Grade Olshey Thus Far As Blazers GM (2 Viewers)

[Strenuus]

Good grief man, why do continue to use hindsight as your evidence. Wake up dude.

Oh and as a baseball player that played D1 baseball i saw many pitchers that had the fastball but never made it to the bigs. Your baseball analogy was pretty weak.

To be fair... They probably didnt make it because they couldnt utilize secondary pitches and be consistent.

 

[CupWizier]

To be fair... They probably didnt make it because they couldnt utilize secondary pitches and be consistent.

There are always various reason and I agree that some didn't make it because they couldn't consistently throw strikes, lacked movement or didn't have a decent breaking ball. It might get you noticed but it takes more than that to make it. stomp seems to think the god given talent is enough.

 

[Kaydow]

I voted A as well. Same reason. He'd have an A+ if he traded Aldridge rather than letting him walk.

Blazers were 36-17 at the trade deadline during LA’s last year in PDX (55 win pace). Before WM injury they were thought to have one of the best starting 5 units in the league. After winning first playoff series in 14 years the previous year, LA guaranteed that offseason that he was going to re-sign the next summer when he was eligible for a 5 year extension instead of a 3 year. There was no reason to believe he was going to bolt before the trade deadline of his final season here. It was bad luck that WM Achilles blew because afterwards the team took a nosedive, which probably caused LA to change his mind. There were obviously other reasons for his departure, but it’s hard to fault NO for the way things played out. LA gave his word that he was coming back, & then decided to play through a hand injury (that required surgery & would have ended his season) because of how well the team was playing that season. All signs pointed to LA being committed to PDX. Let’s say NO had traded LA before the deadline when the team was still considered a contender. How would he explain that when EVERYONE thought LA was going to re-sign? We made the move because, even though we were playing well & in contention for a championship, we were afraid LA was going to go back on his word & bolt? You have to go for it when you’re having a season like that!

 

[calvin natt]

I wonder if Olshey and/or his staff read any of this stuff? I know KP and his guys did.

No

 

[Scalma]

No

A guy with olsheys ego reads everything. He just pretends it doesn’t matter to him.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

A guy with olsheys ego reads everything. He just pretends it doesn’t matter to him.

Thats KD!

 

[calvin natt]

A guy with olsheys ego reads everything. He just pretends it doesn’t matter to him.

A guy with Olsheys ego doesnt care what fans think. Unless he feels like getting a laugh at some of the comments, maybe.

 

[Scalma]

A guy with Olsheys ego doesnt care what fans think. Unless he feels like getting a laugh at some of the comments, maybe.

Very few things an egoist cares more about than how people perceive him.

 

[calvin natt]

Very few things an egoist cares more about than how people perceive him.

While true, Olshey feels there are only a handful of people whose opinion of him truly matters. Which I think is a very good thing. Everyone else doesnt know that the F they are talking about.

 

[Scalma]

While true, Olshey feels there are only a handful of people whose opinion of him truly matters. Which I think is a very good thing. Everyone else doesnt know that the F they are talking about.

I’m not saying he actually makes decisions around what fans say, obviously that’d be dumb, but the question was whether or not he’s actually read this board. My bet is he has.

 

[calvin natt]

I’m not saying he actually makes decisions around what fans say, obviously that’d be dumb, but the question was whether or not he’s actually read this board. My bet is he has.

yeah, wasnt insinuating that he actually considered anything, obviously not, but i just dont think he reads this. i'd bet money on it, but can understand why others would believe this.

 

[ABM]

yeah, wasnt insinuating that he actually considered anything, obviously not, but i just dont think he reads this. i'd bet money on it, but can understand why others would believe this.

