Neil Olshey and Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers (Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)
The Portland Trail Blazers will be entering an unpredictable 2020 NBA Draft this fall. Can Neil Olshey’s drafting history offer any hints on drafting plans?
At the start of this generation, NBA front offices across the map — the Portland Trail Blazers included — were hooked on one phrase above any other: “upside.” Tangible, on-tape talent took a backseat to “tons of upside”, and work ethic and character may as well have been in the trunk.
Perhaps Bill Simmons said it best in chronicling the mentality at the time of the 2003 NBA Draft: if upside were a drug, every GM would be in rehab.