https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...-search-shape-future-franchise-damian-lillard Holy shit the news dumps we're getting today. Anyone have insider? I assume the information here is fed directly from OLSHEY:
lol. i think this gets resolved pretty quickly. it's just hilarious how EVERYONE knows Olshey is the leak to Woj.
I wonder who Blazer fans will side with on this one....Neil Olshey, or Damian Lillard. I don't give two shits what hamstringing it does to the franchise, you pay the man. The ownership group is worth like 30 billion. Pay the lux tax, or risk alienating the only player worth his weight in gold on the team (and arguably the best player to ever play for the Blazers) and souring the fanbase to the point where the attendance #'s pre 06 look good.
and the new TV deal will inevitably drive the cap up. I think the shock value of 50 mil is the only holdup, but as a percentage of the new cap, it's going to be about what he's earning now. But painting his deal as what's hamstringing this team is a hilarious take.
It's just one month so whatever. This is the most interesting piece of information if true: The rest is mostly spin from Olshey's perspective, but I'd wager there is a hint of truth there. Or at least what Olshey perceived to be a threat.
Also, I think what you can get out of this is that Olshey lost a power struggle with Lillard. I think it's pretty clear Olshey didn't want to give Lillard his 2 year supermax extension, and that was a straining point between the two's relationship. For now Lillard has won.
Like that's your tactic to get back at the franchise? Go after Dame? Air out dirty laundry about Jody/Bert, talk about how meddlesome PA was, or run that bus all over Terry once more, maybe people will buy it, but to paint Dame as a villain is absolutely hilarious. Dude could be mayor of Portland tomorrow if he wanted to with his Q rating. He's bulletproof. It's just funny-- I think this galvanizes the franchise even more.
Olshey is a schmoozer, he's not gonna go after the big wigs signing the checks. Thats how he got into the league, how he kept his job for so long, and how he will probably end up with another one. He's shown his true colors now to everyone though. A real piece of shit.