3 ways the Carmelo Anthony trade affects the Portland Trail Blazers

3. Faith in the franchise

Portland Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey has made a number of questionable moves as of late: the Festus Ezeli fiasco; signing Evan Turner to a ginormous contract; overpaying Allen Crabbe, Maurice Harkless and Meyers Leonard; and going all in on Zach Collins.

His latest decision to not go all in on a trade for Carmelo Anthony is also reasonably questionable.

Let’s face the facts: Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum had previously gone on record to say they were hoping Rip City could add a talent like Melo this summer, and prior to Melo publicly stating his desire to be traded before training camp, his short list of preferred destinations earlier this summer had already included these four teams.

So why didn’t Olshey jump at the chance to add a player for whom two of his star players had previously advocated? Was a package equal to the one given by the Oklahoma City Thunder really too much to put together?

To be fair, Olshey is credited for many of the moves that have resulted in the team’s four consecutive playoff appearances — including the trade for Jusuf Nurkic. This is why Olshey was rewarded with a multiyear extension back in August. In addition, it’s reasonably questionable whether Melo would have even fit in Portland anyway.

Further research on the matter, however, revealed that Melo had quietly rescinded his desire to be traded to Portland after extending his short list to include the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Per ESPN:

"“Once Anthony expanded his list of teams to include Cleveland and Oklahoma City within the past 10 days, Perry had more flexibility to move Anthony. Perry remained in contact with Portland Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey, who had the most versatile array of assets for New York and motivation to make the deal — but, ultimately, Anthony would not accept a trade to the Pacific Northwest. “Anthony was intrigued with a potential partnership with Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, and the stability and track record of the front office and coaching staff in Portland, but did not want to make such a dramatic geographic shift, league sources said.”"

In my incredibly humble opinion, Melo’s refusal to waive his trade clause due to avoid having to “make such a dramatic geographic shift” is among the most idiotic things I’ve ever heard. To think that a competitor would give up a chance to join a winning team in a great city simply because he or she didn’t want to travel a certain distance is preposterous.

Nevertheless, professional athletes are people too, and it’s understandable why a person would be hesitant to move from the East Coast to the West Coast; yet it brings up the question of whether Portland is even a desirable destination for free agents — and that’s considering the fact that the franchise has a proven track record of winning.