Sitting through the introductory press conference of Blazers’ new GM, Neil Olshey, was a breath of fresh air. Being around this franchise that has been surrounded by questions has been tough for any fan or onlooker. Contrary to the usual, Olshey was incredibly polished, well-spoken and driven. He said all the right things and showed to have more personality than any other member of the Blazer’s front office. One thing he really made sure to hammer home during the press conference was “vision”.
Olshey’s vision of this franchise started to become clear during his speech with the media and the couple days after. During his introduction, Olshey used phrases like “long term”, “retooling”, “building for the future”, and “no quick fixes”. He also said he was not willing to bring in an aging vet that helps the team now but hinders the team in the future. He spoke very highly of Nicolas Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge. And he basically salivated as he talked about the team’s draft picks.
After watching the press conference a couple times and thinking about it, I seemed very content with the choice the franchise made of signing Olshey as the GM, and I got even more excited about the upcoming draft.
What opened my eyes even more about the upcoming draft was Chris Haynes’ report that the Blazers were taking the draft combine very, very seriously. Not only did they take their training staff, front office and scouts to study and review the draft prospects, the team took their own psychologist to study the players. Haynes also reported that the Blazers weren’t “playing” when it came to the recruitment of these prospects.
This coming week, the Blazers will have Austin Rivers, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Jared Sullinger, Tony Wroten and Damian Lillard in town for a workout. Those are some high profile prospects that could instantly make an impact on a team that is building for the future.
Overall, in my opinion, this has been an incredibly positive week for the Blazers. I 100% agree with Olshey’s vision for this franchise. This draft process will not only be good for the team and the future of the franchise, it will be a much needed boost for the fans of this team that have desperately needed something of this magnitude to get behind and get excited about.
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