Portland Trail Blazers: Neil Olshey’s time may be up, but the damage is done

Neil Olshey created roster flexibility, but it could be past time to use it

Despite not making a much-needed major trade in the offseason, Neil Olshey was praised for creating the flexibility that leaves the door open for a roster change in the future.

But now, it may be too late. With each passing game, it seems that CJ and Nurk are tanking their trade values — both of who could have been significant trade chips before the season began.

With the way the season is currently playing out, many of the teams that would have been considered viable trade partners are now out of the running. The Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, and Golden State Warriors are all thriving and currently leading their respective conferences. The Toronto Raptors are playing surprisingly well and look thrilled to be in the current state of their rebuild. The Boston Celtics have tied up all of their desirable assets with extensions.

It’s discouraging to examine the NBA landscape for sensical trade partners for either CJ or Nurkic, the obvious pieces to be moved in a significant trade for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Both players are too old for rebuilding teams and either not impactful enough or too redundant for playoff hopefuls and championship contenders.

All of the Blazers that opposing teams would be interested in are either non-starters (Damian Lillard), young building blocks (Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little), or value players that wouldn’t net a significant return (Norman Powell, Robert Covington and Larry Nance Jr.).

Even if Neil Olshey is given the boot, the next general manager will find it difficult to improve this team this season, unless CJ or Nurk hits a hot streak.

These are just some of the palpable stains that Olshey has already spilled on the Blazers, there could many more that won’t show until later on — including, but not limited to, potentially pushing Damian Lillard out of Rip City.

It’s past time that the Portland Trail Blazers move on from Neil Olshey; the more time the team has to clean up his mess, the better.