I'm So SICK & TIRED of Neil Olshey

His Free Agent targets.
Sticking with Terry.
Letting the W/L record or a fluke Playoff victory make him think we're better than we are.

 

I don't fault him for NOT signing the players that didn't sign here. I fault him for targeting them to begin with. We're VERY lucky many of those players decided to sign elsewhere.
When Ed Davis (or Mo Williams) is your best signing, that's a problem.

 

But that is a Portland problem since the introduction of free agency in sports. It doesn't really matter who the targets are. I'm not getting into this again as you can reread this thread for my thoughts but I refuse to factor free agents that didn't sign into the equation. I will only focus on moves that were actually made.

 

Do you think NO got really lucky Nurkic was actually good? Or do you think he actually thought he was trading for a potential starting center?

 

Playoff victories and reacting poorly to them are a repeated mistake when it's only happened ONE time? The first time we made the 2nd round that team was actually good.

 

The whole premise that a trade Olshey made was simply lucky is the most asinine thing I have heard about him. You blame him when things out of his control like injuries happen but then don't give him credit when a move he makes works out and is just lucky? I'm sorry but that is complete bullshit in my opinion.

So yes, I believe he saw Nurk as a potential decent center (just like Plumlee and RoLo trades) AND he got a 1st round pick. That was a great trade. I think he'll regret not making similar moves with Davis, Napier, and Connaughton at the deadline.

 

Not to mention none of us know for a fact the actual backstories. For example, there were conflicting reports on who backed off the Parsons deal. There’s really no point in debating something that didn’t even happen. There are more productive things to talk about.

 

I didn’t claim one way or another on Nurkic simply asked. I personally think he did that trade mostly because of the 1st round pick, he thought Nurkic might have potential, but I think Nurkic was better than anyone really though including NO. I have heard a lot of people say that NO got lucky with Nurkic and that saved his job, which is why I was asking your opinion on it.

 

Yup, he could've failed a physical and not signed too. Or we could've known that he was likely signing with Memphis as it was reported he was interested in going there before free agency started so we could've been running up the price on him and doing a favor for an agent. It's not as simple as people make it sound. Saddling Memphis with that contract did in fact partially lead to their demise.

 

Also when did I blame NO for an injury?

 

I meant the grand you not you.

 

I see, sorry I took that the wrong way.

 

Funny you mention Parsons agent since it just so happened to be Olsheys favorite; bartelstein.

 

You just said it's his job to figure it out no matter what happens. You've also said many times that the GM's job is based on what happens in the end. So if that is the case he gets credit for Nurk no matter what he thought before the trade and gets blame for Wes getting hurt which made the Afflalo trade bad.

 

I know, I've mentioned that time and time again and not many seem to be able to comprehend the meaning of that which is why I didn't want to start this again.

 

It’s why I know for a fact Portland will get Michael Porter jr wow can’t wait.

But on a more serious note I wonder what other prospects are repped by bartelstein and priority sports.

 

I believe GM’s are judged by the outcome yeah, but that’s not “blaming” them because a dude got hurt. It’s just how things are. I agree that NO gets credit for the Nurkic trade, and it doesn’t really matter if he thought Nurkic was good or not.
GM is a tough job in sports because you can do things that everyone thinks is amazing and when it doesn’t work out, you’re judged on the results, Like Presti last summer he was the “best gm” to a lot of people. It didn’t work out very well. I think there are a ton of examples in football too if GM’s who made a bunch of moves people thought they made an unstoppable force and it turned out to just be an average team.
The GM’s job unfortunately is kind of like trying to see the future. I never claimed it was fair. Every single GM we look back in and say they were great or awful because of the results.

 

I've wondered about this. Olshey gets a lot of credit for 'evaluating NCAA talent'. But does he deserve it? Or, like any good manager, does he listen to the advice of the people who actually know what they are talking about? Like: Maybe the Blazers have really good college scouts, and a really good process for getting them together, hashing out their evaluations and opinions, briefing Paul and Olshey, and decision making? If it's only the latter, he would deserve credit for the process and the openness to listen. I'm kind of skeptical that the talent evaluation part is all or even mostly Olshey.

But if any of that's the case, why do they keep shitting the bed on free agent targets? Are the NBA scouts to blame? Or is it Olshey?

It may not be fair of me, but I tend to give the college scouting team more credit than Olshey; while giving Olshey most of the blame for the free agent targets.

Of course, I really don't know.

 

Well his quotes, as I remember them (sorry, not going to dig for a link), seemed to indicate that he wanted the pick and Nurk was a pleasant surprise. I was a bit confused by that, because there were a few here who had been on the Nurk train for months before the trade. I figured surely the Blazers knew what they were getting.

 

So every GM in the history of the Blazers has simply been bad at evaluating NBA talent in free agency?