Forum Game How much longer do you think Olshey deserves?

[kjironman1]

Yeah, but that's wrong, IMO. You need more than "some solid players" and luck. The Warriors had the most talented team in basketball. That was the most important thing. That they also had luck with injuries was not the important thing. In my opinion, you're ignoring that the Warriors were tremendously talented (by implying that all they had was "some solid players" and what really won them the title was luck). The Blazers aren't anywhere near that talented and no amount of "luck" will overcome that.

Yes you are right on that. You need a couple stars maybe even three and a really good supporting cast. Not just solid players. I see where you are coming from.

 

[craigehlo]

His drafting has saved him.

This line on Neil I don't don't find very convincing. Dame and CJ were drafted near to all mock draft expectations of their value. Congrats for not screwing it up.

Free agency has been a disaster for him, there's no kind way of saying it. If you can't do half you job well, this team can't compete for a championship.

 

[Minstrel]

I see Olshey similarly to Stotts: he's been good at times and bad at times. He's not one of the very best in the league, but he's competent. Just as with Stotts, I don't really think he should be let go until/unless the team has someone better lined up to replace him. I don't really believe in firing for the visceral satisfaction--fire because you have someone better to take over the job. (Unless the person in question does something so egregious that it wouldn't be appropriate to continue employing them, but that isn't relevant here.)

 

[kjironman1]

This line on Neil I don't don't find very convincing. Dame and CJ were drafted near to all mock draft expectations of their value. Congrats for not screwing it up.

Free agency has been a disaster for him, there's no kind way of saying it. If you can't do half you job well, this team can't compete for a championship.

To be fair please tell us what teams "Free Agency" has been kind to? Then do the math on the percentage of teams that is. If it's less than 20% then you might have to look at that statement and revise your thinking?

 

[BrianFromWA]

Let's see...why would the GM of a Basketball Team be on the hot seat?
From the owner's perspective:
Attendance: Never less than 96% capacity in his 5 years
Playoffs: Every year except year 1
2nd Round: As many in 5 years as the previous 20 combined.
Drafting AllStars/Award Winners: Dame, CJ
Buzz around the league: Dame is the most nationally-marketable Blazers star since...ever?
Leaks: Not much fo the Blazers' business gets outside the walls of Team HQ, and when it does, repercussions are quick.

Only downside? What some would call "sausage-making" that just contribues to the things above.
Money: “Let us worry about the money. You guys worry about the players and how well or how poorly we play and how guys are developing. We’ll worry about how we manage our cap and what guys get paid"
Free agents chased: Um, yeah. But they didn't sign!
Player development. Some haven't, but some have, or else you wouldn't have #2, #3 or #4 above

I don't love many of his moves, and I question some of the things he values or goes after, but why on earth would he on the hot seat with PA?

 

[julius]

Good thing they give out division titles and championships in July, huh?

Take a look at how many of us thought last year that Utah, Houston, OKC and Denver would've finished the season with much worse records than they did.

 

[kjironman1]

Good thing they give out division titles and championships in July, huh?

Take a look at how many of us thought last year that Utah, Houston, OKC and Denver would've finished the season with much worse records than they did.

You have a point there.

 

[Schilly]

I don't get this mentality that when moves are questionable he's a terrible GM, but when they are good he was only lucky. That to me is pure desire to see him fail for one reason or another. It's pretty much the Canzano mindset.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Calln BS on this accident narrative. Sure Nurk blew up bigger / faster than anyone thought but he was most certainly a target. Olshey's crew is big on advanced stats and Nurk fit the mold of a diamond in the ruff. The whole PR thing was simply Neil trying his best to not make the Nuggets crew look bad, imho.

Pfffft

 

[kjironman1]

I don't get this mentality that when moves are questionable he's a terrible GM, but when they are good he was only lucky. That to me is pure desire to see him fail for one reason or another. It's pretty much the Canzano mindset.

Canzano - Click Bait John

 

[Sinobas]

This line on Neil I don't don't find very convincing. Dame and CJ were drafted near to all mock draft expectations of their value. Congrats for not screwing it up.

Free agency has been a disaster for him, there's no kind way of saying it. If you can't do half you job well, this team can't compete for a championship.

Dame was the 2nd best player in the draft, taken at #6. That's a hit. CJ was the 2nd best player, taken at #10. You're only really "expected" to get an all-star calibur player if you have a 1 or 2. He also got Crabbe in the 2nd round.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Just to answer a couple guys here who say Olshey lucked into the Nurkic trade and was only interested in the pick.