The only reason I really had asked the question was because I know for a fact that KP used to read our forum....as well as other fan sites. KP was/is kind of a free spirit, though.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Blazers were 36-17 at the trade deadline during LA’s last year in PDX (55 win pace). Before WM injury they were thought to have one of the best starting 5 units in the league. After winning first playoff series in 14 years the previous year, LA guaranteed that offseason that he was going to re-sign the next summer when he was eligible for a 5 year extension instead of a 3 year. There was no reason to believe he was going to bolt before the trade deadline of his final season here. It was bad luck that WM Achilles blew because afterwards the team took a nosedive, which probably caused LA to change his mind. There were obviously other reasons for his departure, but it’s hard to fault NO for the way things played out. LA gave his word that he was coming back, & then decided to play through a hand injury (that required surgery & would have ended his season) because of how well the team was playing that season. All signs pointed to LA being committed to PDX. Let’s say NO had traded LA before the deadline when the team was still considered a contender. How would he explain that when EVERYONE thought LA was going to re-sign? We made the move because, even though we were playing well & in contention for a championship, we were afraid LA was going to go back on his word & bolt? You have to go for it when you’re having a season like that!

He was never going to re-sign with us. A guarantee without signing on the dotted line meant he was leaving. He should have been on the trading block as soon as he said he wanted to wait to sign.

And I said that publicly leading up to that season.

I don't blame Olshey too much for trusting him (which is why I still gave him an A), but the smart move would have been trading him for the best possible return we could get.

 

[hoopsjock]

He was never going to re-sign with us. A guarantee without signing on the dotted line meant he was leaving. He should have been on the trading block as soon as he said he wanted to wait to sign.

And I said that publicly leading up to that season.

I don't blame Olshey too much for trusting him (which is why I still gave him an A), but the smart move would have been trading him for the best possible return we could get.

The rules were different then. Signing an extension would have been way less than what he could make the next summer.

Saying what you said also ignores the fact that Aldridge maybe was planning on staying until Wes got hurt.

 

[Phatguysrule]

The rules were different then. Signing an extension would have been way less than what he could make the next summer.

Saying what you said also ignores the fact that Aldridge maybe was planning on staying until Wes got hurt.

None of that matters. If you're Portland you can't afford to take that chance. If Aldridge isn't ok with that he's not a good fit here long term anyway.
You trade them before they can do what Aldridge did. Every time. No exceptions.

 

[hoopsjock]

None of that matters. If you're Portland you can't afford to take that chance. If Aldridge isn't ok with that he's not a good fit here long term anyway.
You trade them before they can do what Aldridge did. Every time. No exceptions.

Respectfully, this is complete and utter bullshit.

The Blazers were contenders. You don't trade your best player when you have your first glimpse of contention in 15 years. No exceptions.

 

[kjironman1]

Respectfully, this is complete and utter bullshit.

The Blazers were contenders. You don't trade your best player when you have your first glimpse of contention in 15 years. No exceptions.

Got to agree with this. You just don't trade a dominant PF on a contender. The year before he put up 40+ twice in the Playoffs against Houston. You certainly don't trade him if he is saying he is staying.

 

[BonesJones]

Respectfully, this is complete and utter bullshit.

The Blazers were contenders. You don't trade your best player when you have your first glimpse of contention in 15 years. No exceptions.

Were they contenders? They made it out of the 1st round against a pretty bleh Rockets team. They looked like a good regular season team but who knows if that team was built for the post-season. I couldn't see them having a chance against the Spurs or Warriors.

And then you consider that we had a young star in Dame who I think it was pretty obvious that we should build around instead, and we could have easily built ourselves for a 10-year window of contention by being a little more patient and not taking the risk on an aging PF staying true to his word (when he already caused problems).

A great GM would've flipped Aldridge for young assets/picks and went forward with Lillard, McCollum, Barton, etc. We were a 2nd round team after Aldridge left, just imagine if we got value back for him, and kept Barton?

 

[BonesJones]

Got to agree with this. You just don't trade a dominant PF on a contender. The year before he put up 40+ twice in the Playoffs against Houston. You certainly don't trade him if he is saying he is staying.

