For Collins to develop, Meyers must sit.

[wizenheimer]

2) In almost any form of business if an employee divulges sensitive company material they are usually fired. You can spin it any way you want but Hughes shouldn't have been yapping about it before free agency started.

that's undoubtedly true generically, but in this case, I think there's some important context to consider (I started googling about that context to be sure)

to start with, Hughes made those comments at least 3 days after Olshey traded Batum to Charlotte. I think that trade was an obvious sign that Aldridge would be leaving and the team was headed for a rebuild. So basically, Hughes let out a secret that was no longer a secret. Now, it did go against the grain of Olshey's good-ship-lollypop PR malarkey that he was trying to sell fans. At that point, any fan that believed what was being peddled would believe anything

so yeah, sure....Hughes didn't toe the company line but essentially, the company line was bordering on a pack of lies

something else my googling jogged my memory about was the long-term "plan" Olshey had:

Aldridge was quoted, saying:

"I'm happy to stay, happy to be here, happy with the direction the team has gone the last year or two... This has no impact on my interest in staying in Portland. I just want to get a five-year deal. I feel like that's the best decision on my part."
​

Aldridge's statements went well beyond the financial:

"I want to be the best Blazer — ever. If I stay the rest of my career, I should be able to catch Clyde by then. I should be able to leave a mark on a big-time franchise that is going to be seen forever. And I will be able to say I played here my whole career. This city has embraced me and grown with me. I have so much history, it just makes sense to stay."
​

"This was not the situation," the source tells Blazer's Edge. "Olshey wanted Aldridge to sign an extension badly. Aldridge was reluctant. He was not sure he wanted to play in Portland and he told Olshey he wouldn't extend. Olshey knew it would look bad and wouldn't help Aldridge, the team, or his own image. He asked Aldridge to call Freeman and tell him those things to keep the pressure off. This was premeditated, set up by Neil."
​

https://www.blazersedge.com/2015/7/...agent-news-neil-olshey-portland-trail-blazers

​

sure looks like Olshey was running a long con on Blazer fans. Yeah, I guess you could argue that he was doing what all GM's do to try and maintain the trade value of assets or discourage competition for free agents. But Portland didn't trade Aldridge at the deadline so that consideration was gone.

I wasn't upset that Hughes was fired. I do think if you weigh actions: Hughes telling the fairly obvious truth that cut against PR, or Olshey running a PR con on Blazer fans, Hughes didn't commit much of a sin

 

[Mediocre Man]

I always thought he was Zach Randolph.

That would work, but ZBo was great inside, and Mrs HCP always tells me The HCP is awful inside

 

[BonesJones]

ok

Team Reb Rate with Nurkic on floor: 55.0%
Team Reb Rate with Nurkic off floor: 50.4%

Team Reb Rate with Aminu on floor: 53.5%
Team Reb Rate with Nurkic off floor: 52.0%

Team Reb Rate with Meyers on floor: 52.6%
Team Reb Rate with Meyers off floor: 53.0%

Team Reb Rate with Zach on floor: 51.3%
Team Reb Rate with Zach off floor: 54.1%

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/POR/2019/on-off/

looks like that Zach needs to worry about "stealing" rebounds from opponents



yes, seriously

in DRPM, Zach ranks 54th of 93 NBA PF's tracked

as a C, he would rank 48th out of 61 tracked

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2/sort/DRPM/position/6

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2/sort/DRPM/position/9

if you want to wade thru NBA.com stats, feel free although it's a mind-numbing task. In terms of opponent FG% Zach ranks 208th out of all NBA players, tied with Greg Monroe and just behind Taj Gibson, not exactly defensive luminaries themselves

https://stats.nba.com/players/defense-dash-overall/?sort=D_FG_PCT&dir=1

There you go, those rebounding stats bring some actual validity to your point.

