Over the past week Neil Olshey has been getting a ton of heat for his moves or lack thereof and I for one am frustrated with it. I claim that he's been the best GM the Blazers have had since Whittsit. Hired June 4th 2012 to lead a 28-win team (lockout season) 2012 Draft (A+ draft) Damian Lillard Meyers Leonard Will Barton 2012 Free Agency (B) Victor Claver Joel Freeland Ronnie Price Terry Stotts Traded Raymond Felton for, in essence a 2016 second round pick (A+) 2012-13 season Traded Printezis for Eric Maynor (B+) Finished season 33-49 2013 Draft (B+) CJ McCollum Jeff Withey Allen Crabbe 2013 Free Agency (A-) Dorrell Wright Earl Watson Mo Williams Traded Jeff Withey for Robin Lopez (A) Traded Papnikolau for Thomas Robinson (A) Finished season 54-28 2014-15 season Traded Will Barton, Victor Claver, Thomas Robinson and 1st for Afflalo and Gee (At the time, an B+ trade) Finished season 51-31 The argument that he should have traded LMA in the last two years doesn't have a lot of validity for me. At the end of the 13' season, the Blazers had won 33 games, of course LMA wanted out. But NO thought he could turn that 33 win team into something special, AND HE DID, adding a whopping 21 games to the win column. He thought he could carry that over into 2015, and nearly did until the teams third best player went out with injury. On top of that, two more wing players went down before playoffs (wright/afflalo), so not really his fault. Every single one of his moves were good, if not great. His drafts have been great, his signings have been spot on, and his trades have been just as good. I cannot believe we're actually wanting his head in this forum. Relax, and take a look at the big picture.
I agree. This team was managed very well imho. It is sad that the Dame/Wes/Nico/LMA/Rolo core is no more - but the team seems to be in good hands.
I think he's a really good GM as well, but either he or Paul (or both) really fucked up by not trading Aldridge.
With the departure of Nic, Wes and LMA, every single player on our roster is now an Olshey acquisition. It'll be interesting to see what his vision for this team materializes as once he puts it all together.
I disagree with the fucked up not trading bit. It was a risk, and the worst thing that could happen, happened - the plan to contend with a team built around LMA worked very well for 1.5 years and at the worst possible time - Wes went down, Nico broke down and the team disintegrated.
But the worst thing that could happen was something that seemed pretty obvious to some people, and it was completely plausible as an outcome. If your worst case scenario is not only plausible, but some people even think it's likely..... well..... you might want to take some steps to protect yourself.
To be honest, I'm not entirely sold he comes back even if Wes stays healthy. He really, really wanted to go to Texas & really, really disliked Portland, it appears. ^ The caveat to that statement, a healthy Blazers team, was not winning the championship. They don't even get out of the second round vs. the Warriors, once again. That said - to the OP - you cannot exclude this disaster. As Nate says, it was possible and some even thought likely, that he would not return and it was even further proven when LMA refused to accept as extension. In this league, you cannot lose star players for NOTHING. Absolutely cannot. This isn't a DeAndre Jordan situation either...there were little signs he wanted out of LAC. There were numerous, including trade requests, that LMA wanted out. While he has been the best GM we've had in a while, he does have a glaring asterisk saying (LOST ALL NBA PLAYER THAT REQUESTED TRADE, REFUSED EXTENSION, TOLD JASON QUICK HE HATES PORTLAND FOR NOTHING). That's a pretty big fuck up.
Olshey has done an admirable job, this team as it is is a nice team. DLill, CJ. Aminu, Vonleh, Plumlee is the team I'd start, then have hopefully another PG, Crabbe, Gee, Meyers and Davis as the 2nd unit. Henderson and the rookie can sub in for either Crabbe or Gee and Gee can also play the 4. Kaman would be the older veteran. If we keep Gee and Frazier and bring another PG we'd have one more player to bring, maybe from SL.
It almost seems like he went out of his way to completely fuck the team that drafted him by giving them false hope and keeping them on the hook long enough to prevent them from trading him.
Trade requests aren't hindsight. Nor is his refusal to sign an extension. Nor are the numerous articles about him not wanting to be a second or third fiddle. Or how he hated Portland and pretty much everything about it. The rumors of him disliking Damian (in addition to the article of him not liking Brandon Roy because - he wasn't invited to dinner ---once?)
Because Olshey had a relationship with LA. One in which there was an understanding, make the team a contender and he'll stay. I applaud Neil for betting on himself.
That is how it appears, but he also requested a trade at one point for a reason. hell, in 2013, didn't damn near everyone think he was going to the bulls?
Betting on himself, imo, would've been saying "fuck you LMA, we don't need you. We'll get the best offer possible for you. Have fun." then building a contender 2 years later and telling LMA, look at what we did. He bet on LMA staying - which was silly.
It wouldn't have been silly if we would have finished top 3 and got out of the first round, with a TON of cap space this summer. We'd be on the brink of championship contention.
Yea he use to sweat the Bulls at one time.. You would think for someone so damn sensitive he would hold a grudge against the team that said hes not good enough and traded him on draft day
Pat Riley lost LeBron for absolutely nothing. The Great Pat Riley. Besides, even if the Blazers did try to trade Aldridge, you can then only trade Aldridge to a team that he approves of (no team will trade for a star without and extension in place) and in those scenarios you usually end up with shit that doesn't make a difference anyways. The Portland Soccer Moms are just out in full force right now and want blood.
