PORTLAND, Ore. -- The confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers can be found about a dozen miles north of the Moda Center, where two rivers, one an urban waterway, the other wide and majestic, join as one en route to the Pacific Coast.
The Portland Trail Blazers were at a similar point in the uncertain weeks before LaMarcus Aldridge's exodus. If Aldridge was prepared to recommit to Portland, the front office would've refined a veteran roster that, if not for Wesley Matthews' season-ending injury, might well have been a No. 2 seed last spring. Were Aldridge to depart, the organization would need to pivot immediately into rebuild mode.
Leading up to Aldridge's announcement that he was leaving Portland to join the San Antonio Spurs, the Trail Blazers hedged their bets, executing transactions that could service a win-now plan or a blueprint for a refurbish. When Aldridge ultimately departed in the first week of July, the front office immediately went to work.
When the summer was over, only five players remained from the Trail Blazers' 2014-15 roster, with Damian Lillard the only starter among the holdovers. The Trail Blazers entered the season with just a $50 million payroll, far and away the lowest in the league. When you talk to front offices around the league, this is the detail they highlight with regard to Portland -- the 44-38 is nice, but the payroll is an achievement unto itself.
"I'm not surprised by how guys have performed on an individual basis -- I'm not," Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey says. "What I'm surprised about is how quickly [coach Terry Stotts] and the staff was able to make it all jell into a winning product. I didn't know how quickly this group could bond, and a lot of that is a testament to Damian's leadership."
Here's an inside look at how Olshey constructed a playoff roster with two blueprints, piece by piece.
Damian Lillard, PG
Seasons in Portland: 4
"Meeting him for five minutes, I knew he was the guy," Olshey says of Lillard. "The composure and natural charisma he had was so emblematic of Chauncey [Billups]."
Olshey was less than two weeks into his tenure as Trail Blazers general manager when Lillard came to town in June 2012 for his pre-draft workout at the team's training facility in Tualatin, Oregon. The team wouldn't name Stotts its head coach for another couple of months, which left the front-office staff to run Lillard through some drills. He shot the ball well, just as he had at Weber State of the Big Sky Conference, but the Trail Blazers were gauging something else entirely. They didn't have a starting-caliber point guard headed into the fall of 2012, and their goal was to cultivate one in house, preferably via the draft at No. 6. Could Lillard be the guy?
"Scouting only told a part of the story when you're watching from afar," Olshey says. "The way he handled himself, he had this presence you can't quantify until you're around it."
After the workout, Lillard returned to his hotel, where he got ready to head to dinner with Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen, Olshey and the Blazers' management team. Olshey likes to visit with prospects in unstructured environments to get a sense of what they're like in non-basketball settings, so he swung by to pick up Lillard. Before setting foot into the entrance of Oswego Grill, Olshey whispered to Allen, "This is the guy."
"The vibe was good," Lillard says of the dinner. "I liked that they asked personal questions, that they cared about my relationship with my family."
Lillard had watched from his home in Oakland as the Trail Blazers drew No. 6 in the lottery. "I was like, 'No. 6, that's where I want to go.' I knew they didn't have a point guard but they had good players. I felt like I could come in here, we could get something done," Lillard remembers.
Five teams picked ahead of the Trail Blazers, and a couple had need at the point guard position, but the Portland front office was reasonably confident it could reel in Lillard, whom the Trail Blazers wanted to start on opening night.
"I was like, 'No. 6, that's where I want to go.'"Damian Lillard, on seeing Portland's draft position in 2012
"We never hedged our bets," Olshey says. "We didn't bring in a veteran point guard and say, 'This is going to be a two- or three-year process.' We gave him the ball from Day 1, and we were going to live and die with his performance. That's an awful lot of pressure."
Lillard has started 340 games at point guard for the Trail Blazers over the past four seasons, including playoffs, and is under contract through the summer of 2021.
C.J. McCollum, SG
Seasons in Portland: 3
On a snowy evening just before New Year's Day 2013, Olshey found himself sitting beside legendary sports writer Jack McCallum inside tiny Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. McCallum, who lives nearby, was working on a story about McCollum, who had been lighting it up for Lehigh and averaging 23.9 points per game and shooting 51.6 percent from beyond the arc. Olshey told McCallum that McCollum, despite his modest Patriot League pedigree, was a surefire lottery pick.
Like Lillard, McCollum was a four-year player at a small midmajor, a red flag for many NBA scouts and organizations who feel that, in addition to the lesser competition they face, there's less trajectory for growth for older prospects. Olshey takes a contrary view.
"Those are players who have to take accountability for the outcome of games from the time they step on campus," Olshey says. "Wins and losses are predicated on their performance. These are players who take ownership for the outcome of 120 games in their college careers from the time they're 18 until they're 21. This sets them up to take that same kind of ownership and accountability from age 21 to age 35."
A week after he dropped 34 on Bryant College (including 9-for-18 from deep), McCollum fractured the fifth metatarsal of his left foot. But that didn't deter the Trail Blazers, who jumped on him at No. 10 in the 2013 draft, even with Lillard and Matthews locked in at the respective backcourt positions.