Even then, they can be skewed based on how often Zach defends stretch-4s, and how often he switches onto guards. Hes the same rebounder as Aminu is, but at C he would rebound better, due to being closer to the hoop (like Meyers). Nurkic is also such a great rebounder that hes going to skew on/off court splits.

In DBPM (Better than DRPM IMO), Zach is shown as an above average defender (1.3 BPM). Opposition FG% is always a messy stat, that's skewed by a number of things (for example, our very hard SOS), and doesnt really account for any situational factors.

 

[Mediocre Man]

that's undoubtedly true generically, but in this case, I think there's some important context to consider (I started googling about that context to be sure)

to start with, Hughes made those comments at least 3 days after Olshey traded Batum to Charlotte. I think that trade was an obvious sign that Aldridge would be leaving and the team was headed for a rebuild. So basically, Hughes let out a secret that was no longer a secret. Now, it did go against the grain of Olshey's good-ship-lollypop PR malarkey that he was trying to sell fans. At that point, any fan that believed what was being peddled would believe anything

so yeah, sure....Hughes didn't toe the company line but essentially, the company line was bordering on a pack of lies

something else my googling jogged my memory about was the long-term "plan" Olshey had:

Aldridge was quoted, saying:

"I'm happy to stay, happy to be here, happy with the direction the team has gone the last year or two... This has no impact on my interest in staying in Portland. I just want to get a five-year deal. I feel like that's the best decision on my part."
​

Aldridge's statements went well beyond the financial:

"I want to be the best Blazer — ever. If I stay the rest of my career, I should be able to catch Clyde by then. I should be able to leave a mark on a big-time franchise that is going to be seen forever. And I will be able to say I played here my whole career. This city has embraced me and grown with me. I have so much history, it just makes sense to stay."
​

"This was not the situation," the source tells Blazer's Edge. "Olshey wanted Aldridge to sign an extension badly. Aldridge was reluctant. He was not sure he wanted to play in Portland and he told Olshey he wouldn't extend. Olshey knew it would look bad and wouldn't help Aldridge, the team, or his own image. He asked Aldridge to call Freeman and tell him those things to keep the pressure off. This was premeditated, set up by Neil."​

https://www.blazersedge.com/2015/7/...agent-news-neil-olshey-portland-trail-blazers

​

sure looks like Olshey was running a long con on Blazer fans. Yeah, I guess you could argue that he was doing what all GM's do to try and maintain the trade value of assets or discourage competition for free agents. But Portland didn't trade Aldridge at the deadline so that consideration was gone.

I wasn't upset that Hughes was fired. I do think if you weigh actions: Hughes telling the fairly obvious truth that cut against PR, or Olshey running a PR con on Blazer fans, Hughes didn't commit much of a sin

A few here knew this and shared, but met the wrath of blind Homers

 

[blue9]

to start with, Hughes made those comments at least 3 days after Olshey traded Batum to Charlotte. I think that trade was an obvious sign that Aldridge would be leaving and the team was headed for a rebuild.

What's funny is that nearly everyone in here (minus myself) took it as a sign that Olshey was doing everything he could to appease LA. I think it ties in to a previous post of yours I responded to regarding forum whipping boys - Nic was yesterday's CJ.

 

[BonesJones]

That would work, but ZBo was great on the inside, and Mrs HCP always tells me The HCP is awful inside

Is that why she locks him out of the house when she brings 'friends' over?

 

[hoopsjock]

that's undoubtedly true generically, but in this case, I think there's some important context to consider (I started googling about that context to be sure)

to start with, Hughes made those comments at least 3 days after Olshey traded Batum to Charlotte. I think that trade was an obvious sign that Aldridge would be leaving and the team was headed for a rebuild. So basically, Hughes let out a secret that was no longer a secret. Now, it did go against the grain of Olshey's good-ship-lollypop PR malarkey that he was trying to sell fans. At that point, any fan that believed what was being peddled would believe anything

so yeah, sure....Hughes didn't toe the company line but essentially, the company line was bordering on a pack of lies

something else my googling jogged my memory about was the long-term "plan" Olshey had:

