The writing had been on the wall, but now it’s official:
Portland Trail Blazers fired general manager Neil Olshey "due to violations of the Portland Trail Blazers Code of Conduct". The organization has promoted Joe Cronin to interim general manager.
Trail Blazers owner Jody Allen opened aresearch on Olshey and the work environment he created in the main officefollowing reports of bullying, harassment and profanity-filled tirades, all of which turned the Trail Blazers’ main office into a toxic work environment. (Nevertheless,some in league circles think the charges piled upso Allen could fire Olshey and not pay the rest of his contract, which ran through the 2022-23 season).
The fact that the Trail Blazers are 11-12 on the season,made their coach call them twicefor lack of effort, and the playersthey went out tothe court with the body language of a defeated team also played a role in this move. Then there’s the big cloud over the team: the last offseason, the superstarDamian Lillardconsidered leaving town, but finally decided not to. However, this slow start and the confusion in the front office have other teams circling like vultures, staring at Lillard and, to a lesser degree, atCJ McCollum.
Last offseason, after a sixth-place finish and a first-round playoff exit, Olsheyfired Terry Stotts as coach,hired Chauncey Billups to replace him (even though that fell through with much of the fan base), andThen he said the roster wasn’t the cause of Portland’s problems.
A quarter of this NBA season has shown the roster to be the problem: It doesn’t fit the aggressive and offensive defensive style that Billups has instituted, particularly on defense. When the Trail Blazers are healthy, Lillard and McCollum’s starting backcourt is undersized and not too long, having them press the ball and the big man.Jusuf Nurkicplaying high too, instead of backing down like Stotts did, it just doesn’t fit the abilities of the players.
The question is how much freedom Cronin will have to fix it, or is Portland waiting for its next GM (Danny Ainge’s name will be mentioned, but is it really the answer)?
It’s a stormy sea in Portland and things don’t seem to calm down anytime soon.
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