in this thread (and most threads these days). Let's remember that you don't HAVE to support ANY team and there's no point to sports if it makes you miserable. Go outside! Go for a walk! Besides, if you really want the team to change, the best thing you can do is disengage - THAT would panic the money people.
in my view, that would be a decent outcome to a failed season but many people are proposing decent outcomes for the Blazers. And every single one will not happen as long as Olshey is GM. Coaching is an issue; accountability is an issue; the Dame/CJ pairing is an issue; Melo and his fucking legacy is an issue; defense is an issue; not enough 2-way, non-dwarf wings is an issue; injury prone bigs is an issue. And all those issues were design flaw decisions by Olshey. He has to have his ass booted out of Portland before the Blazers get off of the treadmill they are on. No way around it
That was the key sentence for Powell. Also, I thought, if they'd helped Rudy Fernandez through his publicized lonely unhappiness in his apartment, he wouldn't have been so keen to dump us and return to Europe.
Heard that one of our long-time members here offered up his Mrs. as a welcome-to P-town and SportsTwo gesture! Not sure how that all went but I imagine Norm hadn’t scored like THAT in his Toronto days!
If CJ stays then Powell goes. If Olshey stays then CJ stays. If those things happen then Olshey traded Gary away for plummeting playoff seeding and nothing more. Maybe I'm wrong about Olshey. Maybe if he kicks Terry to the curb, it will change his entire viewpoint of what this team should look like. So maybe he does trade CJ and transforms the roster. I think if he traded CJ and fired Stotts it would be pretty easy to sell Norm on his role here being what he wants it to be next season and re-sign him to start next to Dame.
I'd love to think that and I hope you're right but the last time I heard Olshey talk it was still about how other players complement Dame and CJ, not how they complement Dame. So just because what you just said makes perfect sense doesn't mean that's where Olshey's head is at. The guy has said countless times that he thinks that the Dame/CJ back court is foundational for a championship team and he's said that CJ is untouchable... CJ fucking McCollum is untouchable?!?! When it comes to CJ it's hard for me to expect Neil Olshey to think logically. So let's just hope you're right and Neil has made a big shift in the way he sees things, in the direction of being reasonable.
that certainly seems logical, all things considered...right? but maybe, Stotts isn't the only one sitting on a really hot seat and there was some desperation motivating Olshey. The Blazers were under-performing expectations and significantly under-performing Olshey's off-season spin about the impact his moves would have. Olshey could have been just trying the least expensive hail-mary he had available I still don't believe his ego will let him trade CJ...or Simons...or Zach. And with Zach, I'm really worried Olshey will bid against himself again and pull a Meyers-2.0 with Zach's extension
It will be interesting for sure. I don't think he gives up on Zach and probably not Simons. I hope the deal the Zach Turns out positive sort of like when Denver drafted Mike Porter with a broken back and it took him awhile to get in form. Not saying Zach will every be as good as Porter but he could be a solid defender for cheap the next few years. If CJ is in demand and there is the right deal I could see him pulling the trigger.....maybe
I'm ok with Zach on a "cheap" deal. But cheap for me means 5M or less a year, preferably less, and short-term as well. Kanter is making 5M and he's a lot better and more valuable than Zach
I think people underestimate Neil's ability to trade a asset. I think he would trade Dame if the deal was right.
