Free Agent Thread (2 Viewers)

[Natebishop3]

https://theathletic.com/2756983/202...ian-lillard-will-encounter-at-the-crossroads/

LOTS of good stuff here



We went after Oubre and Batum with the TPMLE, not enough.



We aren't shopping CJ.



Portland's analytics team is operating under best case scenario.....stupid.



Pretty accurate. Olshey is going to do his best to convince Dame we can run it back, because he doesn't want to have to take any risks. Or I guess Dame could be fed up. We'll see next week.

Where is all this shit coming from? Our team has a pretty good history of being tight lipped and now suddenly there's just this fire hose of information about CJ and our plans. I just don't know if I buy it.

 

[BonesJones]

...

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

 

[MickZagger]

https://theathletic.com/2756983/202...ian-lillard-will-encounter-at-the-crossroads/

LOTS of good stuff here



We went after Oubre and Batum with the TPMLE, not enough.



We aren't shopping CJ.



Portland's analytics team is operating under best case scenario.....stupid.



Pretty accurate. Olshey is going to do his best to convince Dame we can run it back, because he doesn't want to have to take any risks. Or I guess Dame could be fed up. We'll see next week.

At this point hopefully Lillard is fed up and asks for a trade. Maybe it will wake up Olshey. Makes me think that Olshey thinks Lillards just posturing and that he doesn’t really think he wants out of Portland

 

[RR7]

I hope he pushes Olshey out a window

FTFY

 

[B-Roy]

Olshey has shown who he is for 9 years. It amazes me that people are still willing to "wait and see" with him.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

 

[B-Roy]

At this point hopefully Lillard is fed up and asks for a trade. Maybe it will wake up Olshey. Makes me think that Olshey thinks Lillards just posturing and that he doesn’t really think he wants out of Portland

Lillard has very little leverage. He knows this. Olshey knows this. Even if Lillard asked for a trade Olshey could drag it on for a year or more.

 

[Natebishop3]

Olshey has shown who he is for 9 years. It amazes me that people are still willing to "wait and see" with him.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

I agree with you, however we have also been extremely good at keeping our cards close to the vest, wouldn't you agree?

So where the hell is all this information coming from?

 

[Jayblaze]

If neil knows free agents won't come why not make a trade for fuck sake.

 

[Dom McBlazer]

It's totaly depressing being a Blazers Fan during free agency

I mean......I get the sentiment. But I already accepted that we weren't gonna make big moves anyways so I'm like whatevs.

 

[MickZagger]

Lillard has very little leverage. He knows this. Olshey knows this. Even if Lillard asked for a trade Olshey could drag it on for a year or more.

I don’t think Lillard actually wants to be traded though. He wants Olshey fired

 

[Buffalo Custard]

Why is that smug asshole smiling?

For the fans of any other team, re-signing Powell would be a routine matter. For Portland, it is seen as a huge (upset)victory.

 

[B-Roy]

Where is all this shit coming from? Our team has a pretty good history of being tight lipped and now suddenly there's just this fire hose of information about CJ and our plans. I just don't know if I buy it.

People around the league talk. I think it's impossible to really be fully hidden on your plans because even if you can control your own people, you can't control the 29 other teams you talk to on a regular basis. It could just be that we were not really active in trade talks in the past. Or you just haven't been paying attention. The stuff about Portland being unwilling to put CJ in trade talks is something that has been prevalent throughout Olshey's entire tenure. We also have gotten pretty good intel on who the Blazers have targeted in free agency after those players signed with other teams. Chandler Parsons? Hassan Whiteside? Paul Millsap? Spencer Hawes? Greg Monroe etc etc. The list goes on and on.

I don't know why you wouldn't believe the stuff here, particularly the stuff about trading CJ. We may never know why Olshey has resisted shopping CJ, but it's been a constant theme even through playoff sweeps and multiple first round exits.

 

[MickZagger]

Olshey has shown who he is for 9 years. It amazes me that people are still willing to "wait and see" with him.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

Yep. The times we have had lots of cap space he’s overpaid for unproven players that he drafted.

When he’s drafted well in the 2nd round he traded away those players before they actually blossomed in Portland.

He signed CJ to a ridiculous contract that no one else was going to come close to offering him.

Any kind of salary cap bind we’re in is because he’s mismanaged the money he’s had to work with.

 

[Jayblaze]

I don’t think Lillard actually wants to be traded though. He wants Olshey fired

Neil had a chance to trade for harden didn't do it knowing well that doing a trade will be the only way blazers could get players.

 

[B-Roy]

I don’t think Lillard actually wants to be traded though. He wants Olshey fired

I don't think he wants either. I think he wants what he said he wants: show more urgency. Hopefully he realizes he's talking to a brick wall.

 

[Buffalo Custard]

I agree with you, however we have also been extremely good at keeping our cards close to the vest, wouldn't you agree?

So where the hell is all this information coming from?

Players who have had enough?

Rival GMs who can't stand dealing with him?

 

[B-Roy]

I agree with you, however we have also been extremely good at keeping our cards close to the vest, wouldn't you agree?

So where the hell is all this information coming from?

