Quick on the Blazers summer

[PtldPlatypus]

Look at that new avatar pic!

Much like Olshey and the Blazers, sometimes ya gotta switch things up.

 

[TBpup]

Have to admit Quick has been doing good work lately.

Really liked his stuff since he joined The Athletic.

 

[Orion Bailey]

I dont get the quick hate, but then I dont know all the history some of you have. For the last 3-4 years ive paid attention to him, he has seemed just fine.

 

[hoopsjock]

I hope I am not sounding too cynical or something. First, I never thought that Quick would get on the Olshey bullshit train, but there he is. What a puff piece. I am happy to see that the Olshey team realized that Hood was a more valuable (and more difficult to replace I think) player to the Blazers than Kanter. What surprises me is that he didn't know either before or immediately at the deadline that Hood would sign for the 5.7. He just assumed he wouldn't. It's only because Kanter (for some crazy reason) vacillated that we have Hood and Whiteside. I think that is incontrovertible.

One thing Olshey is really good at is building relationships with agents. It's highly likely that Hood's agent told Olshey that he was going to look for better offers. If Hood's agent is telling him that the Tax-MLE wasn't going to be enough then you have to plan like Hood isn't coming back.

It's not an accident that Hood liked it here so much that when free agency started he probably thought, you know what I really don't care about signing somewhere else for more money when I'm happy here. Olshey didn't luck into that, it's the culture he's tried to build around Dame for 7 years.

 

[HolyBackboard]

So, for me, the two best moves of the summer, did happen basically by accident.

Listening to the Woj pod earlier this month (I think it was the one with either Zach Lowe or Brian Windhorst) and he mentioned that the Moe and Meyers for Hassan deal nearly took place 10 days before it actually happened, so I don't believe that the Whiteside trade happened just like that out of thin air as the article indicated.

 

[kjironman1]

This one I still don't understand. We offered him the absolute most we could offer. He knew this months ago. Was he expecting the team to clear salary to offer him the Full-MLE? I'm so glad that didn't happen.

That is my take on it also. Not sure why he was working for more? But he got himself a spot and i wish him well.

 

[Natebishop3]

I dont get the quick hate, but then I dont know all the history some of you have. For the last 3-4 years ive paid attention to him, he has seemed just fine.

He has changed a lot in the last 20 or so years. He used to be a real arrogant piece of shit.

 

[Labinot41]

"So when Olshey last month made a FaceTime call to EnesKanter in the opening minute of free agency"

WTF??? Why in the first minute? Nobody gives a shit about the rules, so why should we respect the rules? Amateur move by Neil

 

[kjironman1]

"So when Olshey last month made a FaceTime call to EnesKanter in the opening minute of free agency"

WTF??? Why in the first minute? Nobody gives a shit about the rules, so why should we respect the rules? Amateur move by Neil

So it's now "amateur" not to cheat?
Was he on line? Were they in position to make the deal according to rules?
I don't get the complaint? But to each his own?

 

[CupWizier]

"So when Olshey last month made a FaceTime call to EnesKanter in the opening minute of free agency"

WTF??? Why in the first minute? Nobody gives a shit about the rules, so why should we respect the rules? Amateur move by Neil

would you rather have him openly admit to cheating and possibly get fined and/ or lose draft pick (s)?

 

[ABM]

Have to admit Quick has been doing good work lately.

It's his contract year?

 

[The Professional Fan]

Great stuff from Quick.

By far the most interesting thing to me was the Jody Allen comment:

I like winning; I want to win.

What’s your plan? Go do your job.

Sure sounds like Olshey has carte blanche. Truly don't believe he ever had this much freedom under Paul. Big deal, IMO.

 

[Haakzilla]

Feels like he’s chilled out on the melodramatic bullshit ever since he joined the athletic. He’s been consistently pumping out good content ever since tbh.

...because now he is finally getting paid real wages!

 

[kjironman1]

Great stuff from Quick.

By far the most interesting thing to me was the Jody Allen comment:

I like winning; I want to win.

What’s your plan? Go do your job.

Sure sounds like Olshey has carte blanche. Truly don't believe he ever had this much freedom under Paul. Big deal, IMO.

I really honed in on that also. Very nice to read that. Kind of seems like she isn't selling the team any time soon either.

 

[ABM]

...because now he is finally getting paid real wages!

Newspapers are a dying breed....

 

[Natebishop3]

Great stuff from Quick.

By far the most interesting thing to me was the Jody Allen comment:

I like winning; I want to win.

What’s your plan? Go do your job.

Sure sounds like Olshey has carte blanche. Truly don't believe he ever had this much freedom under Paul. Big deal, IMO.

Was Paul holding us back all these years by micro managing?

 

[Orion Bailey]

Was Paul holding us back all these years by micro managing?

I have long thought this. Bless his soul.

 

[tester551]

Well, to be fair, without Kanter things were looking pretty bleak. Our center rotation would have been Collins/Leonard.

Nah. There's still some decent C on the market without teams. If we had a hole there, we could still get a playable player for the min.

 

[The Professional Fan]

Was Paul holding us back all these years by micro managing?

I don't know if "holding back" is the right term, but he was certainly very involved as we know. Jody is like "I like winning get it done." Can't ask for a better owner than that, honestly.

 

[ABM]

Was Paul holding us back all these years by micro managing?

It's all Vulcan's fault. But, seriously, I won't soon forget Paul's "broken economic model" mantra...

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060306&slug=allenportland06m

........But his ownership of the Blazers has become a tale of dubious business decisions and a billionaire's dream gone awry. In pursuit of an elusive NBA title, he spent lavishly on players but balked when it came to paying off creditors who had financed the Rose Garden arena.

The team — rebuilding with young talent and former Seattle coach Nate McMillan — is struggling at the bottom of the NBA and often playing to sparse crowds.

As some Portland districts underwent a real-estate boom, the development around the Rose Garden arena fizzled. Just last year, Cucina! Cucina! — the last restaurant in an adjacent complex — shut down.

Even the arena is no longer under Allen's control. Rather than make debt payments, he handed it over to lenders during a holding company's 2004 journey through U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Allen spokesmen now say he has invested some $600 million in the Blazers without showing a profit, and that the team — without control of the arena — is saddled with a "broken economic model" that likely will lose $100 million over the next three years.

"Paul Allen is both a businessman and a fan, and as a businessman he needs to see immediate improvements," said Michael Nank, a spokesman for Vulcan, Allen's management company. "Our preference is to preserve the franchise and keep it in Portland. But ... we can't guarantee the outcome at this point because we aren't the only participants in finding a solution."

NBA Commissioner David Stern says he is trying to help broker a settlement that would allow Allen, or perhaps another Blazer ownership group, to take back control of the arena.

Meanwhile, the mood here has darkened......(continued)


Here's a side article..

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1222/083.html#487f52d5f4ca

 

[illmatic99]

Was Paul holding us back all these years by micro managing?

what a ridiculous notion. The money being spent now is Paul's.

 

[Natebishop3]

The money being spent now is Paul's.

What does that have to do with micro managing?

 

[CupWizier]

Was Paul holding us back all these years by micro managing?

Nope. Paul Allen was a very accomodating owner and has spent a ton of his own money on this team.

 

[Orion Bailey]

micro managing and spending big, are apples and oranges people.....

One doesn't equate the other.

Paul was a SUPERB owner who spent hastily for us. It doesn't mean he didnt curb a bit of progress by micromanaging. Just because an owner spends doesnt mean he is spending the best or optimal way and if he was making decisions, it might not have been the best money spent is all @Natebishop3 is saying I believe, and if so, I tend to agree.

Keep Allen Crabbe? Lots of rumors that was PA, not NO and that's a prime example of a great owner willing to spend, but micromanaging the spending so its not spent optimally.

 

[Natebishop3]

micro managing and spending big, are apples and oranges people.....

One doesn't equate the other.

Paul was a SUPERB owner who spent hastily for us. It doesn't mean he curbed a bit of progress by micromanaging. Just because an owner spends doesnt mean he is spending the best or optimal way and if he was making decisions, it might not hav been the best money spent is all @Natebishop3 is saying I believe, and if so, I tend to agree.

Keep Allen Crabbe? Lots of rumors that was PA, not NO and that's a prime example of a great owner willing to spend, but micromanaging the spending so its not spent optimally.

There were long rumors that having Jermaine O'Neal go somewhere else and blow up haunted Paul and made him extremely gunshy about trading young talent.

I think that's why we have clung to so many high potential young guys that never went on to do anything.

 

[Harry's Raincoat]

A very nice article by Quick. A big improvement from years past as well. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting that in the details shows that acquiring Bazemore was an insurance policy anticipating that Hood would not re-sign here. Yet, we got both.
Also agree that the Summer of Olshey was a win-win. Great anticipation for the brand we will see this upcoming season.

 

[ABM]

I had a weird dream last night: Dame connected big-time with Whiteside, the team played outstanding and, well ......it was Nurk who ended up getting traded.

Oh, and Whiteside re-upped with the Blzers.

Not quite sure what to make of that.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I had a weird dream last night: Dame connected big-time with Whiteside, the team played outstanding and, well ......it was Nurk who ended up getting traded. Oh, and Whiteside re-upped with the Blzers.

Not quite sure what to make of that.

Did they get a ring?

 

[Orion Bailey]

I had a weird dream last night: Dame connected big-time with Whiteside, the team played outstanding and, well ......it was Nurk who ended up getting traded.

Oh, and Whiteside re-upped with the Blzers.

Not quite sure what to make of that.

You went to bed stoned?

 

[ABM]

You went to bed stoned?

No, but I had come to the conclusion that this team can't/won't have both of these guys going into the 2020/2021 season. The dream was about a big breakout season for Whiteside.