Neil Olshey took over the general manager position for the Portland Trail Blazers in the summer of 2012 just before a draft in which the Blazers had the sixth and 11th overall picks.
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Olshey’s first order of business on the personnel side would be to draft Damian Lillard and Meyers Leonard with those picks (he also took Will Barton in the second round). He would also go on to draft C.J. McCollum with his only other first-round pick during his time with the Blazers.
The following summer, Olshey was pulling the strings to bring Robin Lopez in to fill a need at center while giving up virtually nothing (New Orleans was trying to dump money in order to bring in Tyreke Evans and the Blazers were in a position to be the third team in that trade.)
He also traded Barton, Thomas Robinson and a first-round pick for a half season of Arron Afflalo, a deal that may be a tough one to swallow in the long term.
All in all, Olshey’s done a great job, although he may have you believe that it was always his intention to have LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard both eligible for maximum contract extensions in the same offseason. Aldridge was signed when Olshey was brought in and Lillard’s rookie contract was dictated by the collective bargaining agreement.
But while Olshey may not have planned to have both franchise cornerstones up for extensions within months of each other, he does deserve credit for maintaining the flexibility of the rest of the roster to coincide with this summer of big decisions. Wesley Matthews, Lopez, the unguaranteed nature of almost every other role (and bench) player on the roster–those aren’t coincidences.
All of this flexibility and options they all hinge on one central question though. It’s the question that every NBA front office around the league must grapple with internally about the players on their roster. The only difference here is the Blazers are forced to put their money where their mouth is.
The question? Is Player X (in this case, both LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard) worthy of a maximum contract? Or better put in this scenario, can you win a championship if you sign Aldridge/Lillard to the maximum contract they have both publicly talked about seeking?
The maximum contract is different for each player. Being based on years of service and a percentage of their previous salary, the maximum contract for Aldridge will be significantly more (about $20 million total) than for Lillard. But the amounts are at appropriate levels for each player to force Olshey to consider this fundamental question.
Luckily for Olshey, there is a major release valve built into the system. The new television deal injected so much money into the league that the salary cap will be climbing fast in each of the next two seasons.
It’s very likely that Portland could open the checkbook this offseason for both players and still find themselves with max-level cap space in the summer of 2016 (along with every other team mind you).
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That’s the bright side. But it shouldn’t diminish the importance of this question. In this week’s Lowe Post on Grantland, Zach Lowe and Ryen Russillo talked about this very subject matter. NBA teams don’t really have the luxury to be picky about their franchise player. There are only so many LeBrons to go around.
There are only so many superstars, and those great players come in all different shapes and sizes with various strengths and weaknesses.
At some point, NBA teams have to begin to settle for the 20th- or 30th- or 36th-best player as their foundation. For Portland, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Damian Lillard and, especially, LaMarcus Aldridge. The key is to surround the franchise players with role players that complement them well. DeAndre Jordan perhaps?
Sure, Lillard has his limitations on defense. And sure Aldridge can be inefficient at times. But consider the alternative.
The Blazers could be without both those players, the Blazers could be the Celtics, so desperate for a franchise player that not only would they offer a 30-year-old power forward more than $100 million dollars, but they’d promise to also bring in and take care of his shooting guard teammate coming off an Achilles injury.
The Blazers are in a dangerous position for a franchise. They have at least some agency over whether they want to build around LaMarcus, Lillard and friends. They have a choice to make on each. Is that the player they want to lock up for the next five seasons?
The only problem with control (even if they don’t have 100 percent of it) for Neil Olshey and the Blazers, is that when you have even some of it, you can screw it up.
Next: Who Gets the James Posey Deal?
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