The Portland Trail Blazers are a Disaster
Note: The author of this article is a Portland Trail Blazers fan. The following thoughts are his own. Interpret them as you will.
In nine seasons with Damian Lillard at the helm, the Portland Trail Blazers have absolutely nothing to show for it.
To no fault of his own, Lillard has been the victim of a front office unwilling to throw any punches and make a “win now”move. With an elite guard of Damian Lillards stature, the front office in Portland has gotten too comfortable with the rare loyalty he practices and now they stare down the barrel of a gun that could decide their fate.
Following their fourth first round exit in the last five years, the Blazers offseason kicked off what could be seen as the worst case scenario. In the day following their game six loss to the Denver Nuggets, the Blazers and the organization’s second longest tenured head coach Terry Stotts mutually parted ways.
While Blazers fans will reflect on Stotts time in Portland with mixed emotions, one thing that can be agreed on is that Stotts was always a well respected human being and beloved by every player or staff member that crossed his path.
The x’s and o’s side of Stotts’ time in Portland can be debated but there is no questioning the impact Stotts had on the community in his nine seasons as the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. Looking at it from the side of the man that fills the title of head coach, the Blazers process of finding the successor for a coach like Stotts is where the Blazers offseason started to quickly spiral out of control.
It is so much deeper than the game of basketball. At the end of the day, the plays that are sketched onto a white board during timeouts do not hold any weight in this world. It is purely entertainment. The hiring process the Blazers conducted was nothing short of insensitive and disappointing to a vast majority of the Blazers fan base.
General manager Neil Olshey may be the most hated man in the state of Oregon by a large margin. To start his search he goes into a press conference and claims that they as an organization had not even put together a list of potential candidates and that it would be a drawn out process. Really trying to sell that this hire was going to be a turning point in the direction of this franchise. Not only did he go out of his way to use Stotts as a scapegoat but he refused to shoulder any of the blame in classic Olshey fashion. Instead of admitting the flaws in his efforts as a GM, he deflects that same blame onto others whose job performance are a product of the roster he pieces together.
The drawn out hiring process would last just three weeks and news would be broken by the organization during the third quarter of game three of the Eastern Conference Finals, an obvious ploy to hide from the backlash. To make matters worse, Blazers PR staff completely shut down any questions that dared to dive into the dark past that follows Billups.
In 1997 Billups and two of his Boston Celtics teammates were accused of rape. Days after the alleged assault took place, a rape kit was ran on the victim and it showed signs of assault. Here we are, 24 years later and one of the alleged abusers is being put in a prominent role in one of the most globally admired leagues in all of sports. Imagine being the victim in this scenario and having to live with that trauma just to know that one of those men are now revered for their accomplishments on a basketball court.
As if the initial backlash could not have been worse, Blazers management continued to bury themselves a steeper hole.
Following a statement during Billups’ introductory presser, Olshey claimed that the organization had hired a firm to conduct an extensive investigation into the situation and upon their findings they decided to go forward with Billups as the next head coach. Over the course of their “investigation”, the Trail Blazers did not even have the decency to contact the victim or her attorney.
The victim’s attorney released the following comment on the investigation:
“It’s news to us that they conducted an investigation.”
The final two candidates for the vacant head coaching job in the pacific northwest came down between Billups and former WNBA All-Star and Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon. Looking past the dark cloud that looms over the head of Billups in regards to his past, the consensus among the front office that Billups is the answer to solving the unwavering level of mediocrity that has continuously plagued this organization is baffling.
Billups, a former 5-time NBA All-Star in his 17-year career, is widely respected among the NBA community but it is never guaranteed to see one’s greatness on the court translate to a sideline position. Billups has one season of experience as an assistant coach under his belt, coming with the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2020–2021 NBA season. While the front offices’ optimism in Billups looks to be strong, they have thrown all their eggs in one basket.
Going into free agency, the on going discussions of what the future held for the Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard ran rapid and pushed the boundaries of uncertainty. Obvious frustrations have come to light and as the years pass, the line has been drawn in the sand and Damian Lillard is ready to win.
In classic Neil Olshey fashion, he has done practically nothing to open free agency.
Free Agent Signings:
Norman Powell (re-sign)
Cody Zeller
Ben McLemore
Tony Snell
Free Agent Losses:
Carmelo Anthony
Enes Kanter
Zach Collins
Year in and year out, Portland has not taken the steps to advance themselves up the totem pole. With Norman Powell re-signing, you would imagine the chances of C.J. McCollum being on the move were rising the moment Powell inked the five-year deal, but recent reports make it seem that McCollum is a Blazer through and through.
Under the impression that the Blazers roster is set and no changes are on the horizon, the Blazers will have let a full mid level exception go to waste as they look to run it back with the same core yet again, this time coached by someone whose coaching resume fits on a fortune cookie.
Where is the hope to cling onto? An NBA team is set to start three guards all at 6-foot-3 or shorter and fans are supposed to rally after seeing that very same lineup get bounced in the first round in by a short handed Nuggets team?
In his tenure with the Blazers, Neil Olshey has yet to take any accountability for the Blazers’ short comings. Often deflecting blame onto the coaching staff or even ignoring such questions about the way the roster has been constructed. His biggest accomplishment in his time in Portland is the dynamic backcourt that he put together but when will Olshey come to realization that the backcourt he cherishes is not, and has never been, enough to make a serious push?
Over the last decade the Blazers’ lows have not come in the form of injuries to their most important players. Their lows come in the form of the organizations sheer lack of desire to build a winning culture. The eight straight playoff appearances prove that there is a solid foundation in Portland but the tools to build upon that foundation have been vastly underwhelming, at times not even there.
Day by day it becomes more and more apparent that Damian Lillard’s days in Rip City are numbered. With that dark thought slowly transitioning to reality, the question of when the Blazers will show their All-NBA guard that they truly care about bringing a championship back to Portland after 44 years becomes more and more demanding for answers. And every day that Neil Olshey sits in the driver’s seat, we drift further and further from that answer.