Sounds like it was the perfect time to sell high. If he didn't want to resign that summer and there had been inklings of him wanting out and he had immense trade value due to that series, then that could've set the franchise up for a possible dynasty if we got value back for him.

I see why people are saying why we wouldn't trade him but I think a GM should have more insight and foresight than Blazer fans. I don't know. Looking back on it, we were in a perfect position to trade Aldridge and build around the better, younger player in Dame.

 

[Phatguysrule]

Respectfully, this is complete and utter bullshit.

The Blazers were contenders. You don't trade your best player when you have your first glimpse of contention in 15 years. No exceptions.

Right. That's always worked out well for small market teams. Like, never.

Aldridge was as good as gone as soon as he decided not to extend. And you see how giving him the benefit of a doubt ended up.

His wishy washy character coupled with his first great playoff performance made it a slam dunk. He should have been dealt.

 

[HailBlazers]

Sounds like it was the perfect time to sell high. If he didn't want to resign that summer and there had been inklings of him wanting out and he had immense trade value due to that series, then that could've set the franchise up for a possible dynasty if we got value back for him.

I see why people are saying why we wouldn't trade him but I think a GM should have more insight and foresight than Blazer fans. I don't know. Looking back on it, we were in a perfect position to trade Aldridge and build around the better, younger player in Dame.

In a vacuum sure. But Paul Allen aint buying that. Rest his soul.

 

[CupWizier]

Were they contenders? They made it out of the 1st round against a pretty bleh Rockets team. They looked like a good regular season team but who knows if that team was built for the post-season. I couldn't see them having a chance against the Spurs or Warriors.

And then you consider that we had a young star in Dame who I think it was pretty obvious that we should build around instead, and we could have easily built ourselves for a 10-year window of contention by being a little more patient and not taking the risk on an aging PF staying true to his word (when he already caused problems).

A great GM would've flipped Aldridge for young assets/picks and went forward with Lillard, McCollum, Barton, etc. We were a 2nd round team after Aldridge left, just imagine if we got value back for him, and kept Barton?

Hindsight is an excellent tool for evaluation. As long as we are playing hindsight GM and using speculation. Mathews doesn't get hurt, Afflalo also doesn't get hurt and is a great 6th man off the bench and we continue at the same pace and go on to make it to the finals and win it all. Do you think Aldridge leaves then?

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Right. That's always worked out well for small market teams. Like, never.

Aldridge was as good as gone as soon as he decided not to extend. And you see how giving him the benefit of a doubt ended up.

His wishy washy character coupled with his first great playoff performance made it a slam dunk. He should have been dealt.

I disagree. They had like the 2nd or third best record in the NBA before injuries started to creep in, we point to the Wes injury (and I agree that was the final nail for sending him out), but Lopez had been hurt that year, Dame was a year older and was getting better, lets not forget LMA played through an injury too. That team had a good chance to make noise.

Its easy to say now it was a mistake to keep LMA, BUT, had they decided that summer or midyear to just throw in the towel fans would've been upset about that too.

For the record Barton is at best an NBA Role player losing him wasnt a big deal. Afflalo got hurt that year too.

I know GM’s get judged largely by hindsight, but had that team stayed healthy and had made it to the WCF’s (or further) people wouldnt complain. Instead injuries did that team in, much more than the GM.

 

[BonesJones]

Hindsight is an excellent tool for evaluation. As long as we are playing hindsight GM and using speculation. Mathews doesn't get hurt, Afflalo also doesn't get hurt and is a great 6th man off the bench and we continue at the same pace and go on to make it to the finals and win it all. Do you think Aldridge leaves then?

That post wasnt based off hindsight, because I think our best chance to win a championship with Dame wouldve been trading Aldridge, regardless of if he stayed or not. Im not saying he shouldve traded Aldridge because he left, Im saying he probably shouldve traded Aldridge regardless. I also understand why he (and others) wouldnt have.