I bet @wizenheimer can tell you all the reports in the past that said we weren’t willing to put CJ in trade talks.

 

[Scalma]

We’re gonna sign Aldridge calling that now.

I kinda hope Beasley balls out in summer league and forces the issue.

 

[MickZagger]

Neil had a chance to trade for harden didn't do it knowing well that doing a trade will be the only way blazers could get players.

His infatuation with CJ is one of life’s great mysteries

 

[Natebishop3]

His infatuation with CJ is one of life’s great mysteries

I really don't understand it.... it's like the girl your friend is dating and he just isn't seeing what everyone else sees.

 

[B-Roy]

I really don't understand it.... it's like the girl your friend is dating and he just isn't seeing what everyone else sees.

Quick cited that CJ was in the 88th percentile on defense last year. Pretty sure that was fed to him by someone from the organization. Definitely fuels their opinion of him as a player.

 

[Ripcity4life77]

I can see the whining is STRONG with this group after the Quick piece came out that again says very little but there was a couple interesting little nuggets.

- Dame called Oubre to pitch the idea of signing in PDX

NM that was it cause the rest was basic common sense stuff that you haters will twist into NeO is a complete IDIOT

example ( going to copy part of it in )

It sounds like Portland is not actively shopping McCollum. I don’t know whether that is because Portland doesn’t agree with how teams value McCollum, or whether Neil Olshey is overly infatuated with him, but the general tone I’ve heard is the Blazers won’t move him just to have a different look next season.

-- Now the people who hate NeO so much they cannot think straight will read this and go -- OMG how fucking stupid is NeO he should be FIRED right now and maybe for good measure -- pelted with eggs or something

THEN - you got the fans who use that thing between there ears and common sense and see this and get this from it :

--- The Blazers are not going to rush a trade and seem DESPERATE and lose what value CJ might have and then hopefully something will be presented to NeO and he will pounce and get a Siakam or something for a little less then expected and all will be right and Dame will retire a Blazer.


Go Blazers

 

[blazerkor]

I can see the whining is STRONG with this group after the Quick piece came out that again says very little but there was a couple interesting little nuggets.

- Dame called Oubre to pitch the idea of signing in PDX

NM that was it cause the rest was basic common sense stuff that you haters will twist into NeO is a complete IDIOT

example ( going to copy part of it in )

It sounds like Portland is not actively shopping McCollum. I don’t know whether that is because Portland doesn’t agree with how teams value McCollum, or whether Neil Olshey is overly infatuated with him, but the general tone I’ve heard is the Blazers won’t move him just to have a different look next season.

-- Now the people who hate NeO so much they cannot think straight will read this and go -- OMG how fucking stupid is NeO he should be FIRED right now and maybe for good measure -- pelted with eggs or something

THEN - you got the fans who use that thing between there ears and common sense and see this and get this from it :

--- The Blazers are not going to rush a trade and seem DESPERATE and lose what value CJ might have and then hopefully something will be presented to NeO and he will pounce and get a Siakam or something for a little less then expected and all will be right and Dame will retire a Blazer.


Go Blazers

You're right, Olshey will never rush a big trade... that's not something he'll ever do.

 

[Hoopguru]

CJ was made for a game like the gold metal game.

 

[Natebishop3]

I can see the whining is STRONG with this group after the Quick piece came out that again says very little but there was a couple interesting little nuggets.

- Dame called Oubre to pitch the idea of signing in PDX

NM that was it cause the rest was basic common sense stuff that you haters will twist into NeO is a complete IDIOT

example ( going to copy part of it in )

It sounds like Portland is not actively shopping McCollum. I don’t know whether that is because Portland doesn’t agree with how teams value McCollum, or whether Neil Olshey is overly infatuated with him, but the general tone I’ve heard is the Blazers won’t move him just to have a different look next season.

-- Now the people who hate NeO so much they cannot think straight will read this and go -- OMG how fucking stupid is NeO he should be FIRED right now and maybe for good measure -- pelted with eggs or something

THEN - you got the fans who use that thing between there ears and common sense and see this and get this from it :

--- The Blazers are not going to rush a trade and seem DESPERATE and lose what value CJ might have and then hopefully something will be presented to NeO and he will pounce and get a Siakam or something for a little less then expected and all will be right and Dame will retire a Blazer.


Go Blazers

I swear you said you were leaving.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I swear you said you were leaving.

That’s either Neil himself or his wife.

 

[Ripcity4life77]

This is your problem Nate -- you cannot read -- I believe I said I would prolly stay away until there was some news and yesterday maybe should have sat that out but today this is kind of news AND most important -- I can change my mind - LOL

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

This is your problem Nate -- you cannot read -- I believe I said I would prolly stay away until there was some news and yesterday maybe should have sat that out but today this is kind of news AND most important -- I can change my mind - LOL

Obvious Neil burner is obvious

 

[KSF-ERIC]

That article doesn’t say we aren’t shopping CJ. Just saying we’re not gonna make a trade just to make a trade. We have to get better. That’s a GOOD thing. To me, the big news in the article is that Snell is a good lob passer. That’s exciting!