I wonder what is going through Paul Allen's mind about the state of the team right now. Is he wondering how he got duped into spending a massive amount of money on a mediocre team? He once stated that those days of over-spending were over, and that he'd only go into the luxury tax to contend for a title. So did Neil Olshey convince him that this squad was ready to contend? Portland went from lowest to 3rd highest this year and only added Evan Turner (for Henderson, which has not been an upgrade). Next year, as of now they are slated to have the highest payroll and be about 17 million into the luxury tax. (so that'll come out to 35-40 million in extra luxury tax payments. So Mr. Allen is plopping down a lot of money for a team that doesn't even look like it will make the playoffs (and if it did would simply be a toy in the 1st round for the warriors to smash). How will being in the luxury tax affect are ability to retain players? Now for example, if we want to resign Plumlee to a 10 million dollar contract, that will actually cost Paul Allen 45 million per year because it would be it the $3.75 tax bracket. I just think that they have made a mess out of this roster. Their over-paid pieces are untradeable and we're going to be in this luxury tax crunch for a long time.
I'd say PA very likely has or is getting a serious case of "buyers remorse". It's a guess but I think its a good one; that PA got very emotionally involved with this team during and then after the playoff series with GS when he made that speech. Emotional decisions are often not good ones and I think that is "part" of what happened this summer - either PA insisted on bringing some of the guys back even if overpaid or was easy to persuade by Neil. In any case we are now left with this mess of a roster and the difficulty in changing it.
My bet is that because we struck out on big name free agents - Dwight and Parsons - Olshey and Allen ran with Plan B: Re-sign your assets, looking to package them in a a trade down the road. Clearly, that's the only way this team can get better (along with the draft.) I think they knew this was an unbalanced, overpaid roster.
I'm HOPING that once Neil couldn't even get a meeting with a 1st tier choice and then after chasing (what was he thinking) Parsons, he went with the 'retain assets' approach. In years past, for one reason or another, Portland has lost Roy, Oden, Aldridge, Afflalo, Henderson, Matthews and Lopez.....ALL FOR NOTHING! At least this way, you have a shot of making a trade because you have an asset to move. Whether or not we think he overpaid for most of those, there is at least a chance to make moves in 3 weeks. Now what he does with that will go a long way in determining the direction of this franchise because as is, there is just very little hope.
Of course they were, which is why I put in, "for one reason or another." Regardless, it is a TON of pieces that they have received nothing in return for. It just makes the ones who were healthy that left with no compensation that much more of a hit to the franchise.
I don't think losing a player for nothing is quite the catastrophe some on this board make it out to be. No player comes with a permanent contract, and when their contract is up you have to decide what they are worth. Good teams in all sports let mediocre players go when another team offers a ridiculous deal. Now it would be nice to cash out on a star early, but you have to foresee their career ending injury, or the fact that they will bolt to another team. So what do you do, continually trade players before their contract is up to avoid the decision of whether or not to resign?
Losing "a player" is part of doing business. Losing the mass amount of players that Portland has lost that were starters is quite another thing. And they knew, or really should have had a good idea that Aldridge was leaving. I was posting threads 2 years before he left, with a heads up from extremely credible sources that he would very likely leave. Of course no one has a crystal ball but there were certainly significant signs with LA.
My hope is that Olshey didn't get caught in the trap of meeting fan expectations: being worried about a backlash if, after what seemed to be the breakout season of an up-and-coming contender, he let players like Crabbe and Meyers depart. Fan reaction would have been outraged, especially with no premium free agent coming in. But I don't want the GM of my team making decisions based on what will short-term please or outrage the fans. Most likely, though, he also thought this was a talented and rising roster that just needed to be kept together and supplemented. So now the team has a roster that, as a whole, is a bit of an albatross--hugely expensive, not very good. None of this looks great for Olshey.
Minstrel, I don't think many fans would have been outraged if he had let Crabbe or Leonard go. Only a very small minority thought those were good moves.
All I know is that it's looking more and more like we should of kept Lopez and Batum. Both would of contributed greatly to these defensive issues, especially Lopez.
There is no controversy over whether Olshey knew in advance that Aldridge was leaving. That's why he fired Kim Hughes--for disclosing that secret. That was the plan, and still is. I won't judge Olshey till the Midseason Trade Deadline. However, his awful history in not having the skill to use that Deadline has me pessimistic as to what the results will be, after his pitiful attempt. I also used to be critical of Pritchard's feeble attempts at the Deadline, after being spoiled by Bob Whitsitt's annual Midseason harvest. This time I expect a desperate trade, a major one for once in Olshey's history, but an underwhelming one showing little GM talent.