Aldridge was quoted, saying:

"I'm happy to stay, happy to be here, happy with the direction the team has gone the last year or two... This has no impact on my interest in staying in Portland. I just want to get a five-year deal. I feel like that's the best decision on my part."
​

Aldridge's statements went well beyond the financial:

"I want to be the best Blazer — ever. If I stay the rest of my career, I should be able to catch Clyde by then. I should be able to leave a mark on a big-time franchise that is going to be seen forever. And I will be able to say I played here my whole career. This city has embraced me and grown with me. I have so much history, it just makes sense to stay."
​

"This was not the situation," the source tells Blazer's Edge. "Olshey wanted Aldridge to sign an extension badly. Aldridge was reluctant. He was not sure he wanted to play in Portland and he told Olshey he wouldn't extend. Olshey knew it would look bad and wouldn't help Aldridge, the team, or his own image. He asked Aldridge to call Freeman and tell him those things to keep the pressure off. This was premeditated, set up by Neil."​

https://www.blazersedge.com/2015/7/...agent-news-neil-olshey-portland-trail-blazers

​

sure looks like Olshey was running a long con on Blazer fans. Yeah, I guess you could argue that he was doing what all GM's do to try and maintain the trade value of assets or discourage competition for free agents. But Portland didn't trade Aldridge at the deadline so that consideration was gone.

I wasn't upset that Hughes was fired. I do think if you weigh actions: Hughes telling the fairly obvious truth that cut against PR, or Olshey running a PR con on Blazer fans, Hughes didn't commit much of a sin

Blazersedge had/has a huge problem with Olshey and everything in that "article" was pure speculation based on biased hatred. The Blazers no longer give Blazersedge full media access to games and Dave has had a grudge since.

Even Aldridge himself disputed that theory. Why would he say he still considered staying if he wasn't offered a contract? Why would Dame try to get him to stay if Olshey's plan was to let him walk?

You hate Olshey so lets stick to the plentiful amount of facts to bash him instead of baseless speculation.

 

[wizenheimer]

In DBPM (Better than DRPM IMO), Zach is shown as an above average defender (1.3 BPM). Opposition FG% is always a messy stat, that's skewed by a number of things (for example, our very hard SOS), and doesnt really account for any situational factors.

to start with, I haven't argued that Zach isn't an above average defender. I've just argued he's not a real good one, yet, unless of course, the top 120 player in any one stat are "good"

as for DBPM...sure, I'll use it to. By the way, Zach is actually at 1.2 not 1.3, anyway, NBA ranks:

99 Nemanja Bjelica 1.2
100 Lorenzo Brown 1.2
101 Willie Cauley-Stein 1.2
102 Tyson Chandler 1.2
103 Zach Collins 1.2
104 Taj Gibson 1.2
105 Amir Johnson 1.2
106 Guerschon Yabusele 1.2

http://bkref.com/tiny/ySLjx

I'm thinking that stat shows pretty much the same thing the other stats do...that Zach isn't there yet as a good defender. He may very well be on his way...he's still very young and defensive skill takes time to develop

Zach is an amazing contrast to Meyers. Meyers is all slow-twitch reaction and reflex; Zach is fast-twitch. I fully expect he can maintain that fast-twitch ability as he improves his core strength, and it's the lack of core strength that's holding him back on both ends of the floor

all that said, I'm just fine with Zach taking minutes from Meyers. I mean, for chrissakes, we've had to endure 6.3 seasons of Meyers as Blazer fans. Isn't there a mercy rule for something like that?

 

[jlprk]

You hate Olshey so lets stick to the plentiful amount of facts to bash him instead of baseless speculation.

Every day you post, "I'm not defending Olshey, but..." and then you give some weak excuse for what Olshey does. You love Olshey.

