Writers React To Blazers GM Neil Olshey's Media Day Blow-Up

Portland Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey let loose in response to questions about LaMarcus Aldridge trade rumors during Media Day at the "Moda Center" on Monday.

Here's a video and transcript of his "Oh Dear God" comments. Here's a full transcript of his Media Day comments.

Here are Dave's thoughts.

Olshey going on offense with the media was an elaborate way of saying, "No comment." There was no firm logic behind his assertion, no stunning revelation behind his words. It was a heap of drama about not much...ironically just what he's accusing the media of generating.

Here's reaction from Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo! Sports...

I'm just fine with moving on. Especially because Aldridge has never publicly kvetched, and also because he's got two years left on his contract. That's not a lot of leverage, considering that it's the 2013 offseason.

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These are the reasons he may want out. Publicly, he's committed to the Blazers and Olshey over and over and over. The conversation should end there.

From these pages, until LaMarcus actually does start to have it out with his team in public, the conversation is ending here.

Here's reaction from Matt Moore at Eye On Basketball...

Whoa, whoa, easy there, NeilO! Put the six-shooters away! Olshey's clearly frustrated by the situation, or lack thereof.

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Meanwhile, any discussion of the situation hurts Olshey's leverage should Aldridge change his mind or the team decide to cash in early on his trade value. For right now, though, the team's going to be good with Aldridge on it, and there's no reason for concern.

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Now, if the Blazers do struggle and Aldridge finds his role compromised by the development of Damian Lillard, that's a different deal. But we've got some time on that. Until then, maybe don't bring it up to Olshey for a while. He seems a bit ... sensitive about it.

Here's reaction from Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk...

If Olshey wants an overly-dramatic audition tape to get on Big Brother next summer, he should send in this press conference. Nice performance.

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The question is not going away. The one way to really quiet it down is build a winner, and Portland made some nice steps that direction this summer. But until there is a trade or a contract extension, this is a valid question Olshey, sorry.

Here's reaction from John Canzano of The Oregonian...

Blazers GM Neil Olshey's feigned indignation at being asked about LaMarcus Aldridge's future was laughable.

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Lots of things that were not breaking news were discussed on Monday. The depth of the roster was also covered in July, but was a welcome Media Day topic. My sense is that Olshey knew he needed to go strong here, and that's fine. He has an asset's trade value to protect, but let's be real --- it was a legit question, dude.
Look, given that Aldridge is the cornerstone of the franchise, and that fans are wondering what the mindset might be, it's a valid question. Asked and answered, sure. But valid nonetheless, and Olshey only came off sounding like a defensive bully.

I posted a few thoughts on the subject and discussed Media Day with Chad Doing of 750 AM The Game(audio here, segment begins at the 23-minute mark).

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter