Should Neil be on the hot seat?

[Fez Hammersticks]

To put this into perspective, here is exactly what the Wolves and Magic received for their star player who wanted a change of direction:

Wolves: #1 overall pick - Wiggins | Bennett | Thad Young | $6.3m TPE

Magic: Vucevic | Afflalo | McRoberts | Harkless | THREE first-round picks
This deal set up the Redick/Tobias deal immediately after the Dwight deal

 

[Sinobas]

Well...we can use the cap space on Kanter.....

 

[Blazer Freak]

What the fuck don't you guys understand?! I get your upset but this isn't on Olshey...all signs point to LA changing his mind in the months following Wes' injury.

Go ahead blame Neil for this all you want, but once he determined LA was gone we don't have anyone over 25 (besides Kaman) on our roster and 25-30M in cap space. We'll take on a bad contract or two during season and get some picks and having a good foundation.

This is on LA inexplicably fucking us over...not Neil. I'm sure he thought this could happen, and that's why he wanted flexibility and that's exactly what we have.

Jesus Christ...back away from the edge people.

 

[TBpup]

But Neil has a Plan....

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

The writing was on the wall for years.

2013 he asked for a trade. Neil refused. I don't blame LMA one bit.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

This is 100% on Neil and Paul.

 

[BrianFromWA]

you forgot the reported #1/Thompson/#19 or future first (depending on the rumor) that we allegedly turned down.

 

[ehizzy3]

The two trades this year have been really good. We were 40-19 at the injury and everyone thought we were a contender. This is Neil's fault how?

 

[Blazer Freak]

The writing was on the wall for years.

2013 he asked for a trade. Neil refused. I don't blame LMA one bit.

Hahaha yes...Neil kept him hostage and his mouth closed for two more years! He asked him to be patient and he was. We put a good team around him and we got fucked by a major injury yet again. Unless Neil had a pair of scissors and snipped Wes' Achilles without anyone seeing than go ahead and use whatever you can't to back up your ridiculous notion this is ALL on Olshey.

 

[Denny Crane]

you forgot the reported #1/Thompson/#19 or future first (depending on the rumor) that we allegedly turned down.

Allegedly.

 

[magnifier661]

Okay do you guys think that maybe this wasn't Neil's choice? Like maybe, just maybe, the owner tied his hands and forced him to keep Aldridge?

 

[BrianFromWA]

The two trades this year have been really good. We were 40-19 at the injury and everyone thought we were a contender. This is Neil's fault how?

He was the GM on the watch while he let an All-star get to UFA and leave for nothing....not even a trade exception or a couple of seconds. I didn't have the chance to trade LMA when he didn't sign the extension. You didn't have the chance. Dame couldn't. Neil did have that chance.

Maybe he has a plan B. Or C. I hope so, and I hope it's great and we win a bunch of games. But who the eff's fault is it if it isn't Neil's or Allen's?

 

[BrianFromWA]

Okay do you guys think that maybe this wasn't Neil's choice? Like maybe, just maybe, the owner tied his hands and forced him to keep Aldridge?

Yes.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

I agree. But it's not just that one thing. It's his whole body of work adding into it his smugness, the cockiness, dishonesty and the lack of respect for the fans and reporters.

I think he ought to be out. But I think Allen is tightly with him. And probably bccause Neil's ability to sell him a bill of goods.

 

[Shooter]

Let's face it. Olshey has screwed up big-time. Portland was a title contender until Matthews went down last season. Now we are a collection of young players with "promise."

We have fallen from "elite" to "rebuild" so fast that the sound of our fall almost broke the sound barrier.

 

[Rhal]

Yea lets fire NO for doing LMA doing something that very rarely happens. It also don't know what we actually turned down. As for all this "Wrighting on the wall BS" NOONE thought he was leaving before Wes injury, he was upset after Lillards rookie year but thats because he didn't want to be through another rebuild. We were a damn good team before Wes went down, top 10 offense borderline top 5 D. Once Wes went down it was to late to trade anyone or do anything the deadline was passed.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

As I seem to recall, we had a struggle finding a competent GM before Neil came aboard. Before that we had Cho, who doesn't appear to be setting the world on fire with Charlotte (though admittedly he has Jordan's hands way too deep in the pie). If Neil goes, who are we going to find? It will be like free agency all over again. Let's give the ragged remainders a chance before we become a herd of lemmings running for the cliff.

 

[magnifier661]

Firing Olshey would be a epic disaster! Last time we did that because of a meltdown, we went through 4 GMs. Neil is the man and maybe Allen realizes this. Maybe Allen was the one that told Neil not to trade Aldridge, even when Neil may have asked to. Now that Aldridge is gone, Allen will probably trust Neil more.

If Neil can field a team that can make the playoffs, we are in good shape for next summer with good cap space.

 

[Denny Crane]

With LMA and the others gone, the team is really going to be Olshey's creation. I like all the moves he's made to date. I'd be willing to give him at least until he uses up the cap space and trades before questioning his moves.

