Paul Allen On Aldridge Leaving And Being Excited For The Season

Trail Blazers team owner Paul Allen took questions from the Tuesday after watching Portland’s first training camp practice at the team’s facility in Tualatin. Allen talked about LaMarcus Aldridge leaving in free agency, whether the team is “rebuilding,” giving a max contract extension to Damian Lillard, the performance of Neil Olshey, the Seahawks and being excited for the upcoming NBA season.

Do you feel a little betrayed by LaMarcus Aldridge’s exodus to San Antonio?

Paul Allen: “No. I think LaMarcus had a lot of options. We went down to Dallas, Neil (Olshey) and I pitched him and he chose to go a different direction. We made it to his last few choices and he was good enough to call me up and explain his decision and all that. It’s tough for a franchise, because we were all thinking that we had a real shot at getting him back. But in the end, he chose to go a different direction and now it’s a new day. We’ve moved on and I think you can feel the excitement and the energy in the gym now.”

How hard was it to swallow going through another roster rebuild?

Paul Allen: “It’s always a transition. I’m always trying to figure out how many times we’ve done a rebuild here. I think three. But you guys will probably correct me on that, I’m sure. I probably, more than a lot of owners, enjoy seeing young players develop. Always have. Always will. And that’s also been a hallmark of other teams like the Seahawks that I’ve been involved with. So seeing young players develop and I think if you watch some of the players that Neil has brought in here, we’ve been very lucky to be able to bring those in and be able to pivot from being a playoff team to being a team that’s going through a transition to hopefully being back in the playoffs before too long. So we’ll see.”

Fair to call this a rebuild?

Paul Allen: “Rebuild. Retool. We’re bringing, I think, six players back from last year’s playoff roster, so that’s a big transition. That’s nine new players. So, yeah, it’s definitely a transition. But once you embrace that and see what these new players do — and I hope you get a sense of that as the games start here Monday — that’s exciting. And it’s going to be an exciting season for the fans.”

What is it about Damian Lillard that gave you the confidence to make him the richest player in franchise history?

Paul Allen: “Well Dame is both and extraordinarily talented player and a quality individual. So when you make those big financial commitments, you need to have both those aspects there. I think if you see the work he’s done in the community and so forth, he’s just a completely well-rounded player and he’s still got room to grow in all aspects. So it’s great to see him as the new team leaders and embracing that role. He did bring all the players together in the offseason, which is fantastic.”

What’s your preferred timeline for this rebuild, retool, whatever you want to call it? When do you expect to compete for the playoffs again?

Paul Allen: “We’re going to try to compete right away. But it’s a matter of, if you look at the ages of some of these players, some of them are between 19-22 years old. So we’ve got a lot of youth and to see how that youth matures, everything is dependent on how fast they come along, combined with players like CJ and Meyers, who have shown that can do it at a high level in the playoffs last year. So I’m excited. Are you guys excited?”

Where’s your confidence level with Neil Olshey?

Paul Allen: “Great. Neil and I work hand in hand. We recruited LA. We talked to other players. We got through strategy frequently in the offseason. Now it’s exciting to start to see some basketball again. The offseason seems longer and longer, I guess, as the years go by. So I’m excited to get back into it.”

How about your team up north? How excited, what are you feeling about what the Seahawks can be this year?

Paul Allen: “Well, I think any time you come one yard short from winning a second Super Bowl in a row, that’s a challenge to get back at it the next year. And we have, we are, we’ve gone through a number of contract extensions and other things. So I think you’re going to see the team improve over the next few games. But look, it’s a very, very competitive league, each game is a war. It’s a little different in the NBA. We’ve got so many games and you can see things change dramatically over the course of a season. We’ll see how things go.”

It’s a different sport, but does the Seahawks situation with building around young players, does that give you confidence that you guys can win here soon with younger players?

Paul Allen: “Well, if you remember when we drafted Brandon Roy and LaMarcus — I think at the time you could probably find my quotes from back then —I was really excited drafting new players. I think some of the players Neil has been able to find basically that other teams weren’t interested in or undrafted free agents, there’s some talent out there. I think the more the fans and even the media see what they can do, you’re going to be more excited about the potential of this team in the future.”

Do you worry about the fans not being as excited about this reboot as you are?

Paul Allen: “No. I think one thing about Portland fans (they) have consistently demonstrated over the years is that if they’re players that have talent, show they care, try to play together, the fans will embrace them. So I’m not worried about that at all.”

How confident are you that the NBA will avoid another work stoppage when that time comes?

Paul Allen: “That is so hard to predict and I’m sure if I did predict it, I’d get fined. So I’m not going to try to predict. Clearly the league and the players are doing very well financially with these new contracts. So there are ongoing discussions but I can’t comment any further than that.”

Do you feel like you guys settled at all this offseason or got what you were looking for with the new talent on this team?

Paul Allen: “Again, I just compliment Neil on finding the guys he found. I think the interesting thing is with all the… a lot of these guys haven’t experienced the kind of playing time they’re going to get this year. So to see how they take advantage of that and embrace it and improve, that’s an exciting prospect, I think, for all of us.”

Water on Mars?

Paul Allen: “I think it’s super interesting.”


Casey Holdahl Beat Writer
Portland Trail Blazers

http://forwardcenter.net/paul-allen-on-aldridge-leaving-and-being-excited-for-the-season/

 

Hater, not haters.