Olshey?

[MAS RipCity]

Lillard >>> Drummond and it's not even close

 

[LameR]

I think you can choose any pick in any draft by any team and say with hindsight's lens, "BUT they could've drafted this guy instead!" So I don't read a ton into that unless it was an out of nowhere pick when there's an obvious NBA-ready player there. Gobert wasn't overly hyped, Antetokounmpo has a lot of potential, but so has Batum for the past 7 years. I also don't think anyone was seriously considering Draymond Green as a DMVP player coming out of college. I also think Meyers is a pro (and I have been one of his BIGGEST haters in the past), and McCollum is still TBD (same as Antetkounmpo), but we've seen him put things together for small strings of games.

Also think T-Rob isn't really a con, we didn't lose much in that process and he was a good energy guy who was solid at rebounding (both from PF and C), but he just wasn't the right fit with our team having wanted to contend in the very near future. You can't do a ton of player development when that player isn't gonna get chances in games. Also think Will the Thrill was a fun entertaining player, but we put on homer goggles with him very often because of that. He's not realistically going to be a great starter, but is a good chaos-bringer off the bench.

Not trying to be overly-critical, but just pointing out some thoughts. I actually really like this thread idea and interested to see people's responses. It's interesting to look at stuff like this too because oftentimes injuries can't be expected, but when they do happen can completely implode whatever plan was in motion. We look at our team from this last year, and the way the team, specifically the starting line up meshed together was incredibly. Yeah, we needed a bit more bench production as usual but Blake, McCollum, Wright, Freeland, Leonard, and Kaman gave us a lot of different looks and abilities, even if just for spurts. Take Wes out of the equation and our starting line-up all of a sudden doesn't work as well together, the energy goes down, the rotation gets messed up, and we sputter toward the end of the season and even in the playoffs. Is that Olshey's fault? To some degree, it's his job to put a team together that can overcome injuries and have production in various forms, but I also think the cohesion of that starting line-up and the incredible fit allowed them to be significantly better collectively than just the sum of their individual parts. That's not to mention the heart and hustle that Wes played with was sorely missed, and the contagiousness of him being the catalyst for those attributes bleeding onto other players was something I think we all underestimated a bit (including myself, who can confidently say Wes has been my favorite player to watch and root for the last couple years). So, anyway, sometimes it's hard to predict how much a situation will impact the team, and those are difficult scenarios to plan for how to come back from.

 

[jlprk]

Here we are, 3-4 weeks before Olshey's legacy is settled either for good or bad, and this thread runs NOW?

 

[OneLifeToLive]

I'm not as high on Olshey as the rest of you. I think he has played it safe for the most part and done things more from a default perspective as general manager and to me has shown very little risk and creativity any one of his off seasons. One thing I thought he brought was a stable force to the team which helped with chemistry but that was anything but visible last year. This team had a lot of problems for supposedly liking each other. I think he is way overrated by many of you. No offense of course.

 

[Scalma]

I'm not as high on Olshey as the rest of you. I think he has played it safe for the most part and done things more from a default perspective as general manager and to me has shown very little risk and creativity any one of his off seasons. One thing I thought he brought was a stable force to the team which helped with chemistry but that was anything but visible last year. This team had a lot of problems for supposedly liking each other. I think he is way overrated by many of you. No offense of course.

What problems did the team have chemistry wise mr. Insider?

 

[OneLifeToLive]

What problems did the team have chemistry wise mr. Insider?

Ask LA who has had problems befriending them.

 

[Scalma]

Ask LA who has had problems befriending them.

And that's based off what?

Also, if it's just one guy maybe he needs to look in the mirror.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

And that's based off what?

Also, if it's just one guy maybe he needs to look in the mirror.

Off of reports? I think I read that he is close to one of them...Alonzo Gee which shocked me.

I just don't think it' as good as reported. These guys should be giving up themselves for each other.

 

[Scalma]

Off of reports? I think I read that he is close to one of them...Alonzo Gee which shocked me.

I just don't think it' as good as reported. These guys should be giving up themselves for each other.

I know that's not true because he's close to dorell wright and wesley Matthews and that's just off the top of my head.

 

[Tunchi]

Off of reports? I think I read that he is close to one of them...Alonzo Gee which shocked me.

I just don't think it' as good as reported. These guys should be giving up themselves for each other.

I think LMA and Lillard are best friends too

 

[Rastapopoulos]

How you like him now?

 

[Scalma]

How you like him now?

Ask me in two weeks

 

[Nikolokolus]

I'll give him this much. Knowing that the cornerstone of his team is about to leave with zero compensation coming back, it looks like he's trying to turn chickenshit into chicken salad. I'll let you know how it tastes this time next year.

 

[Natebishop3]

How you like him now?

You're like the guy who grades someone's essay before they're finished.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

You're like the guy who grades someone's essay

tl;dr: F

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Ian Thomsen wrote a big piece about Olshey today

 

[riverman]

I like that he's working this time of year

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I'll give him this much. Knowing that the cornerstone of his team is about to leave with zero compensation coming back, it looks like he's trying to turn chickenshit into chicken salad. I'll let you know how it tastes this time next year.

Well, I'll give him this much: he can persuade people to eat chickenshit.

 

[riverman]

Well, I'll give him this much: he can persuade people to eat chickenshit.

Batum and Blake will never forgive you for saying this Rasta

 

[HailBlazers]

Ian Thomsen wrote a big piece about Olshey today

Really great article.

The contingency works both ways: It can benefit Aldridge if he chooses to stay, and save the Blazers if he goes.

"We have the Bird rights on our guys," says Olshey of free agents Matthews and Robin Lopez, "which means we have the ability to bring back a team -- if guys want to return -- that will be a win-now group."

The Blazers want Aldridge to stay. Olshey is going to remind him that his input has been sought and valued on every important move the Blazers have made over these last three years. But if he departs, then the Blazers will find themselves with $41 million in cap space to build around the young core, with a new franchise leader in Lillard and not a single toxic contract to be unloaded.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

I didn't like that "win now" quote. Somehow it sounded like he was ready to belittle that in favor of "win down the line". (Which looks less likely given how many picks we've traded.)

Ah yes, the paranoia runs deep.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Ian Thomsen wrote a big piece about Olshey today

I'll tell you how I feel about that article in two weeks.

 

[HailBlazers]

I didn't like that "win now" quote. Somehow it sounded like he was ready to belittle that in favor of "win down the line". (Which looks less likely given how many picks we've traded.)

Ah yes, the paranoia runs deep.

To me it was pretty straightforward, LMA stays we're in win now, he goes we're not.

 

[STOMP]

Me too. The problem is, if we draft Drummond at 6, Lillard doesn't fall to 11 and our PG of the future is...

Fat Boy Felton?

26 year olds Goran Dragic & Kyle Lowry were both FA's that summer and were signed for very reasonable contracts that were below Portland's available capspace. I advocated for them at the time.

STOMP

 

[Rastapopoulos]

You're like the guy who grades someone's essay before they're finished.

Is the paper due yet?

 

[Scalma]

It's day two of free agency.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Underwhelming. Big talker

But at least he's not Mitch Kupchak.

 

[magnifier661]

I actually hope he doesn't get fired for this summer. I truly believe he can still turn things around, giving draft picks and ability to find diamonds in the rough.

We reload, give Olshey time to recover and rebuild with a solid GM. Remember the last few rebuilds, we had horrible coaches and GMs

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Bump.

 

[Sinobas]

Another aspect of grading Olshey, is moves he tried to make. Hawes, Hibbert and Monroe...the teams that they actually did sign with ended up with buyer's remorse...Kanter is sort of on the fence in that respect.