 

[BonesJones]

I disagree. They had like the 2nd or third best record in the NBA before injuries started to creep in, we point to the Wes injury (and I agree that was the final nail for sending him out), but Lopez had been hurt that year, Dame was a year older and was getting better, lets not forget LMA played through an injury too. That team had a good chance to make noise.

Its easy to say now it was a mistake to keep LMA, BUT, had they decided that summer or midyear to just throw in the towel fans would've been upset about that too.

For the record Barton is at best an NBA Role player losing him wasnt a big deal. Afflalo got hurt that year too.

I know GM’s get judged largely by hindsight, but had that team stayed healthy and had made it to the WCF’s (or further) people wouldnt complain. Instead injuries did that team in, much more than the GM.

People use the Matthews injury as an excuse for Olshey, but I think that injury highlighted a problem with the team Olshey built. That team had little to no depth. Any injury to our starting 5 would've made us a likely 1st round exit. We had just traded for a "solid" replacement at Matthews position, and had a young player at that position who broke out in the playoffs, and we still got dominated. That was a problem with that team. With how much they got paid, it probably wouldn't have been possible to bring back Matthews and Afflalo so you would've been looking at a bench with C.J. McCollum and a bunch of mediocre fringe rotation players. Any injury in the future would've meant our team completely falling apart. Injuries happen. That team wasn't built to withstand them.

The argument I usually hear towards this is "But losing Wes was extra-bad because he was the heart and soul of this team!".... But so is Nurkic, and Nurk is better than Wes ever was. Yet we still made the WCF because we could absorb that injury. Those Aldridge-led teams were unable to absorb any injury to their key guys.

So I don't think that team was built to truly contend. I think it's ceiling was about the same as the teams that followed, and therefore, I think it was probably the right decision to trade Aldridge regardless.

Fans may have been upset but as I said, it's on the GM to have more foresight than fans. If we got back a good package behind Aldridge, it got leaked that he had turned down a contract extension, and Olshey went forward with wanting to "build around Dame" and "Get younger talent that can grow with Dame, CJ, Will, etc" then I think our fanbase would've been somewhat understanding. Obviously, Paul would've had to sign-off on it and it's definitely possible he wouldn't have.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

People use the Matthews injury as an excuse for Olshey, but I think that injury highlighted a problem with the team Olshey built. That team had little to no depth. Any injury to our starting 5 would've made us a likely 1st round exit. We had just traded for a "solid" replacement at Matthews position, and had a young player at that position who broke out in the playoffs, and we still got dominated. That was a problem with that team. With how much they got paid, it probably wouldn't have been possible to bring back Matthews and Afflalo so you would've been looking at a bench with C.J. McCollum and a bunch of mediocre fringe rotation players. Any injury in the future would've meant our team completely falling apart. Injuries happen. That team wasn't built to withstand them.

The argument I usually hear towards this is "But losing Wes was extra-bad because he was the heart and soul of this team!".... But so is Nurkic, and Nurk is better than Wes ever was. Yet we still made the WCF because we could absorb that injury. Those Aldridge-led teams were unable to absorb any injury to their key guys.

So I don't think that team was built to truly contend. I think it's ceiling was about the same as the teams that followed, and therefore, I think it was probably the right decision to trade Aldridge regardless.

Fans may have been upset but as I said, it's on the GM to have more foresight than fans. If we got back a good package behind Aldridge, it got leaked that he had turned down a contract extension, and Olshey went forward with wanting to "build around Dame" and "Get younger talent that can grow with Dame, CJ, Will, etc" then I think our fanbase would've been somewhat understanding. Obviously, Paul would've had to sign-off on it and it's definitely possible he wouldn't have.

I dont agree that Nurk / Wes are even comparable. Wes was the glue for that team. Dame is the glue for the current team. Nurk does a lot for them but they still talk and dont have any major rifts. Dame / Aldridge had a huge rift that Wes kept them both all in.

Depth was definitely their issue, but Depth is an issue for a lot of teams that win, because ultimately its a star driven league, and while depth is nice very few teams win because of depth, they win because their best players are better.