 

[hoopsjock]

Every day you post, "I'm not defending Olshey, but..." and then you give some weak excuse for what Olshey does. You love Olshey.

Get out of here with your stupid bullshit posts. I defended most of what he did until this past summer. I can simultaneously think he's done a terrible job recently while defending decisions prior to that.

 

[wizenheimer]

Blazersedge had/has a huge problem with Olshey and everything in that "article" was pure speculation based on biased hatred. The Blazers no longer give Blazersedge full media access to games and Dave has had a grudge since.

are you saying Dave's lying and made up the source?

Why would he say he still considered staying if he wasn't offered a contract? Why would Dame try to get him to stay if Olshey's plan was to let him walk?

where was it said that he wasn't offered a contract? And where was it said that Olshey's plan was to let him walk?

I think it's certain that Olshey offered extensions in 2014 and a contract in 2015. But this situation wasn't in Olshey's control, it was in Aldridge's control. Olshey tried to get Aldridge signed but Aldridge wasn't having it. The only thing in Olshey's control was the spin surrounding the situation and he spun at a sonic level

You hate Olshey so lets stick to the plentiful amount of facts to bash him instead of baseless speculation.

why cut out half the fun?

besides that, without baseless speculation websites like this would wither and die

 

[CupWizier]

Every day you post, "I'm not defending Olshey, but..." and then you give some weak excuse for what Olshey does. You love Olshey.

What you call defending can also be considered a logical explanation and every bit as valid if not more than what was speculated by Blazers Edge. Sometimes we have trouble seeing beyond our nose.

 

[CupWizier]

are you saying Dave's lying and made up the source?



where was it said that he wasn't offered a contract? And where was it said that Olshey's plan was to let him walk?

I think it's certain that Olshey offered extensions in 2014 and a contract in 2015. But this situation wasn't in Olshey's control, it was in Aldridge's control. Olshey tried to get Aldridge signed but Aldridge wasn't having it. The only thing in Olshey's control was the spin surrounding the situation and he spun at a sonic level



why cut out half the fun?

besides that, without baseless speculation websites like this would wither and die

Aldridge didn't sign the extension so he had an opportunity to experience free agency and if he signed with Portland he could make more money, He chose the Spurs and then it was rumored that he called Lillard and inquired about getting back to Portland when he was struggling to play in SA. .

 

[Hoopguru]

Aldridge didn't sign the extension so he had an opportunity to experience free agency and if he signed with Portland he could make more money, He chose the Spurs and then it was rumored that he called Lillard and inquired about getting back to Portland when he was struggling to play in SA. .

I think a huge factor also was his son & mother lived there.

 

[CupWizier]

I think a huge factor also was his son & mother lived there.

Of course as there are usually several factors that played into it.

 

[BonesJones]

to start with, I haven't argued that Zach isn't an above average defender. I've just argued he's not a real good one, yet, unless of course, the top 120 player in any one stat are "good"

as for DBPM...sure, I'll use it to. By the way, Zach is actually at 1.2 not 1.3, anyway, NBA ranks:

99 Nemanja Bjelica 1.2
100 Lorenzo Brown 1.2
101 Willie Cauley-Stein 1.2
102 Tyson Chandler 1.2
103 Zach Collins 1.2
104 Taj Gibson 1.2
105 Amir Johnson 1.2
106 Guerschon Yabusele 1.2

http://bkref.com/tiny/ySLjx

I'm thinking that stat shows pretty much the same thing the other stats do...that Zach isn't there yet as a good defender. He may very well be on his way...he's still very young and defensive skill takes time to develop

Zach is an amazing contrast to Meyers. Meyers is all slow-twitch reaction and reflex; Zach is fast-twitch. I fully expect he can maintain that fast-twitch ability as he improves his core strength, and it's the lack of core strength that's holding him back on both ends of the floor

all that said, I'm just fine with Zach taking minutes from Meyers. I mean, for chrissakes, we've had to endure 6.3 seasons of Meyers as Blazer fans. Isn't there a mercy rule for something like that?

