OFFICIAL AROUND THE NBA THREAD -May 2021

That's not an argument for Olshey's draft prowess. Dame was already the team's pick when Olshey was brought on board. I guess in theory, you could give Olshey credit for not telling everyone to go fuck themselves in the two weeks he had the job leading up to the draft but he doesn't get credit for Dame.

 

Check out the 2013 draft, too. Olshey has hit massively on two lottery picks and missed on two others, and his highest pick was at #6.

How dare he miss on Giannis!!

 

He gets credit for drafting Damian Lillard because he was the GM. He had been scouting him all season. People who bring this up as a reason to not give Olshey credit is silly. He absolutely knows how to draft guards. His big man record? Not particularly good however. And, I'm saying this as an Olshey fan. He's generally been very good in the draft. I really think Elleby is going to be very good for us.

 

Simons and Little look to be NBA rotation players as they develop after being later first round picks, too. He also drafted Will Barton, Jake Layman, and Gary Trent Jr. in the second round. All NBA rotation players.

I’m not sure what more Olshey can do other than having a Durant or LeBron sign as a free agent, which will never happen for Portland. 6’2” PGs don’t have a long history of being the best player on title teams. Isiah Thomas comes to mind but that was more the Basketbrawl/Bad Boys they played than Zeke’s skills.

 

I liked the idea of Nogueira, Giannis or Gobert at the time. I thought there were a lot of really long players in that draft and thought that would have filled a bigger need for us at the time. I thought then and still do think that CJ is just a far more limited version of Dame and the pick was a head scratcher. Olshey sold me on the idea that we were competing for a title and so he took the most NBA ready player to help contribute right away. If I would have known he would cling to CJ like he was the second coming of Michael Jordan and see him as a championship team cornerstone... I would have hated the pick.

 

You can say he'd been scouting Dame all you want but the guys who had Dame in for two workouts before Olshey was hired here deserve the credit and some of them are still on the staff. Olshey has drafted guards much better than bigs, I'm not arguing with that. The draft isn't why Olshey should be fired.

 

Dude. It goes without saying the scouts deserve credit. Obviously. That's every situation with every team. The scouts contribute immensely. Olshey even gave credit to the scouts as Elleby being their idea. That's fine. It's always a team effort.

 

They may play to win but I guarantee you they won’t play their stars those last couple games. Even when we had shot at #3 and out of GS’ bracket in 2019, we rested our guys on last night of season. We won but we rested Dame, CJ, Turner, Enes etc.

 

I agree about Elleby. If Powell signs elsewhere, Elleby will be ready.

 

Lillard should have been the #2 pick and maybe even #1, considering how Anthony Davis is soft, gets injured a lot, and whined his way into playing with one of the Top 2 players of all time after he quit on the Pelicans.

 

Miami let THJ hit 10 threes tonight.

 

So if we win tomorrow, we want Dallas OR Lakers to lose on Thursday. If they both lose, we stay at 7th. Which is stupid.

 

Kings are low key entering play-in race.

 

I was at that game with work tickets in the 5th row. Simons went off that night and I’ve been pulling for him since.

 

The Olshey who chose Stotts and has stuck by him through thick and thin - that Olshey?

 

There's a flip side to that factor: It's yet to be seen how some of the bubble breakout stars like Murray, Mitchell, and Trent to a lesser extent, will fare with the pressure of regular crowds. These no-fan settings have been compared to summer scrimmages in that respect, and some people play much better with "no one" watching.

It would be crazy to attempt to work the seedings in your favor, by who on your roster will play better in a state with heavier crowd restrictions. But, random luck could play a role there.

 

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

Is CJ really a massive hit? He's a good player, don't get me wrong, but he was a top 10 draft pick. He's a one way, under sized, combo guard who has never been an All-Star, but is paid like one.

 

I was there too. 37 points 9 assists. Maybe the most fun game of the regular season. Came back from 28 down.

 

Considering CJ is better than the 9 players picked in front of him, I'd say yes. A massive hit. If this draft was redone, CJ would be the #2 pick in the draft. Neil got him at 10.