The Portland Trail Blazers have had quite a few successful NBA seasons. They have been to four straight NBA post-seasons and even reached the Western Conference Semifinals twice.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Neil Olshey has agreed to a multi-year extension with the Portland Trail Blazers that will enable them to keep him until 2021.
2016-2017 NBA Season
The Portland Trail Blazers were solid in the NBA last season. They ended the season with a 41-41 record which was enough to clinch the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. They were unfortunately eliminated in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs where they faced the eventual champions Golden State Warriors.
The Trail Blazers were led by the dynamic back court combination of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, and with Jusuf Nurkic manning the middle.
Nurkic was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the 16th pick of the first round in the 2014 NBA Draft. He was then traded to the Denver Nuggets where he played for two and a half seasons. The Nuggets then traded Nurkic to the Portland Trail Blazers where he finished his 2016-2017 NBA season.
With Portland, he averaged 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.9 blocks per game.
Both Lillard and McCollum were drafted and developed by the Portland Trail Blazers. CJ McCollum won the Most Improved Player award in the 2015-2016 NBA season. He has spent all his four years with the Trail Blazers and averaged 23.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in the past NBA season.
Damian Lillard has collected quite a list of accolades over his young NBA career. Lillard is a two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, a member of the 2012-13 All-Rookie team, and won the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year. He averaged 27.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in the past NBA season.
Who is Neil Olshey?
Neil Olshey is the president of basketball operations of the Portland Trail Blazers. He was with the Los Angeles Clippers before being hired by Portland.
During his tenure with the Clippers, he was responsible for two Clippers' playoff trips. He was also responsible for the trade that landed a Superstar and an All-star Point Guard in Chris Paul, who was formerly with the then New Orleans Hornets.
He also helped transform the Trail Blazers to a perennial playoff threat. Olshey was responsible for drafted Portland's backcourts of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. He was also the one who traded for center Jusuf Nurkic, a move that made them a solid threat in the Western Conference Playoffs.
League sources have also said that the Atlanta Hawks were denied permission to speak with Neil Olshey in the spring about the Hawks' vacant General Manager job.
