Time to fire Olshey and Stotts?

[Sinobas]

I was sick of Batum, remember his performance in the Memphis series (his last games as a blazer), he looked like he didn't even want to be there.

[JasonStern]

The salary cap makes keeping teams together long-term far more difficult.

So you look at that 2014-15 team. At the trade deadline, they were a darkhorse contender in the west. As bad as the Afflalo trade looks in retrospect, and as much as it was an overpay at the time, he did provide some much needed bench scoring. The Blazers were trying to "win now".

Lillard/Blake
Mathews/Afflalo/McCollum/Crabbe
Batum/Wright
Aldridge/Leonard
Lopez/Kaman

You also had a lot of consistency, especially with the starters that had pulled off that Houston upset the year before.

But then Matthews goes down. Afflalo gets the start. In typical Stotts fashion, the offense doesn't change to fit the roster. Afflalo, a slasher who needs the ball in his hands with no range and limited defensive capabilities, is forced to play Matthews' "3 and D" role. It doesn't work, and the team plays well below their talent level. Maybe it was losing Mathews, maybe it was losing, maybe Afflalo was a locker room cancer. But the team stopped acting like a team. Aldridge checked out. We all know how it panned out.

But what if that team did make a run? This is where the salary cap kicks in.

Aldridge would receive a max contract.
Matthews was offered a max coming off of his ACL injury. Without the injury, a similar contract would probably have to be matched.
Batum had one year left before Charlotte paid him $20M/season.
Lopez went from $6M to $13M that offseason
And Lillard had one year left on his rookie contract before he would be making $24M+/season

That would have been a lot of money to lock into that starting lineup. So the answer to a lot of these "why don't 50+ win teams get kept together longer?" often comes down to cost.

(FWIW, Batum was still young enough that you could rebuild around. Paying him $20M/season is foolish unless your team would immediately go and pay Evan Turner $17M/season.)

Last season's WCF team is similar - a consequence of 2016's drunken spending spree plus Nurkić's injury. Lack of Bird rights prevented the Blazers from retaining Hood, Kanter, and Curry. Letting Aminu walk for cap reasons wasn't surprising, but getting rid of both Harkless and Aminu was.

still, I'll defend Olshey's 2019 off-season. can't predict injuries. played his hand as best he could. doesn't make up for all of the years prior which got him into this situation in the first place. but retaining a "3 and D" player in Hood over Kanter and a more limited shooter in Curry made sense. Turner for a Bazemore made sense in a Stotts offense. Harkless and Leonard for Whiteside made sense knowing Nurkić would miss most of the season. Little was the consensus BPA at #25. Hezonja and Tolliver were both significantly below average players, but what were people realistically expecting from minimum contracts? There was hope at the beginning that maybe Hezonja could evolve into a catch and shoot player instead of turning the ball over constantly trying to play point forward. typical Olshey dumpster dive that occasionally pays off.

[Sinobas]

Afflalo looked good on paper because he peaked the year before we got him. But after he left the Blazers he wasn't any better at his other stops and his career ended at age 32.

[JasonStern]

Afflalo looked good on paper because he peaked the year before we got him. But after he left the Blazers he wasn't any better at his other stops and his career ended at age 32.

True, but it was more how gawd-awful our bench was at the time, forcing the starters to play league-high minutes. Knowing this and coming off of the success from the Houston series, Olshey went out and signed a 32-year old Chris Kaman and brought back a 34-year old Steve Blake. It didn't work, so a 29 year old 14ppg bench scorer seemed like a great addition.

[GEE]

I have a great reason for why it's time to fire Stotts now, or reach a mutual agreement to separate.
There are several good coaching vacancies and he'd just be considered one of many in the shuffle, and not be singled out. Stotts could switch teams, and have the cover of unfortunate injuries during his time with the Blazers, vs risking getting exposed with a healthy team next year.

Do it Terry! Pull a Mike D, and seek greener pastures. Please......

[Epicurus]

I have a great reason for why it's time to fire Stotts now, or reach a mutual agreement to separate.
There are several good coaching vacancies and he'd just be considered one of many in the shuffle, and not be singled out. Stotts could switch teams, and have the cover of unfortunate injuries during his time with the Blazers, vs risking getting exposed with a healthy team next year.

Do it Terry! Pull a Mike D, and seek greener pastures. Please......