I said 1.3 because I looked at his "-0.2 OBPM" and his "1.1 BPM".

It seems like you're trying to skew this stat towards your narrative. For one, a ranking of 103 out of the 400-500 players that have played this season is in the top 20-25%, so I don't see how that specific stat shows that "he's not there yet". It actually shows that he's pretty good. (I like BPM because you can judge OBPM/DBPM [Not cumulatively] in the following way: 0 as average, 1+ as good, 2+ as very good, 3+ as great/borderline star level, 4+ all-star level, and 5+ as superstar level).

I created a query with a minimum of 300 minutes played (At least 12min per game if 25 games have been played) to account for skews in sample size.

Zach ranks in a tie for 71st out of 287 players. He's in the top quarter of defenders for that stat, so I have no idea how this stat says "he isn't there yet as a good defender".

 

[BonesJones]

are you saying Dave's lying and made up the source?



where was it said that he wasn't offered a contract? And where was it said that Olshey's plan was to let him walk?

I think it's certain that Olshey offered extensions in 2014 and a contract in 2015. But this situation wasn't in Olshey's control, it was in Aldridge's control. Olshey tried to get Aldridge signed but Aldridge wasn't having it. The only thing in Olshey's control was the spin surrounding the situation and he spun at a sonic level



why cut out half the fun?

besides that, without baseless speculation websites like this would wither and die

I'm just gonna say this... I have a better source than Dave...

Also, Neil doesn't let anything leak, and keeps good track of who he says and to whom. Everyone knows this. This scenario that BlazersEdge spins up is the last thing that Olshey would let leak (i.e. tell someone he didn't have 110% trust in). BlazersEdge reporting this makes it more likely that it's false.

 

[wizenheimer]

I said 1.3 because I looked at his "-0.2 OBPM" and his "1.1 BPM".

It seems like you're trying to skew this stat towards your narrative. For one, a ranking of 103 out of the 400-500 players that have played this season is in the top 20-25%, so I don't see how that specific stat shows that "he's not there yet". It actually shows that he's pretty good. (I like BPM because you can judge OBPM/DBPM [Not cumulatively] in the following way: 0 as average, 1+ as good, 2+ as very good, 3+ as great/borderline star level, 4+ all-star level, and 5+ as superstar level).

I created a query with a minimum of 300 minutes played (At least 12min per game if 25 games have been played) to account for skews in sample size.

Zach ranks in a tie for 71st out of 287 players. He's in the top quarter of defenders for that stat, so I have no idea how this stat says "he isn't there yet as a good defender".

I just did what you said you did...searched for a DBPM ranking of players that have played 300 minutes or more. Zach was tied for 71st, but 50 of the players at Zach's DBPM or better are PF's or C's.

it's the same for all defensive stats, they favor bigs, or more accurately, big men show better in defensive stats.

so then, if you're comparing apples to apples, which you surely should be when talking defense, you need to be normalizing for PF's and C's. How many are there in the NBA? Portland has 5. How many have played 300 minutes? Portland has 4. That's 4 out of 15. Is Portland typical? Maybe not, but if you have only 287 players that make the cut, it may be probable that only 100 or so are PF's and C's; give or take 10 or 20. If it's 100 than Zach may barley be in the top 50%. Likely he doesn't crack the top 1/3 of big men.

now, I don't want to get trapped into a semantic debate about the meaning of "good". If you want to assert that Zach is a good defender, fine. I just won't agree until I see Zach defend his floor position better against physical contact

 

[BonesJones]

I just did what you said you did...searched for a DBPM ranking of players that have played 300 minutes or more. Zach was tied for 71st, but 50 of the players at Zach's DBPM or better are PF's or C's.

it's the same for all defensive stats, they favor bigs, or more accurately, big men show better in defensive stats.

