Things change, Aldridge is fickle, he could easily change his mind in a few days, especially with free agency starting to play out. I think one thing we can all agree on though is that the outlook is not good for Aldridge returning. The one thing I would worry about with regards to this is if it hurts our negotiating position with Monroe. If we were telling him We if a good chance of retaining Aldridge and he finds it we were operating under the assumption that Aldridge was already gone, would he feel lied to? Regardless, I think Neil is going to fight all the way to the very end to retain LMA, regardless of what he says. If it doesn't work out, that's just something we're going to have to live with.
How/why is this just coming out now if he said this days before free agency began? And why on earth would Hughes say such a thing? I don't understand the point of both sides denying he'd already made up his mind to leave if he had. What were they hoping to gain by stringing us along? This is weird on so many levels.
I have decided it was spliced together and Kim's soundbite was from the thumb injury. Doesn't mean I think LA stays or not though
As I said when Neil held the draft presser, letting everyone know LA is gone makes us vulnerable and negatively affects whether or not we are able to garner interest from other key free agents.
That's totally understandable, but saying something like that publicly basically undermines what you just said. The coaching staff would be just as much "on the hook" as Olshey, so saying this makes zero sense
Aldridge will likely decide two days after free agency began, so everyone will know shortly anyway. So it seems pointless. And even if Olshey was able to sign a big free agent before Aldridge makes his decision, I'd feel tricked if I was that free agent. Not a good way to start a relationship. Somehow I doubt that's why Aminu signed with us... The people who run that website and the reporter who made the video were sitting on a goldmine and appear to be too stupid to realize it. Even the headline of the video makes no mention of it. I must have wandered into the twilight zone this morning.
Honestly, just about everything we've done has signaled that we knew LMA was gone. Trading Batum to go young was the start. Not showing even the slightest interest in Matthews and Lopez almost confirms that they knew the chances of LMA leaving were incredibly high.
It's tough to know if Aldridge officially told the Blazers he definitely wasn't coming back. There may have been indications and some may have felt he was gone but Neil could have said what he did and been entirely truthful still thinking that LA might not be coming back. What was definitely said by Aldridge was that he would be back, would re-sign here and was coming for Drexler's team records. Does anyone think he meant 'top rebounder'? Perhaps, but if it takes 9 seasons for the 'best PF in the NBA to catch a SG,, who in that time played 34 playoff games compared to 94 for Clyde in Portland, and who will be 30-35 during this next massive contract, maybe there is a silver lining.
I don't know why he would say it, but I don't see where it makes a difference one way or another. He obviously felt LMA was gone, but LMA probably did not make it official at that point. I am sure Neil probably just didn't want to go down without a fight on draft night, and Kim did not know about his strategy.
I dunno, man. When he says "it hasn't be declared yet... " and goes ahead and leaks it? Doesn't seem like an opinion to me.
Hughes should be fired just for being dumb; and this maybe explains why Leonard took so long to develop; I know that at one time Leonard said something to the effect that he had been practicing all the wrong things for the first couple years here. And this is also a reflection on the head coach, and makes me wonder about him; I also wonder why he hasn't tried to hire some new assistant coaches who might be higher quality; did the Blazers make a try at Monte Williams? And I know there have been a couple other guys available who specialize at defense.
Just waking up to this so, initial thoughts: 1. FUCK! 2. Hughes could have been the source that ESPN guys were relying on in saying that LA was 99.9% gone. 3. This was before Neil's press conference where he said he talked with LA about the ESPN reports and asked him what LA wanted Olshey to say about those reports. So, either Olshey lied about what LA said or the had a further discussion that Hughes didn't know about at the time of that news clip. Olshey could have revealed part of his plan to LA and gotten him to a place where he agreed to give Olshey a chance to pull off something big before signing somewhere else. That something big could be Monroe. 4. Hughes is probably in deep shit.