How would having a healthy team next year and producing another 50+ win team be getting exposed? Oh, getting exposed cause it probably would not mean an NBA championship? Yea, that makes sense. LOL!

[Wizenheimer]

but retaining a "3 and D" player in Hood over Kanter and a more limited shooter in Curry made sense. .

that wasn't Olshey...that was Kanter refusing to be hurried into signing. Hood was Olshey's 2nd choice for the MLE

[JasonStern]

but retaining a "3 and D" player in Hood over Kanter and a more limited shooter in Curry made sense. .

that wasn't Olshey...that was Kanter refusing to be hurried into signing. Hood was Olshey's 2nd choice for the MLE

maybe. that was certainly the narrative Kanter gave. but I've always been skeptical of that. he knew the MLE was the best offer Portland could give him. and we all know teams and most players have to act quickly when free agency starts. so who knows how serious he was about wanting to return? and what good would come from publicly stating "I was never made an offer" or "I had no intentions of returning"?

meanwhile, look at how the Blazers roster was constructed. Aminu obviously wasn't going to be retained for cap space reasons. losing both Aminu and Hood would make us very weak at the wing (as we saw this season). plus wings, especially of the 3-and-D kind, are hard to find in free agency (as we're seeing in the various "what should the Blazers do this offseason?" threads). meanwhile there were plenty of options available at the center position. Noel, Okafor, Monroe, etc. all fit the "Olshey redemption project" mold.

[Wizenheimer]

but retaining a "3 and D" player in Hood over Kanter and a more limited shooter in Curry made sense. .

that wasn't Olshey...that was Kanter refusing to be hurried into signing. Hood was Olshey's 2nd choice for the MLE

maybe. that was certainly the narrative Kanter gave. but I've always been skeptical of that. he knew the MLE was the best offer Portland could give him. and we all know teams and most players have to act quickly when free agency starts. so who knows how serious he was about wanting to return? and what good would come from publicly stating "I was never made an offer" or "I had no intentions of returning"?.

sorry JS, but that's also the narrative that both Olshey and Dame gave, not just Kanter. Olshey first offered the full MLE to Kanter. Then, free agency was engaged and apparently, Hood had an offer from another team. But Hood's first choice was Portland. So Olshey contacted Kanter and told him he needed to make a quick decision or the Blazers would withdraw their offer. "we couldn't go 0-2" said Olshey

https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest/portland-trail-blazers/inside-look-what-went-down-enes-kanter-pitch-hood-signing

[JasonStern]

sorry JS, but that's also the narrative that both Olshey and Dame gave, not just Kanter. Olshey first offered the full MLE to Kanter. Then, free agency was engaged and apparently, Hood had an offer from another team. But Hood's first choice was Portland. So Olshey contacted Kanter and told him he needed to make a quick decision or the Blazers would withdraw their offer. "we couldn't go 0-2" said Olshey

https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest/portland-trail-blazers/inside-look-what-went-down-enes-kanter-pitch-hood-signing

regardless, retaining Hood was the right move. you can't predict injuries, and replicating Kanter's production was far easier than replicating Hood's. doesn't surprise me in the slightest if that was a right move that Olshey lucked into.

now Harkless and Leonard for Whiteside is open for discussion. letting Aminu walk made sense at the time because Harkless was still on the roster. you can't predict injuries, so you have to presume Collins can play. as much as we hated to see Leonard play, we never really hated the guy, and he's still an NBA rotational player. I liked the move at the time, but in retrospect you could definitely make an argument that preserving team chemistry and just picking up a flyer reclamation center would have been the smarter move - especially when the lack of wing depth after injuries and losing Ariza became very apparent.

[Epicurus]

1. I don't think Kanter wanted the starter minutes. Good pay, less minutes as backup in Boston.
2. Since rebounding was the major defensive problem (compared to previous season), I think Myers Leonard as starting C would have been a worse defensive team (although his defensive rebounding, compared to his offensive rebounding is not that bad), but he does little else on defense.
3. Thus getting someone like Whiteside was probably justified.

[JasonStern]

Going to say it again - maybe it's not that the Blazers are bad. Maybe the Lakers are just really good.

[Epicurus]

Going to say it again - maybe it's not that the Blazers are bad. Maybe the Lakers are just really good.

