To round out the free agent list, Dorell Wright and Earl Watson were quieter pick-ups in terms of rumors and media involvement. However, I think these were great players to grab to fill out the much-needed bench and to give us some depth. Olshey was able to get some quality players for cheap and at no risk by signing both these players to two-year and one-year deals respectively. So we can keep some of that flexibility in terms of free agency and trades. Again, I know people were looking for splashy players, but I think the fans will realize that both these guys add class and some veteran presence on an extremely young squad.

Dorell Wright has played in the NBA for nine seasons and is quite the three-point shooter. He shoots about 36% from beyond the arc and is going to be able to stretch the floor even more for the Blazers. He was actually playing pretty well towards the end of last season with the 76ers. He averaged 12 points in March and 15 points in April, so he definitely has the potential to go off on a night, which is nice. I also think he will provide some much-needed rest for Batum at the SF position and maybe reduce the chance of the nagging injuries that ailed Batum half of last season.

In the last month, Dorell was debating between offers from the Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. He ultimately chose Portland because of his relationship with Neil Olshey and he felt like he could really fit in this organization. I personally think this will be a pickup that you will notice around the all-star break. Giving Batum a few extra minutes to rest and having Dorell being an outside threat himself will produce extra wins over time. He might not be shooting the lights out in terms of stat sheets, but I think people will definitely notice the difference in terms of the rotation and having LaMarcus Aldridge open more or Damian being able to drive into the paint easier.

Earl Watson was a pick-up mostly to have a classy veteran guy on the squad, but I think most people will be surprised at how much he will play. You will probably see, especially early in the season, some Damian/Earl or CJ/Earl backcourts. Think Ronnie Price from last season, but playing a lot better. A lot of people actually underestimate his play-making ability. He is averaging 4 assists in his career, which does not seem like a lot, but he is only averaging about 17.3 minutes a game in that time span. Look for Earl to set up some nice plays and get teammates involved. Not only do I think Earl will be effective on the court, but I think he will definitely be effective off the court in mentoring CJ and Damian.

To close on the free agency acquisitions, I think these were really solid pickups. We didn’t make any long-term commitments to any of these players and we solved some of our issues in terms of the bench, depth, and added some much-needed veteran presence to the squad. Adding Lopez is going to allow us to actually play some defense and we didn’t have to give up much and, who knows, maybe he turns out to be the option we need at this very moment. Thomas Robinson was a bona-fide steal and, from watching his performance in Summer League, should be a fan favorite and I am really excited to see how he develops over the coming years. All-in-all Olshey gets a B- from me in free agency. Were these best options available at these positions? Probably not, but I am not complaining. These players will improve the team and it should be glaringly obvious in some aspects. Olshey also gets this grade because of the masterful dealing he did to grab these players. We didn’t take a step back and we gave up assets that we were probably not going to be using at this point in time. He was able to keep his antenna up and was able to swoop in to grab what he wanted. I’d call that a success.

Now onto draft picks in the next blog posts. Stay tuned!