Here is a quote from his interview after the trade (apparently was not a press conference): "We felt like we needed to get younger at the center position. We wanted more of a low post player, someone that could defend size, strength. We found that with Jusuf. And, look, this is the hard part of the business is you have guys that you get attached ... but you've got to make business decisions. We felt like in the long run this will pay longer dividends, having a young guy on a rookie scale (contract). We manage our cap with it. He gives us a different look defensively. He's a big time rebounder. And I think he'll make the game easier for guys like Dame (Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) because we've got more presence in the paint now defensively."
It sounds as if he thought Nurkic could make the team better than Plumlee.
His only mention of a draft pick is in answer to another question concerning the tradeline and he states that we have three draft picks to use one way or another.

And that is a reminder that he did the deals that allowed us to get three picks this year and trade up to get Zach Collins. He has done a lot of good little things that add up. Each time he does something it seems to make sense. But one has to wonder if he should have had a bigger vision. And of course his drafting of Leonard and then re-signing him was terrible. Without that I think most would say he was a pretty damn good GM.
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...zers_neil_olshey_were_probably_a_6_point.html

 

[BBert]

He got lucky with that move

You make your own luck. It's not like he was sitting in his barcolounger and the trade came crashing through his roof landing in his living room. He went out and found it. Then he pulled the trigger. That's not luck.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Denver is going to be paying a 35 year old 30 million per to NOT make the playoffs!! That deal wreaks of desperation.

But they only have to pay him for two years.

 

[Schilly]

I think it's becoming very clear that Neil is still building this team as a rebuild process of slower evolution with young players. I see a lot of other teams making knee jerk trades and building immediate impact teams that will lack sustainability.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Just to answer a couple guys here who say Olshey lucked into the Nurkic trade and was only interested in the pick.

Here is a quote from his interview after the trade (apparently was not a press conference): "We felt like we needed to get younger at the center position. We wanted more of a low post player, someone that could defend size, strength. We found that with Jusuf. And, look, this is the hard part of the business is you have guys that you get attached ... but you've got to make business decisions. We felt like in the long run this will pay longer dividends, having a young guy on a rookie scale (contract). We manage our cap with it. He gives us a different look defensively. He's a big time rebounder. And I think he'll make the game easier for guys like Dame (Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) because we've got more presence in the paint now defensively."
It sounds as if he thought Nurkic could make the team better than Plumlee.
His only mention of a draft pick is in answer to another question concerning the tradeline and he states that we have three draft picks to use one way or another.

And that is a reminder that he did the deals that allowed us to get three picks this year and trade up to get Zach Collins. He has done a lot of good little things that add up. Each time he does something it seems to make sense. But one has to wonder if he should have had a bigger vision. And of course his drafting of Leonard and then re-signing him was terrible. Without that I think most would say he was a pretty damn good GM.
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...zers_neil_olshey_were_probably_a_6_point.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...zers_neil_olshey_were_probably_a_6_point.html
In this very same story, there's this:

But the reality is from a cap standpoint we needed to go average down the salary but maintain our ability to compete, you know, now and in the future with not losing someone at that position. I can't speak to any specifics, but what I can tell you is the league is very active right now. What we're most excited with is having three picks in this draft. We've done a very nice job in the draft so far

And this

It will take a while for Jusuf to get acclimated to our system

Olshey was pretty guarded about Nurkic. Maybe secretly he was thrilled, but he definitely downplayed his part of the acquisition.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

I like what Minnesota has done but tou guys are giving the three other teams in our division too much credit.

Denver just invested heavily on a player in the back end of his career. OKC is making a huge gamble on what could be a one year rental. Utah could be losing an All Star.

Pump the brakes fellas. This team was rebuilt on the fly and made the playoffs the past two seasons. Our cap space was out the window regardless after last year.

 

[Denny Crane]

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/i...zers_neil_olshey_were_probably_a_6_point.html

"We have the benefit of having Paul Allen as an owner. He let us retain all of our players. It wasn't realistic to think we could manage that cap going forward. But what it did do is it put us in a position to keep as much as possible, put us in a position to compete, but knowing at some point we're going to have to make some moves."
-- Olshey

He's on top of things.