so then, if you're comparing apples to apples, which you surely should be when talking defense, you need to be normalizing for PF's and C's. How many are there in the NBA? Portland has 5. How many have played 300 minutes? Portland has 4. That's 4 out of 15. Is Portland typical? Maybe not, but if you have only 287 players that make the cut, it may be probable that only 100 or so are PF's and C's; give or take 10 or 20. If it's 100 than Zach may barley be in the top 50%. Likely he doesn't crack the top 1/3 of big men.

now, I don't want to get trapped into a semantic debate about the meaning of "good". If you want to assert that Zach is a good defender, fine. I just won't agree until I see Zach defend his floor position better against physical contact

Hm, maybe Zach's defensive BPM could be higher if he was playing his natural position of center more often, where he'd be allowed to block shots and protect the rim instead of chasing around small-ball 4s because of Meyers. It's not coincidence that his BPM and other defensive stats were much better when he was playing center only.

 

[swish3]

This negative thread is seriously wrong in my view. When Meyers is Center and Zach is Forward, these 2 can play well together and have helped each other. Both of them circulating to sweet spots for catch and shoot offense can add points to the game when the bench is in and this is what will boost Blazer scoring.

Lineup analysis in Basketball-reference shows that Meyers and Zach playing together have a positive effect on each other. The most negative pairings for Zach are Mo, Nik, and Caleb for points and TRB%. In my view Meyers can help Zach's scoring opportunities and defense, and Zach can reciprocate.

The Blazers are already sacrificing to aid Zach because he is averaging 7.7 pts in 19.5 min with a per of 14.2 and a BPM of 1.1 compared to 5.8 pts in 12.6 min with a per of 19.2 and a BMP of 2.6. If anything, I would increase Meyers time to about the same as Zach and set both of them up for increased scoring from optimized off ball floor rotations. They should flow to different parts of the court to offer a greater scoring threat than was apparent in recent games.

There is a lot to be gained when these 2 bigs are used for their talents on both offense and defense.

 

[hoopsjock]

why cut out half the fun?

besides that, without baseless speculation websites like this would wither and die

It's not fun because it's been discussed for 3.5 years now and no new information has been presented.

 

[hoopsjock]

are you saying Dave's lying and made up the source?

Yes.

where was it said that he wasn't offered a contract? And where was it said that Olshey's plan was to let him walk?

I think it's certain that Olshey offered extensions in 2014 and a contract in 2015. But this situation wasn't in Olshey's control, it was in Aldridge's control. Olshey tried to get Aldridge signed but Aldridge wasn't having it. The only thing in Olshey's control was the spin surrounding the situation and he spun at a sonic level

to start with, Hughes made those comments at least 3 days after Olshey traded Batum to Charlotte. I think that trade was an obvious sign that Aldridge would be leaving and the team was headed for a rebuild. So basically, Hughes let out a secret that was no longer a secret. Now, it did go against the grain of Olshey's good-ship-lollypop PR malarkey that he was trying to sell fans. At that point, any fan that believed what was being peddled would believe anything

It seems to me like your playing both sides here. The comments made by Kim Hughes were before free agency started. If they were still hoping that Aldridge would stay and offered him a max contract, then the Batum trade didn't signify anything. Olshey specifically lined up all the big contracts to expire that summer so he could keep building if Aldridge stays or reset if he left. Woj reported that the Batum trade had nothing to do with if Aldridge was staying or leaving.

After Wes went down it changed everything. I don't believe for a second that Aldridge had made up his mind before the season started. He is one of the most sensitive and wishy-washy players of all-time. The ending of that season left a sour taste for everyone and it wasn't until then that I believe Aldridge was going to leave. If Olshey knew Aldridge was leaving before the season why on Earth would he trade a future 1st rounder for Afflalo and why wouldn't he just trade Aldridge and then tell everyone that he said he was leaving. It just doesn't make sense. I believe Aldridge meant those words when he said them and then changed his mind later.

