Olshey on Courtside: Feels he is bringing more of a "macro" vision to the management/draft process right now as with LAC he only had the #53. Olshey feels there are a lot of "starters" in this draft, maybe not a lot of superstars, but a good amount of NBA starters. Olshey has started to work the phones and generate "deal-flow". Received and made calls looking at other team's hot-button issue they may want to address. Definitely feels BPA is the best way to go. POR is in an "acquisition phase" where we are trying to acquire talent to potentially trade down the road for a superstar. Olshey's main focus with workouts is constructing them in a way in which your concerns with the player and their weaknesses are either addressed or shown further. Believes in using workouts to get something out of workouts that you can't or didn't get out of live-scouting, background searches, etc. You've got to keep things in perspective. Buzz Word for the Blazers is: Compete. Who can compete when fighting for a job. Chicago was a chance to get a feel and idea of whether teams want to rebuild, etc. Olshey used this and brought it back to his management team and they will use this intel to start making calls etc. Olshey has talked to LA and Aldridge is coming back to PDX next week. Wants to get LA involved and see where he thinks the roster should go and what worked with him before, etc. Batum is doing everything with the National team except contact and will not do so until contract is figured out. Coaching is not on the priority list right now. Says that coaches that are avaliable right now will continue to be avaliable. (Definitely agree with this point as I see CHA as the only team to potentially have a HC in place by the draft.) When conducting a coaching search, having a team direction in place is extremely important and with our roster currently in flux, it really does not make sense to look for a HC before the draft. Setting a culture, goals, parameters, etc are the priorities before looking for a coach.
So far Olshey seems to be saying all the right things. Hopefully he can translate the talk into actions.
We had a guy like Sloan. His name was Nate McMillan. I liked Nate, but a slow it down, half-court offense guy is not what we need again.
I will be curious to see who they take in this draft b\c Olshey seems to be big on BPA (I agree) and not filling positions (PG\C). He has mentioned several times he likes guys who compete, guys with fire and that killer instinct. I also read that he likes players that were big time HS recruits and he has stated that they need to acquire talent, which I whole heartedly agree with. I just cannot fathom, based on those parameters that he would select guys like Lillard & Leonard....Obviously, whomever he picks deserves the benefit of the doubt and he has shown a good eye for talent.... I can't imagine that Allen wouldn't give Olshey the authority to pick the players he wants and not Buchanan whom I think is a horrible judge of talent....When I see names like Leonard\Lillard associated with POR I definitely think of Buchanan...he is a measureables\needs kind of guy....
I didn't think the Felton comment was a joke - I just thought it was the kind of supernoncommital remark that management might make. They can't say he's untouchable but they also can't say trade his ass so they say we won't be opposed to keeping him... So you only half got me! I thought it was serious but wasn't ready to get out the torches and pitchforks.
So trying to read between the lines: -making a trade for a Rondo type player isn't going to happen this summer (we don't have the assets) -Deron is FA, but there was little talk of trying to aquire a superstar now. Blazers are in an aquisition stage to trade for superstar . . . going after Deron doesn't really fit that philosophy -Nash doesn't fit the philosophy as Olshey has said he doesn't wnat a short time fix and wants to accumulate talent for a big trade -Blazers likely to keep picks if Olshey is gearing up for a superstar trade. Most teams rebuilding and giving up a superstar will be looking for cheap young talent to build around. Find the diamonds in the draft and you have the basis for a superstar trade -here is to hoping we re-live a 2006 draft all over again . . .
I think the difference being Nate's half court offense was all isolations, very little pick and roll, and no ball movement to speak of. Sloan is a half court guy who excels in the areas we've been weak in under Nate. The ball never stops moving in his offense, and it's a beautiful thing to watch. The only reason to play fast break basketball is to beat the other guy down court to score easy baskets. If you can run an efficient offense with great ball screens and player movement which lead to open shots than the need to get 20 points a night via the break isn't as important. Sloan would be a terrific hire, but he'll need a point guard like Steve Nash to be effective, because the rest of the roster is not built In the mold he'd prefer. A Sloan offense with Nash and Aldridge running the pick and roll would be potent.
I read it a bit differently Asset acquisition to me means acquiring as many or the best assets you can. If they feel Rondo is the best, then I think they will try and do that Again, if Deron is what they view as the best asset, they will go get him I would also be shocked if Nash were a Blazer
I never got that the assets were to trade specifically. But if the draft picks pan out great, if not you have assets to use in a deal.
Ya. It's why some of us were so frustrated taking Euros in the first. Most coaches and GM's are arrogant enough to believe they can make this highly touted prospect into what they were supposed to be. To a lot of you, Bayless didn't pan out here, and Cho got a first for him
This one I disagree with. We have a rich owner and cap space. Hell yeah we should be after a superstar who can come in and help the team for the next so many years.
Felton is a free agent so to keep him means we wouldn't try to bring in Dragic, Deron, Nash, Mayo. That would be a horrendous decision. Now management might try to take the high road and say some nice things about Felton but if they actually thought about using our cap room to bring him back.... ughhh that would be John Nash terrible.
If we can flip our draft picks into a potential all-star veteran then I agree we should make a run at Deron. But if we don't have those veterans on the roster I think we'd have almost no shot of luring stars like him here.
I don't think the Blazers are keeping Felton, they just realize that there's no reason to publicly diss him.
To clarify, not saying we shouldn't make a run at Deron, just that it didn't seem like Olshey was even suggesting that was a path the Blazers were going to take. If he has said you get a superstar by trading talent or aquiring as a free agent, I would have read that as they are thinking of trying to get a superstar this summer (since this summer we will have superstar free agent money). Maybe Olshey knows we have no chance for Deron (only superstar FA this summer) . . . . or maybe I'm way over reading into his comments. . . . just trying to pull some substance out of the PR machine.
