Will Olshey help draw bigger stars to Portland?

Timothy Hutton looks so...Portland! Way to represent!

 

What players have we lost to bigger "better" markets? What big name players chose to no re-sign with us?

 

I would think that he will make a push for Deron Williams....

 

That was my point. Once they are here it's really never an issue. It's getting them here in the first place

 

We traded Wallace, but word was he wasn't going to re-sign.

 

Not sure Greg would have either, but it's impossible to really say

 

While still a longshot, there's a better chance of landing him now than with Chad as GM. Sam Amick mentioned on the radio he had a 90 minute talk with CP3 about the direction of the team to sell him on the deal.

 

Yes.

And Brian Grant was well known outside of Sacramento only among hardcore fans when we signed him. To the average fan he was "who"?

He was an unknown among the average fan until he came to the Blazers and had some great playoff series (Grant vs. Karl Malone, then the great series with the Spurs in Grant's 2nd season with us, next year the Jazz again, then the ratings blockbuster with the Lakers and then Grant is a big name among NBA fans)

Andre Miller is the bigest "name" free agent we have signed in a long time.

There is the point to be made that for most of that stretch with Paul Allen the owner the team was capped out almost every year, and when the team wasn't capped out, they weren't far under it.

1997 was one of the few years the Blazers had big cap space, and (as I recall) Brian Grant was the big prize that summer. It was a weak year for free agents.

 

I think the state income tax hurts our shot at getting big $$ players more than any other factor.

 

It's certainly a huge factor, IMO. But lack of endorsements is big as well. Somewhere, maybe in this forum, I saw national endorsements by teams and players. Portland had 2 total. Both LaMarcus, and I believe both comcast commercials

 

Portland is also pretty damned lily white, which plays a role when your targets are mostly young black men with entourages and a lot of money to burn -- not a lot of hip-hop culture.

 

No star in the league would object to coming to play for Portland, provided PA paid him enough, and there is no real barrier to PA paying them whatever is required to get them.

We should have the top 5 players in the league, but no GM can accomplish that without PA opening up his wallet.

 

What are you talking about! My life IS hip hop culture! I am makin' it rain on the daily FAMS!

 

Players don't actually "live" anywhere, except during the off season, so that's not much of a factor unless they have families.

 

I think they pay tax in whatever state each game is played, and only pay Oregon for home games.

Endorsements are sought from great players who are well-known to the general public, regardless of their team.

Other than LaMarcus, we have no players that fit that description.

 

But if you play 41 games in Miami, Orlando, Houston, Dallas, SA or Memphis, that is better than 41 home games in Portland financially

I will try to find that list again, but there were several players with less credentials than LA that had more endorsements because of the market they played in

 

Market makes players ... but players make markets.

Cleveland was hot when LeBron James was there. Nothing now.
Orlando was hot with Shaq & Penny. Warm with Dwight Howard. Ice cold during their lottery years.
Clippers played in LA but were never even warm tap water until Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.
Crappy Sacramento was hot when the had Webber, Peja et al. Now may be least desirable destination despite warm weather.
Do you think anyone would want to play in OKC if the team sucked? You think players would want to go there now?

If you build the team, they will come. Portland still has better winter weather than most cities and is surely more exciting than Sacto, even our Lieutenant Governor finds it dull (of course that was after being Mayor of San Francisco).

 

Market size is definitely a factor for that, to an extent. But not as much for national endorsements. I recall seeing a few Love commercials this season, can not remember what for. I don't know if it is companies going after him, or having a better agent finding those bigger endorsements or what. He is in a smaller market, and was landing national deals, though.

 

LMA has at least one Ford commercial. His F-150 is loaded with basketballs for the little boys and girls.

 

I am just repeating what that chart showed