 

[BBert]

I just have to SMH with this idea that the Blazers only traded for the pick, Nurkic was merely some kind of throw in, and the Blazers were shocked that he turned out to be good. That's simply ridiculous. There were posters on this site who were begging for a Plumlee -- Nurkic trade for months before it happened. I was ecstatic with getting Nurkic and viewed the pick as a happy bonus. The Blazers scouts and stats guys know more than any poster here, and a shit ton more than me. It's completely implausible that all they wanted was the pick, and they thought Nurk was some kind of scrub. Hell, the talk wasn't IF Nurk was a starter, but whether he should start his first game.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I just have to SMH with this idea that the Blazers only traded for the pick, Nurkic was merely some kind of throw in, and the Blazers were shocked that he turned out to be good. That's simply ridiculous. There were posters on this site who were begging for a Plumlee -- Nurkic trade for months before it happened. I was ecstatic with getting Nurkic and viewed the pick as a happy bonus. The Blazers scouts and stats guys know more than any poster here, and a shit ton more than me. It's completely implausible that all they wanted was the pick, and they thought Nurk was some kind of scrub. Hell, the talk wasn't IF Nurk was a starter, but whether he should start his first game.

If I recall most of the people wanting to see Plumlee traded, said so because they didn't want to see the Blazers see yet another asset walk out the door with zero compensation. Olshey blowing his wad on Crabbe, Turner and MyLe made this an absolute necessity.

 

[dviss1]

But they only have to pay him for two years.

That's 2 years too long.

 

[GDiama]

I like people hating on the Millsap deal. Who cares what he does in two or three years. If the third year is club option then its great deal since they have the cap space. Same way with JJ getting 23 from the Sixers. Hell even if he got 40 its great since they have the money.

When you have money available you can overpay to make your team better.

 

[dviss1]

If I recall most of the people wanting to see Plumlee traded, said so because they didn't want to see the Blazers see yet another asset walk out the door with zero compensation. Olshey blowing his wad on Crabbe, Turner and MyLe made this an absolute necessity.

There were people on this board that were clamoring for Nurk. If people on the board were clamoring for him, you don't think Olshey knew who he was and what he could do?

I don't buy that at all.

 

[riverman]

I'm a fan of Olshey and Stotts....what I want is a better big man coach and defensive coordinator...given those two things we'd see a big difference in how all our young players grow into balanced two way players.

 

[dviss1]

I like people hating on the Millsap deal. Who cares what he does in two or three years. If the third year is club option then its great deal since they have the cap space. Same way with JJ getting 23 from the Sixers. Hell even if he got 40 its great since they have the money.

When you have money available you can overpay to make your team better.

They aren't making the playoffs. That's what's stupid about this deal.

 

[Nikolokolus]

There were people on this board that were clamoring for Nurk. If people on the board were clamoring for him, you don't think Olshey knew who he was and what he could do?

I don't buy that at all.

Given the Blazers dearth of qualified centers and Plumlee's impending free agency, they Blazers had to gamble on somebody. I'm not trying to say Nurkic was some colossal scrub, but he was having a very bad season and had been a massive disappointment in Denver. If he hadn't cratered his value with the Nuggets, there's no way they would have had to toss in a pick to sweeten the deal.

 

[kjironman1]

If I recall most of the people wanting to see Plumlee traded, said so because they didn't want to see the Blazers see yet another asset walk out the door with zero compensation. Olshey blowing his wad on Crabbe, Turner and MyLe made this an absolute necessity.

Not just walk out but he was an asset and the Blazers needed more size. This was pretty much unanimous. Blazers needed a rim protector. Neil made a move that needed to be made. The pick was a bonus.

 

[GDiama]

They aren't making the playoffs. That's what's stupid about this deal.

This doesnt make sense unless you can predict the future. And whats wrong about trying? Should they just keep their cap space to show off? What good would that be?

 

[kjironman1]

I'm a fan of Olshey and Stotts....what I want is a better big man coach and defensive coordinator...given those two things we'd see a big difference in how all our young players grow into balanced two way players.

Absolutely. They need to replace Kim Hughes. Even more so if they keep Meyers.

 

[dviss1]

He got lucky with that move

I completely disagree with this notion. It doesn't make sense and like Judge Judy says, "if it doesn't make sense it's not true".

If posters in here knew who Nurk was and wanted him added to the team, it's safe to say that Olshey and the scouting staff knew too. C'mon.. People in here don't know more about prospective players than NBA scouts and GMs.