 

[illmatic99]

didnt notice a damn thing different tonight without meyers. He sucks.

 

[swish3]

didnt notice a damn thing different tonight without meyers. He sucks.

If Meyers had been in the game for 16+ min and the passes allowing him to shoot 6 swish3s, we would have the 9 additional points that would be enough to win the game. When you recognize that Meyers is shooting 50%+ swish3s, you realize how much potential offense the Blazer coaches are leaving unused, and can see what is being missed.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

A bigman coach should be a priority.

I doubt it's even on Neil's radar though.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Every day you post, "I'm not defending Olshey, but..." and then you give some weak excuse for what Olshey does. You love Olshey.

I gotta say I think @hoopsjock is pretty fair with NO. Sometimes I'm not, because I don't like him. I try to stay "fair", but he bugs me just his personality I don't like it...
I've seen hoops both criticize him and say good things about him or defend his decisions. Now sometimes I disagree with him but overall I think he's much more fair in his approach than I am.

 

[ripcityboy]

Meyers hardly played at all tonight. Zach just looked more confused. He;s going to sink or swim regardless of who we stick next to him. I swear I almost want to start up a GoFundMe account to get him a series of coaching sessions with Ewing or McHale.

 

[rotary111]

I like it when Collins gets the ball down low, gathers himself and works on his post shakes. The 3pt line Collins can happen later in his career when he's established himself in the key.

 

[dviss1]

that's undoubtedly true generically, but in this case, I think there's some important context to consider (I started googling about that context to be sure)

to start with, Hughes made those comments at least 3 days after Olshey traded Batum to Charlotte. I think that trade was an obvious sign that Aldridge would be leaving and the team was headed for a rebuild. So basically, Hughes let out a secret that was no longer a secret. Now, it did go against the grain of Olshey's good-ship-lollypop PR malarkey that he was trying to sell fans. At that point, any fan that believed what was being peddled would believe anything

so yeah, sure....Hughes didn't toe the company line but essentially, the company line was bordering on a pack of lies

something else my googling jogged my memory about was the long-term "plan" Olshey had:

Aldridge was quoted, saying:

"I'm happy to stay, happy to be here, happy with the direction the team has gone the last year or two... This has no impact on my interest in staying in Portland. I just want to get a five-year deal. I feel like that's the best decision on my part."
​

Aldridge's statements went well beyond the financial:

"I want to be the best Blazer — ever. If I stay the rest of my career, I should be able to catch Clyde by then. I should be able to leave a mark on a big-time franchise that is going to be seen forever. And I will be able to say I played here my whole career. This city has embraced me and grown with me. I have so much history, it just makes sense to stay."
​

"This was not the situation," the source tells Blazer's Edge. "Olshey wanted Aldridge to sign an extension badly. Aldridge was reluctant. He was not sure he wanted to play in Portland and he told Olshey he wouldn't extend. Olshey knew it would look bad and wouldn't help Aldridge, the team, or his own image. He asked Aldridge to call Freeman and tell him those things to keep the pressure off. This was premeditated, set up by Neil."​

https://www.blazersedge.com/2015/7/...agent-news-neil-olshey-portland-trail-blazers

​

sure looks like Olshey was running a long con on Blazer fans. Yeah, I guess you could argue that he was doing what all GM's do to try and maintain the trade value of assets or discourage competition for free agents. But Portland didn't trade Aldridge at the deadline so that consideration was gone.

I wasn't upset that Hughes was fired. I do think if you weigh actions: Hughes telling the fairly obvious truth that cut against PR, or Olshey running a PR con on Blazer fans, Hughes didn't commit much of a sin

Imma just need you to hold your little horses here rook...

There's a whole thread about that SOFT BITCH The Texas Turncoat. Read it, then post.

 

[dviss1]

Every day you post, "I'm not defending Olshey, but..." and then you give some weak excuse for what Olshey does. You love Olshey.

All you do is attack Olshey so WTF is the difference?