I could take 20 minutes and make a list, but it wouldn't change anyone's mind. Many have made up their minds about Neil. Reason won't change that. But, let me say this. If ANYONE wants a REAL discussion, make a list of all of the moves done by all of the GMs, let's judge them and rank them. I certainly don't want to spend a bunch of time defending Neil, but it's easier for the detractors to just spill vitriol.
Neil has been good and bad....but his bad seems to have outweighed the good by a significant margin. Also, his unwillingness to remove Stotts much earlier or to keep going with the Dame/CJ tandem that is quite good offensively but very poor defensively has wasted many years stuck in mostly mediocrity.
They wanted LaMarcus gone and they traded and got value for Kawhi... these are things they've done well that Neil has blown.
I think the good has outweighed the bad, but I respect your opinion (and I've known it for a very long time ) The Dame/CJ defense thing is a red herring. The problem is, and has been, overall talent in our bigs. If we had Giannis, everyone here would be talking about how great CJ is. Neil definitely hung on to Stotts too long, but the model, which basically everyone on s2 agreed, was the Spurs franchise - stability, stability, stability.
I mean.... LMA was washed up. So I don't think that matters They definitely bungled the Kawhi trade. I thought that was a bad return. They should have blown it up. I agree. They need to completely start over. There's nothing on that team worth building around.
Bullshit. They didn't want LMA gone. The "value" they got for Kawhi has not earned them hca in the 1st round.
Well, I mean this is a Blazer forum.... I don't pay attention to other teams so I couldn't tell you what they have done well or badly. Serve it up. What is your list of positives?
You can look team's moves up including executives they've hired and fired year by year on RealGM if you want to but the fact remains that losing LaMarcus without anything and following it up with a spending spree on all misses, should have gotten Neil fired. I don't think his draft history or trades that he's won or lost would put his job in danger. Sticking with the same core for this long with no real growth is also a text book reason to fire a GM. Hell, saying that Terry has held the team back after firing him should get Neil fired because he held onto Stotts for nine fucking years. You can try and spin it anyway you want but Neil has not been ambitious enough with trades at the foundational level of the roster and has tried to skate by with cosmetic changes instead while openly admitting that he cannot sign a meaningful free agent in this market. Why should he stay? What has he done for us? What are his accomplishments? Remember the team had settled on Dame before Olshey arrived (three weeks before the draft). So what has he done for us besides ride Dame's coattails and not put the right pieces around the best player in franchise history.
Just my take Though it's all over the place in articles that Jody wants Hammon and Neil wants Billups.
They paid LaMarcus to leave. They got a four time all star and one of the best three and D guys in the game for Kawhi... that's a hell of a lot more than the nothing we got for LaMarcus when we wanted him to stay. Get your shit together. https://bleacherreport.com/articles...purs-reportedly-proceeding-to-contract-buyout
Besides the fact that he sits on his ass and every damn day Dame works his ass off to win this franchise a title and through Dame's sheer determination he gets better and that's the only thing that keeps us in the playoffs.
If Neil and Lillard want Billups and Jody wants Hammon then who the hell wants D'Antoni? Personally I think Lillard wants someone with proven experience and that's why D'Antoni is still considered a finalist. Name one player that hasn't liked playing in D'Antoni system?
I respect your opinion as well. The ironic thing is, Olshey could have had Giannis instead of CJ. A very close friedn of mine who very closely follows the Draft each year identified Giannis well before the Draft and had him in his Top 3. If he (an engineer) could figure that out, (as he has also done very well in Drafts for over 15 years), then why did Neil miss....and has continued to so badly in the Draft almost every year. (When he hasn't traded the picks away)
