Stagnant Summer: What it means for the Blazers in the West
By Minh Dao
Draft
Every time summer rolls around, it means draft time. And Olshey’s history is very impressive.
Tracking back to his Clippers days as an lead/assistant GM (Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, Al-Farouq Aminu) or with Portland (Damian Lillard, Will Barton, C.J. McCollum, Allen Crabbe), it shows Olshey has a keen eye for talent.
His eye for talent stems from his experience working in player development at SFX Sports Group, and as the Director of Player Personnel and assistant coach for the Clippers, before his rise to the front office as a GM.
This comes as a reminder if there are any doubters about the selections of Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan. Remain patient.
Trade Market
Olshey makes shrewd moves that go under the radar.
He and his staff (Joe Cronin, Sean Kiely, etc) are able to identify players that are undervalued, under-utilized and are a culture fit under cornerstones Lillard and (formerly) LaMarcus Aldridge.
2013
Traded two second rounders for the selection to draft Allen Crabbe.
Another two second rounders and Jeff Withey for Robin Lopez. You know, the same Lopez that gave us two years of starting level production at the 5 in those back-to-back playoff runs.