Yeah, it's funny the guy didn't mention that we received a decent prospect in Skal for Swanigan that has more upside. No GM is perfect and they all have had their hits and misses and I see Olshey as one who has done a good job of keeping the Blazers relevant while continually modifying the roster.
maybe I'm recalling things wrong but I think it's a little more complex then that story lays out the Blazers were well under the salary floor at the time of the trade. Only about 35-40% of Varejao's salary was still due but Portland got 'credit' for the full salary. And since they were under the floor, that actually saved them somewhere around 5-6M that season. That savings needs to be stacked up against the salary and tax from the 2nd year of Varejao's contract the Blazers were holding. so then, that 2nd year was about 9.6M (1.913M/year for 5 years). So if Portland saved 6M from the salary floor benefit, then they paid 3.6M for the draft pick in salary. The rest of the cost would be tax. If you just pro-rate the 1.9M against the tax last season and this season, then that's still probably less than 4M the Blazers will end up paying for that pick. That may be a little high, but not really excessive. On the other hand, if you apply dead salary against the tax first, which may be better accounting (or may not), then that pick gets considerably more expensive...maybe in the 8M range. Even then it's not the terrible mistake the writer makes it out to be. Taking Swanigan wasn't smart but that area of the draft craps out at a pretty high level
The Blazers are struggling big-time right now. They'd have to go 5-0 to even meet @THE HCP 's meager 20-game predictions. That said, I still believe their problems are tied to acclimation, coupled with injuries. I strongly believe in Stotts, and his ability to figure things out in late-December and January.
He has and even now we are in a decent position to make a trade or two. There were many in here before last season started that would rather blow it up and Im glad we didn't. I actually am encouraged by also having some young guns that look like they could be lethal in a couple years or sooner. Ant, ZMan, Little