 

[calvin natt]

100% should have traded Aldridge. It was Olsheys biggest mistake outside Evan Turner.

 

[hoopsjock]

I disagree. They had like the 2nd or third best record in the NBA before injuries started to creep in, we point to the Wes injury (and I agree that was the final nail for sending him out), but Lopez had been hurt that year, Dame was a year older and was getting better, lets not forget LMA played through an injury too. That team had a good chance to make noise.

Its easy to say now it was a mistake to keep LMA, BUT, had they decided that summer or midyear to just throw in the towel fans would've been upset about that too.

For the record Barton is at best an NBA Role player losing him wasnt a big deal. Afflalo got hurt that year too.

I know GM’s get judged largely by hindsight, but had that team stayed healthy and had made it to the WCF’s (or further) people wouldnt complain. Instead injuries did that team in, much more than the GM.

I can almost guarantee Aldridge would've stayed if that season played out like this past one instead of the bottom falling out the way it did.

 

[hoopsjock]

Were they contenders? They made it out of the 1st round against a pretty bleh Rockets team. They looked like a good regular season team but who knows if that team was built for the post-season. I couldn't see them having a chance against the Spurs or Warriors.

And then you consider that we had a young star in Dame who I think it was pretty obvious that we should build around instead, and we could have easily built ourselves for a 10-year window of contention by being a little more patient and not taking the risk on an aging PF staying true to his word (when he already caused problems).

A great GM would've flipped Aldridge for young assets/picks and went forward with Lillard, McCollum, Barton, etc. We were a 2nd round team after Aldridge left, just imagine if we got value back for him, and kept Barton?

I'm sorry Bones but anyone who claims we didn't have a chance against the Warriors and should've traded Aldridge is a liar.

The Warriors hadn't won a title yet. They were the 6th seed the year before and lost in the 1st round. Many people thought they were a good up and coming team but no one foresaw them being as dominant as they were the following year. The Blazers could've and were just as easily thought of as a greater threat in the West than they were heading into the season.

I think the argument should be that signing Steve Blake and Chris Kaman that summer were the mistakes. Barton showed some things in the Spurs series the year before but was awful when given more of a role that following year. Barton absolutely sucked that year. His game is not designed to be a core piece on a winning team. Look at how his role diminished on Denver last year when they got good.

 

[hoopsjock]

People use the Matthews injury as an excuse for Olshey, but I think that injury highlighted a problem with the team Olshey built. That team had little to no depth. Any injury to our starting 5 would've made us a likely 1st round exit. We had just traded for a "solid" replacement at Matthews position, and had a young player at that position who broke out in the playoffs, and we still got dominated. That was a problem with that team. With how much they got paid, it probably wouldn't have been possible to bring back Matthews and Afflalo so you would've been looking at a bench with C.J. McCollum and a bunch of mediocre fringe rotation players. Any injury in the future would've meant our team completely falling apart. Injuries happen. That team wasn't built to withstand them.

The argument I usually hear towards this is "But losing Wes was extra-bad because he was the heart and soul of this team!".... But so is Nurkic, and Nurk is better than Wes ever was. Yet we still made the WCF because we could absorb that injury. Those Aldridge-led teams were unable to absorb any injury to their key guys.

So I don't think that team was built to truly contend. I think it's ceiling was about the same as the teams that followed, and therefore, I think it was probably the right decision to trade Aldridge regardless.

Fans may have been upset but as I said, it's on the GM to have more foresight than fans. If we got back a good package behind Aldridge, it got leaked that he had turned down a contract extension, and Olshey went forward with wanting to "build around Dame" and "Get younger talent that can grow with Dame, CJ, Will, etc" then I think our fanbase would've been somewhat understanding. Obviously, Paul would've had to sign-off on it and it's definitely possible he wouldn't have.

Dame is the heart and soul of this team now, not Nurkic. Even Nurk would agree.