Should Neil be on the hot seat?

If LA bolts and there is no s&t?

Last summer LaMarcus demanded a trade, Chicago being his #1 option, but Neil talked him off the ledge. He took a giant risk with LA heading into unrestricted free agency.

More teams would've jumped into that race, a nice package could've been had.

 

No, he should be on the hotseat for not drafting Rudy Gobert. Any Aldridge trade would have been unlikely to bring back his worth (I don't think we got the offer from Cleveland that Minny got for Love).

But I do wonder now about the Batum trade. Why trade him for peanuts when he could've looked better in an expanded role after Aldridge leaves? If you're determined to trade him, don't do it immediately after his worst season.

 

When was this? Link?

I seriously don't remember him demanding a trade LAST season.

 

You're right - the shit hit the fan in the summer of 2013.

In regards to canceling various endorsements:

“This is why I hate being in Portland,’’ he told me. “You can’t do anything.’’

Quick did dig around and found that out. I'd be annoyed, too.

Neil had plenty of time.

 

Do you remember any big name FA’s going to small market teams? It may happen every once in a while but it is the exception by far. Teams like Milwaukee, Utah, Charlotte, Indiana, Denver, Minnesota, Sacramento….they need to draft well and make smart trades because the big names aren’t coming there. Outside of a player going home (Cleveland) or joining a perennial contender (SA) even smaller FA’s don’t go to these small markets. You wonder if LA comes back, do they sign a friend? Wes? Gee? Sergio?

So Neil has his work cut out for himself. Either through connections, Jedi-like mind tricks, or more likely shrewd trades that don’r require player consent. He made a max offer to LA last year and LaMarcus turned him down, then put a team around him that was withing a game of the #2 spot in the was with a couple months to go. You have to hope as a GM that is enough to get a player to stay. Otherwise, it is bad to getting quality talent on inexpensive contracts and hoping you can develop them. Maybe Stotts will finally play young guys if that is all he has.

In terms of trades or the Draft, of course Gobert would have been a good get (as D69 told us all) but a ton of teams passed on him. Trading him to Chicago? The Bulls had no interest in giving up Noah or Mirotic...it was a collection of Gibson and crap. Now the #1 pick that Cleveland was offering for a PF that was either Love or Aldridge? That I would have looked at big time.

 

I am not ready to put him on the hot seat. I think continuity is important for his position. They all make mistakes in the draft. The key is learning from your mistakes. But if you keep bringing someone new in, then we are always starting over and never moving forward.

I think he is a decent face of the franchise. If you think we have problems with free agents now, keep firing your GM. FA's want to see continuity as well.

 

Why would he be on the hot seat?

If LA leaves, it sounds like he lied about it to the organization. I don't think anyone can fault Olshey for that. I still think if Wes doesn't rupture his Achilles, we're at least in the second round of the playoffs again. Again, can't fault Neil for that. In fact, if there was one guy you could count on to be on the court....

Neil has started this offseason off with two very shrewd, solid deals. Moving on from LA or retooling, Olshey has gotten the process off on a positive note.

 

This.

 

I don't think that he remotely should be in the hot seat. He's really made some really good moves to position this team. Frankly if a player decides he wants to leave via free agency there's not a lot a GM can do about it. Now if Aldridge does want to go to San Antonio, let's see what kind of a S&T can be made... Spurs don't have much to offer.

 

Yes, there is a scenario where he should be in the hot seat.

Neil has been building towards this summer for the past three years. He didn't extend our players. He cleared cap space. It's not a coincidence that almost our entire team could be leaving before next season. So Neil, in essence, has a virtually blank canvas right now. He can do almost whatever he wants with the roster.

If Aldridge doesn't return, that's fine. I personally have felt that LA leaving was a strong possibility for years. But if he doesn't find ways of keeping the team competitive and build a strong foundation, that's completely on him. I don't think Paul is going to be happy if we don't make the playoffs next year. I can't imagine he wants to go through another rebuild.

 

You should apply for a job with the Oregonian.

 

Being a GM is a constant hot seat, by nature.

 

But do you think that's what Neil sold Paul on when he started setting this all up a couple years ago? I imagine the plan was to add another star player to our core, and that's definitely still a possibility, but if we end up with a couple of B listers and we don't make the playoffs, I just don't think Paul is going to be pleased.

 

I'd argue that if we don't make the playoffs, we've probably started the rebuild.

 

Because that would lead to unanimity about what to do.

 

Rasta would turn this roster into an ACB fest.