Oshley is the man Mike Tokito: Mo Williams’ agent, Mark Bartlestein, confirms the PG’s agreement w/#Blazers. Said previous relationship with Olshey, Stotts was big factor. Bartlestein sees Williams serving 6th man role with Blazers. "I think it's going to be a great situation for him."
Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Mo Williams, CJ McCollum, Will Barton, Earl Watson and Allen Crabbe. Are you saying these men have wings and glitter?
We ought to be one of the higher scoring teams in the league now, that makes for entertaining basketball.
Wow, another value signing for Olshey. Bench just keeps getting better. It's funny, but last season Meyers was our most production bench player. Now people are talking about him being the weak link on our bench. My how things have changed... And, if Meyers doesn't produce, it's not the end of the world. A 3 man front line of Lopez, Aldridge and TRob is solid. In close games, Aldridge can slide to the 5 alongside Robinson for spot minutes. All of Lopez/Aldridge, Aldridge/Robinson and Lopez/Robinson work well together - although scoring will be tough for the latter. That's OK, it ill only be a few minutes per game - just surround them with shooters, which we can do now. OK, I'm officially ready for the season to start. This is going to be fun. So many options/combinations for Stotts to try. Bench scoring will be MUCH higher than last season. Wright and Williams alone will average more PPG than our entire bench did last season. BNM
Wow, he built a bench without giving up any of our quality pieces in the starting rotation - well done sir!
I think we know what this means now. Neil Olshey is good. REALLY good. Too good to want to stay in Portland. I think the team better tank, so that we can up our ranking in the next GM draft.
BTW, I think it's truly amazing that Olshey got a starting center and completely rebuilt our bench with quality players without giving up a single rotation player. He took what we had (great starters) and just keeps adding to it - all while acquiring assets and preserving future flexibility. He's built on our strengths (better starting center) and turned our biggest weakness (lowest scoring bench in NBA history) into a strength. BNM
Well, if the team is determined to try to make the playoffs (sigh), you gotta like the totality of the moves Olshey has made. Think about it - he could have tried to make a toxic offer for Pek using all our cap space - which wouldn't have been great for the roster either way. Or, he could have tried to make a big trade for Omer Asik, but to nab him Houston wants a lot in return. Instead, we give up a slew of minor assets and that cap space to take care of the bigs. Thomas Robinson, a lottery pick with potential, and Robin Lopez a legit 7 footer coming off his best season who can be penciled in for 25 minutes at Center. We sign as free agents: Dorell Wright, a SF coming off his best season; Earl Watson, a grizzled vet PG, who has lost his shot, but was likely brought in to be coach-player bridge that all teams need; and now, Mo Williams. His best years were with the Cavs. He was fine with the Clippers two seasons ago. Last season was a down year for him and is the reason we can nab a player of his caliber on the cheap. These new additions are all on reasonable contracts and will be easily tradable. He has filled out the roster sensibly, shored up that pitiful bench and kept his flexibility for future opportunities.
And that sly dog Olshey (excuse the reference SLP) said he was done making moves! Make me wonder if this just popped up or if this was in the works all along ...???
This seems to be a recurring theme. Olshey is definitely a players' GM. He seems to be universally liked and respected around league - well, other than Eric Gordon who was butt hurt about being sent to NOH in the Chris Paul deal. But hey, when you have a chance to get Chris Paul, you do what ya gotta do. Ultimately it's a business and the GM's job is to make the team better. That's exactly what Olshey is doing. He did it for the Clippers and now he's doing it for us! BNM
Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes - #Blazers G Damian Lillard on adding Mo Williams via text: "It's a great pickup for us. It's making us a better team."
