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Should Terry Stotts or Neil Olshey shoulder the blame?

By Nate Mann

PORTLAND, OR - JULY 7: General Manager Neil Olshey, Evan Turner, and Head Coach Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers pose for a photo during Turner's media introduction July 7, 2016 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - JULY 7: General Manager Neil Olshey, Evan Turner, and Head Coach Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers pose for a photo during Turner's media introduction July 7, 2016 at the Trail Blazer Practice Facility in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Ty Delbridge

Blame Neil Olshey

I would have to blame Neil Olshey as he is the one who constructed this team.

Olshey had a tough situation when LaMarcus Aldridge left for the Spurs. His plan was to acquire young talent and build around Damian and CJ’s career arcs.

Terry Stotts played the hand he was dealt and got the Blazers to the playoffs that very next season. I don’t think Olshey built this team with the plan to make the playoffs so early, but that demonstrates the great coaching ability of Stotts.

Olshey hit another tough spot when to either keep this team together or blow it up again. He opted to keep the team together and it cost the Blazers. The Blazers retained Harkless, Allen Crabbe and Leonard, while adding Turner. Not only did he keep them, he paid these guys a whole lot of money. So much, in fact, that the Blazers had the highest salary in league last year.

Where did the expensive roster get them? Barely the eighth seed of the playoffs.

So this offseason, he traded Crabbe away for next to nothing just to shed salary. Why draft Crabbe, develop him for three years, re-sign him to a $75 million deal, and then get nothing in return for him?

Time will tell for if he made the right draft choices of Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan in this year’s draft.

Terry Stotts is still a good coach

It doesn’t matter what team Olshey puts together, Stotts will find a way to get them into the playoffs. Before Aldridge left, the Blazers had back-to-back 50-win seasons.

The 2013-2014 season, Portland beat the Rockets in the first round, and then the next season they were one of the best teams in the league with a 41-19 record. That was, until Wesley Matthews went down with an achilles injury and missed the rest of the season.

They went 10-12 the rest of the season and finished fifth in the West. Without Wes, the team couldn’t find a groove going into the playoffs and lost to the Grizzlies.

While Aldridge was set on leaving Portland, Neil Olshey could have retained the other three starters. Instead, he traded away Nicolas Batum for little, and let both Matthews and Robin Lopez walk.

Terry Stotts is a good coach and I would hate to see him leave. The players would too.

I think Olshey is a good GM and made a few mistakes along the way, but he had some hard choices in front of him. If I’m Paul Allen, i don’t like spending all this money (luxury tax) on a mediocre team.