Neil Olshey is still working to make Portland Trail Blazers a contender

After a roller-coaster season, Neil Olshey and the Portland Trail Blazers front office set out this summer to make the team contenders again.

Key members of the Portland Trail Blazers met with media for exit interviews several weeks ago. The interviews came the day after their season-ending loss to the Golden State Warriors. Blazers general manager Neil Olshey was among the interviewees.

Olshey’s exit interview was the longest of the 12 that were conducted, clocking in at just under 54 minutes. He effusively discussed the team’s season and where he sees their trajectory heading into the offseason. The topics ranged from player evaluations to roster flexibility. He also spoke on team culture and their progress toward adding a D-League affiliate.

Ultimately, Neil Olshey came off as a general manager with a clear understanding of where his team is. He praised the team’s progress and conceded their (and his own) faults. He seems to have an idea about what the team needs to do to become Western Conference contenders again.

The foremost thing Olshey sought to do is maintain a winning culture. Over the past two seasons, the Blazers were presented with multiple opportunities to tank for better draft positioning.

Following two 50+ win seasons, four of the team’s five starters left in the summer of 2015. Instead of throwing in the towel in 2015-16, the team went 44-38 and finished fifth in the Western Conference.

This season, Portland started 24-35. Instead of resting their best players and jockeying for better lottery odds, the team ended the season on a 17-6 run.

Olshey feels it’s better for the team to compete every night, even when things get rough. He stated in his exit interview that it wouldn’t be ethical to tank with competitors like Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum on the roster.

"“How do you sit here in July and get a guy to extend a contract and commit to you long-term like C.J. did and Dame the year before, and then look them in the eye and say ‘We’d rather have the 10th pick than the 15th pick’?“You can’t do that. You can’t ask them to do that and then come October turn it on again and go ‘Great, the organization believes in us and we’re all in,’ and not have them looking over their shoulder in February thinking ‘Well, if we have a lull, they’re going to bail on us and look for the next guy.'”"

Despite the team’s constant competitive spirit, Olshey understands he still has to make moves to improve the Blazers. He stated throughout his interview that Lillard, McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic are all safe. However, he is examining how he can shore up on the rest of the roster.

Any big moves he makes will likely not come via free agency, and the reason is of his doing.

Last summer, Olshey signed a number of decent players to big contracts. He stated in his interview that he did so in order to reward good play and retain as much of the roster as possible.

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He gave Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard a combined $80 million over four years each. Olshey also matched the Brooklyn Nets‘ four-year, $75 million offer to restricted free agent Allen Crabbe. He even brought in NBA champion Festus Ezeli and Evan Turner on sizable deals.

Those deals, in addition to Lillard’s and McCollum’s contract extensions, are now taking up much of the team’s cap space. Therefore, it seems the Blazers won’t be able to make a big free agency splash this summer.

However, some money may come off of the books. Olshey declared that Festus Ezeli will not be returning to Portland in 2017-18. That will free up about $7.7 million that would have been owed to him had he remained.

This makes the Blazers’ three draft picks more interesting. Olshey hinted that they could be in play in trade talks. Considering all three of them are first round picks, they will surely be valuable in acquiring an impact player.

It’s still up in the air if Olshey’s moves will work in the long run. However, he simply appreciates that team owner Paul Allen allows him to take these chances. The Blazers will be a luxury tax-paying team next year, but Olshey states Allen still wants him to construct the best team he can. Olshey sees this as the opposite mandate of his previous job with the Los Angeles Clippers.

"“I had come from a situation where, not to sound trite, but winning was a byproduct of profit. And when I interviewed and when I came here, I said I wanted to be someplace where profit was a byproduct of winning.”"

Paul Allen has certainly afforded Olshey that latitude. 2016-17 was Neil Olshey’s fifth as GM of the Portland Trail Blazers. He is now tied with Stu Inman for third longest-tenured Blazers GM, behind Harry Glickman (1970-1981) and Bob Whitsitt (1994-2003). The team has gone 223-187 during his time with the team and has made the playoffs four times.

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But now Olshey faces a challenging summer. He knows what he wants the team to become. But there isn’t much financial room for him to simply sign an impact player in free agency. It will be impressive if he can overcome this and successfully build a championship contender in Portland.