I want someone to tell me what moves they would have done differently this summer. We had cap space. It was use it or lose it. Nobody would sign with us. Whiteside returned to Miami. Chandler Parsons spurned us for Memphis. Who was Neil supposed to go out and get? People are so concerned about how much we spent. The money was gone. One way or another. Dame's new contract kicked in. CJ's new contract was coming up. So it was either re-sign Crabbe/Harkless/Leonard or let them walk for nothing. It was either sign Turner or lose our money. Unless there's another free agent out there that wanted to come here. Was there?
I'm still bitter about the Whiteside. Did we ever actually try to sign him? Cause his comments make it seem like we didn't.
Yes, Olshey made Whiteside his first target in free agency. Did it ever get to a written offer? Maybe not if Whiteside told them he was signing with the Heat, but Whiteside made it clear that he was ready to come here if it hadn't worked out with Miami. http://www.blazersedge.com/2016/12/...eside-free-agency-trail-blazers-second-option
Yeah, even when the trade was just a rumor I was not enthralled with the idea of getting Afflalo. The rumor also had Chandler as a possibility, whom I also wasn't excited about but would have preferred. Not sure whether it was us or DEN that made the Afflalo call, but it was not the right call for us, IMO. We had several SGs, but I believe we only had Nic and Dorrel (?) at SF...so basically just Nic.
If you sat down with Olshey over a beer, I'd bet he'd tell you that the roster we have today is not the roster he sees the Blazers having when they get to the point of contending. What we have now is a collection of young guys with signed contracts that can be used in making the trades that are going to be needed to get the team to the point of contention.
Precisely. I do fault Neil for past FA targets, but I can't really fault him with what he did this summer. The money was gone, and it's better to have Crabbe/Meyers than to not have them and also not have money to play with. Crabbe/Meyers will be trade assets - maybe not this season, but at some point. And Harkless is an amazing asset - very valuable to us both as a contributor and as a bargain contract for a starting SF helping to offset the money being used on Dame/CJ/Crabbe/Turner.
This is the biggest point of contention on this forum and therefore, I'd guess, amounts to the split between people who think Olshey is doing a good job and those who think he's not. Those who think he's doing a good job believe that the players on the roster (outside of Lillard, McCollum and Harkless) are good trade assets. Those who don't think he's doing a good job think players like Turner, Crabbe and Leonard are negative trade value based on their contracts. So it'll be interesting to see whether Olshey really can parlay "the young guys with signed contracts," that people are split on, into players that will drive the next contention cycle.
The success of the team last year threw everything out of whack. The Batum trade, the signings, letting Wes/Rolo walk.... it was all with an eye to the future. I imagine if Olshey had known we would be that good last year, he wouldn't have traded Batum.
I agree. January 15th is when Olshey gets the chance to prove his worth or take a step towards the John Nash hall of infamy in the annals of Blazers GMs.
Agreed, and probably would have tried to re-sign Rolo. If you pencil those guys into the roster and bring Harkless and Plumlee off the bench, this team would be a threat.
I forgot to mention the photos I was able to dig up on him from his soap opera days. I think he'll be compliant.
Nobody is perfect, everyone has at least a couple of skeletons in their closet. Olshey should have hired top investigators and then blackmail Durant and Whiteside into signing with the Blazers.
I don't even think we're saying they are good trade assets, just that they are trade assets. Better to have assets - even ones with limited value - than no assets at all. Regardless of what you think about Crabbe, Turner, Meyers, they are all tradeable. We might not get a good player back in return, but maybe a different player will work better. We at least have the ability to shuffle different mediocre players through the roster to see if any of them stick. Beyond the "overpaid" Crabbe/Turner/Meyers, we have the "value" contracts of Aminu/Davis/Plumlee, the "expiring" contract of Ezeli, and then the toss-ins like Vonleh/Napier/Layman/Quarterman. And the winning lotto ticket CJ! It's that wide range of assets that gives us flexibility. Without Crabbe/Turner/Meyers we'd have less flexibility. But that doesn't mean I/we think Crabbe/Meyers/Turner are necessarily GOOD trade assets.
There's pretty wide disagreement about that, though. Quite a few of us think they have negative trade value--that is, they weaken the trade package, not strengthen it. You can get away with overpaid stars--teams will pay a premium for players who can do things few other players can do, even if it's technically an overpay. Very few teams are interested in overpaid mediocrities (or worse than mediocre, in the case of Leonard). You don't have to take on a salary albatross to get a Crabbe or a Turner, generally. There are players who are similar or better with far lower salary hits.
either way you look at it these 'assets' have massively reduced in value. scarce options > panic > overpaying weak talent > regression of signings > ridic contract > albatross contract > stuck with meyers.