Bad were the teams not invited to the Bubble. Not good enough were the teams in the Bubble which failed to qualify for the playoffs. Pretty decent are the losers of the first playoff series. But yes, the Lakers were constructed to be really good. Not sure if they really are, without the aid of refs, but I might be jaundiced about their perpetual "legal" fouling.

[BlazersBroncos]

Going to say it again - maybe it's not that the Blazers are bad. Maybe the Lakers are just really good.

Its all about perspective. At least we are not Houston, who is maxed out and filled with aging vets. At least we have a modicum of young talent to lean our hopes on. Each team only won 1 game against LAL, and it looks like Denver may be heading the same direction.

LAL is just really, really good. LBJ and AD are, far and away, the best duo in this league and now that Rondo is back its showing how improved the team can be with a second guy who can pass. They are just built for the playoffs. I think they lose 2 games between now and winning the chip, one to Denver and one to either Boston or Miami. They are a powerhouse. I hate it.

[d-train]

LeBron and AD are both top 5 players. LeBron is still number 1 and AD is the best bigman in basketball. The only one close to AD is Joker. Giannis, Embiid, and KAT have comparable talent, but have a results gap. Lakers are doing a good job of exploiting the advantages they have by having 2 top 5 talents. Nobody is going to beat them as long as they maintain their discipline.

Blazers aren't going to fire Olshey, but Olshey might fire the Blazers. I hope not. Every year teams are going to be calling Olshey. I hope he stays. The smart thing for him to do is take the Sixer job. Sixers already have the most talent in the East and there is no chance taking a team in the West past the Lakers. The only thing Olshey has to do in Philadelphia is run the team right. The players are already there.

[DaVoiceMaster]

The unfortunate thing about evaluating Olshey, or any other GM in Portland is we don't really know what the situation is. We hear Portland is not a free agent destination, which I would imagine is true compared to LA, New York, Miami, and some of the bigger cities. However, talent and money can change that. Talent comes from the draft and small market teams have to be nearly perfect. I think Olshey has been mediocre with the draft. He got Lillard and CJ, but not much else. Maybe Trent Jr will become a nice player, but it's still a little early on him. We will probably find out this next season whether that was a good pick or not. The sample size is still a bit small with him. That's all I'm thinking of from the draft. That leaves free agency and trades. The Nurkic trade was home run. Have there been any other home runs though? There have been some okay trades which helps, but just not enough. There have not been very many free agents. Mo Williams comes to mind. Evan Turner was a good signing except for the amount of money he gave him. Olshey had money that summer and felt the pressure to spend it. He struck out on a couple of guys (thankfully) and ended up with Turner.

If I'm gonna judge Olshey, I'd give him a C- ... he had a few moments here and there over the years, but just not enough for me to have faith in him. I look what other teams have done and wonder why he can't get in on some of those deals. He likes HIS players too much, which was the same issue Pritchard had. Where's Trader Bob when you need him?

[GEE]

If it were up to me, I would try sending a blank check to Gregg Popovich, read recently somewhere he was selling his house. If we can't convince him to come, I still pray Olshey will take a long look at Ime Udoka.

STOTTS SUCKS! If Olshey is really about winning a championship and can't see this, then Olshey sucks too.

[Epicurus]

If it were up to me, I would try sending a blank check to Gregg Popovich, read recently somewhere he was selling his house. If we can't convince him to come, I still pray Olshey will take a long look at Ime Udoka.

STOTTS SUCKS! If Olshey is really about winning a championship and can't see this, then Olshey sucks too.

Yea, Stotts is what stands between the Blazers and a world championship. LOL, and Popovich would join me in laughing at such a bizarre notion. Did Stotts drive over your puppy?

[GEE]

If it were up to me, I would try sending a blank check to Gregg Popovich, read recently somewhere he was selling his house. If we can't convince him to come, I still pray Olshey will take a long look at Ime Udoka.

STOTTS SUCKS! If Olshey is really about winning a championship and can't see this, then Olshey sucks too.

Yea, Stotts is what stands between the Blazers and a world championship. LOL, and Popovich would join me in laughing at such a bizarre notion. Did Stotts drive over your puppy?

You're clearly as loyal to Stotts as a puppy. Do you sleep at the foot of his bed as well?

STOTTS SUCKS!!! And yes, I do believe he is standing in our way.

[Epicurus]

Doubling down on unfathomable foolishness. You seem to believe a string of making lemonade out of too many lemons indicate suckdom. Wrong!