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John Canzano of The Oregonian writes that the Portland Trail Blazers' 2013 offseason acquisitions under GM Neil Olshey are worthy of celebration.
Truth is, Olshey inherited a treasure chest filled with second-round draft picks, castaways, Euros and busts. So yeah, what should have gone down after the introduction of the newest Trail Blazers on Thursday wasn't a shrug, but a small parade. The celebration should be that Olshey didn't do what a lot of general managers in his position might have done -- Go fish. He didn't play it safe. He tried to do something when the options where limited and you'd think that would be celebrated around here.
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It's a star's league. Big-name players win titles. That's what we're told. That's what fans are sold. But Portland's already tried, under Allen, to buy a championship while disregarding team chemistry. We saw how that worked out. And so the underlying theme on Thursday wasn't about an era changing, or even fans getting to know any of the four new players, but for this city to maybe understand what's just happened.
The Blazers didn't win a championship. But they just gave themselves a chance to make the playoffs next season. After seven of the last 10 years in draft-lottery hell, you'd think that would be celebrated.