If you determine the team is not going to win in the 2nd round as constituted, you have to make changes.

 

[Natebishop3]

I wouldn't fire Neil, but it was still a pretty stupid mistake. Everything else he has done is spot on though.

Wes isn't worth 15 a year.

Rolo isn't worth 13.5

Nic needed to be traded.

He got some young pieces. The Aminu signing was solid. Vonleh could be a real stud. I think he made a mistake early on in keeping Aldridge and he has been trying to correct that mistake since probably April.

 

[DryHeat]

Bet they don't believe the next player who says they want to be the "Best Blazer Ever" while turning down an extension again.
Stotts is under the most pressure now, bet he wishes he had been giving more minutes to the youngsters.

 

[magnifier661]

With LMA and the others gone, the team is really going to be Olshey's creation. I like all the moves he's made to date. I'd be willing to give him at least until he uses up the cap space and trades before questioning his moves.

If you determine the team is not going to win in the 2nd round as constituted, you have to make changes.

We may be better off really. We were so predicated around Aldridge being the Batman, we became extremely one dimensional. I'm not saying we will be entirely successful in the perceivable future, but I do like the idea of building around a true Batman, instead of a robin.

 

[magnifier661]

I wouldn't fire Neil, but it was still a pretty stupid mistake. Everything else he has done is spot on though.

Wes isn't worth 15 a year.

Rolo isn't worth 13.5

Nic needed to be traded.

He got some young pieces. The Aminu signing was solid. Vonleh could be a real stud. I think he made a mistake early on in keeping Aldridge and he has been trying to correct that mistake since probably April.

But the real question is "was this his mistake?" Was he told not to trade Aldridge?

 

[Denny Crane]

We may be better off really. We were so predicated around Aldridge being the Batman, we became extremely one dimensional. I'm not saying we will be entirely successful in the perceivable future, but I do like the idea of building around a true Batman, instead of a robin.

A lot of people thought the Bulls would tank after salary dumping Luol Deng. Instead, they went ahead and won at a significantly better pace. Deng and LMA have one important thing in common - they take a lot of the worst shots in basketball. That is, 2 pointers not in the paint.

The team may actually do just as well, if not better, with Ed Davis scoring buckets in the paint at a high % and the freeing up shots for 3pt shooters or others who hit a high % from 2.

 

[TBpup]

I wouldn't fire Neil, but it was still a pretty stupid mistake. Everything else he has done is spot on though.

Wes isn't worth 15 a year.

Rolo isn't worth 13.5

Nic needed to be traded.

He got some young pieces. The Aminu signing was solid. Vonleh could be a real stud. I think he made a mistake early on in keeping Aldridge and he has been trying to correct that mistake since probably April.

Very true. Success creates salary increases and it would have cost a fortune to keep everyone when I don't think that group was better than a 2nd round playoff team.

 

[RoyToy]

Again, LOL at firing Neil or pretending he's on the hot seat

We'll be lucky if he doesn't leave the first chance he gets. He can easily get a better job.

 

[craigehlo]

He's on the hot seat if Neil was giving Paul Allen the same line he was feeding the fans and the media this past week. He got played by the LA's management who strung the Blazers along for leverage.

 

[oldmangrouch]

Olshey could not stop LaPuke from leaving if that was what he truly wanted.

His ability to trade LaPuke was hamstrung by LaPuke's own lies.

OTOH, he made the choice to aid and abet those lies. He made some efforts to clear cap space, but he could actually have done a lot more by renouncing the rights to Kaman and LaPuke. He traded a decent prospect on a rookie deal. He traded Batum for spare parts instead of a draft pick. He acquired players that were good acquisitions (Henderson, Davis, Aminu) - but only in the context of LaPuke returning.

He didn't go all in on chasing FAs. He didn't go all in on tanking. He certainly didn't retool on the fly. What other people see as a plan, I see as an indecisive mess.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Neil maybe should be, but remember that he is following the orders given to him by PA. Who does not want to rebuild. Trading LA and others.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Olshey could not stop LaPuke from leaving if that was what he truly wanted.

His ability to trade LaPuke was hamstrung by LaPuke's own lies.

OTOH, he made the choice to aid and abet those lies. He made some efforts to clear cap space, but he could actually have done a lot more by renouncing the rights to Kaman and LaPuke. He traded a decent prospect on a rookie deal. He traded Batum for spare parts instead of a draft pick. He acquired players that were good acquisitions (Henderson, Davis, Aminu) - but only in the context of LaPuke returning.

He didn't go all in on chasing FAs. He didn't go all in on tanking. He certainly didn't retool on the fly. What other people see as a plan, I see as an indecisive mess.

Either Neil put LMA up to saying what he did and he's a dumbfuck for not trading him before the deadline, or he bought Alrdridge's speech and is a dumbfuck for not being able to read the tea leaves that had been pointing to an exit for some time.

Then again, who knows maybe Neil really thought things would hold together and he'd be able to sell LaMarcus on the team's long-term future and it was just a bad bet.