"We talked about it a lot," Olshey says. "At times, it takes discipline to draft for talent over need. When you're five days away from free agency and you have gaping holes in your roster, sometimes it's hard. We had a franchise point guard and we had a franchise 2-guard at the time. At the end of the day, we thought he was the best player on the board. We had him listed way higher. We sat in that draft room and said there is no way C.J. McCollum drops to us with the 10th pick. Whatever it was, it broke our way. We would've tried to move up to get him."
After battling injuries and playing behind Matthews for two seasons, McCollum started 80 games for the Trail Blazers this season and took home the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
Al-Farouq Aminu, F
Seasons in Portland: 1
During his stint as the Clippers' general manager, Olshey drafted Aminu at No. 8 in the 2010 draft as a 19-year-old project. A year later, he was part of the package Los Angeles shipped to New Orleans for Chris Paul. Fast-forward five years and Aminu fit the bill when the Trail Blazers were looking for a combo forward to replace Nicolas Batum, whom they traded to Charlotte on draft day this past June.
Non-"destination" franchises can gain a competitive advantage in the free-agent market by pouncing on second-tier options while the sexier teams chase the big fish. Such was the case with Aminu and the Trail Blazers, who locked up the lanky forward almost immediately.
"We targeted Farouq early," Olshey says. "He fit our model. We wanted to fit guys in the same career arc as Damian and C.J. We wanted players 24 to 27 years of age, willing to sign long-term deals so that the percentage of the cap relative to their salaries would decrease over time. We have two offensive-minded players in Damian and C.J., and [needed] an elite wing defender who can also rebound his position, can play mobile-4, and would understand his role."
Per Olshey, Aminu has three additional years on his deal, with a decreasing salary each season. With the cap set to balloon to more than $90 million, his yearly number ranging from $7.7 million down to $7 million will represent an enormous value, even if he doesn't improve a lick.
With Batum's departure, the Trail Blazers lost some playmaking, but McCollum fills that void. In Stotts' offense, Aminu is maximizing his abilities and finding good shots, and he has worked diligently to sharpen his accuracy from long range; 36.4 percent this season from beyond the arc is proficient for any player, but it's especially good for a stretch-4, where Stotts is increasingly placing Aminu.
Mason Plumlee, C
Seasons in Portland: 1
On draft night 2015, the Trail Blazers were still uncertain what kind of team they'd be come training camp, and the composition of the roster -- particularly the frontcourt -- was dependent on whether LaMarcus Aldridge would return.
"We were trying to run two organizations," Olshey says. "'If LaMarcus came back' was one model. 'If LaMarcus didn't come back' was another model. Mason fit both, but in different roles."
Had Aldridge re-signed in Portland, Plumlee would have served as an active backup big man who could fit seamlessly into the Trail Blazers' second unit. Of course, Aldridge moved on to San Antonio, and Plumlee has assumed the starting center position on a younger, bouncier Portland squad.
"Mason was a guy we'd always liked," Olshey says. "We knew we were going to play differently this year. We needed more mobility. We were going to have a smaller backcourt. Without LaMarcus, a guy you could throw it to in the low post, we needed an active big, a guy who'd be willing to play a role -- set picks, run the floor. A guy who was more mobile defensively so we could be more aggressive."
From Brooklyn, the Trail Blazers acquired Plumlee and the No. 41 pick, which they used to draft Pat Connaughton in exchange for the rights to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Steve Blake. With the rebuild at full throttle, Plumlee started all 82 games for Portland at center and is on the books for $2.3 million next season. In one stroke, the Trail Blazers found a new piece for their frontcourt and offloaded another couple of million in salary.
Mo Harkless, F
Seasons in Portland: 1
"These are some of my favorite deals," Olshey says. "It was trying to find value in a 'second-draft' model."
Harkless rated high on the Trail Blazers' draft board in 2012, but they ultimately plucked Meyers Leonard with the 11th pick. So when it was clear that the Orlando Magic were experiencing a logjam at the small forward spot, the Trail Blazers reached out.
"It was one of those opportunistic moves for us to be able to say, 'Here's another guy we don't have to convey a true asset to acquire, a guy we really like, and we're way below the minimum with plenty of cap room," Olshey says. "And it worked for Orlando. They created a trade exception. They saved some salary cap, and were able to create minutes for some of their young guys at that position, and the same time, they did right by Mo."
"We wanted to fit guys in the same career arc as Damian and C.J. We wanted players 24 to 27 years of age, willing to sign long-term deals so that the percentage of the cap relative to their salaries would decrease over time."Neil Olshey, Trail Blazers GM
It never shows up in the transaction log, but in the NBA personal relationships are often the driving force behind a successful deal, whether it's a free-agent signing or a trade. In many respects the deal was constructed on the strength of a pair of relationships:
Olshey and Orlando assistant general manager Scott Perry had been friends for years, and Perry was aware that Olshey liked Harkless' game.
The Orlando front office sincerely liked and respected Harkless and wanted to make sure he landed in a good situation. These are the kinds of gestures that earn an organization goodwill around the league, and Orlando has developed a superb reputation around the league in this regard.
Harkless has gone from being the odd man out in Orlando to a reserve seeing spotty minutes last winter to a playoff starter in Portland. He'll be a free agent this summer and has played himself into a quality contract. Portland owns his Bird rights, and will have to make a decision about how much it's willing to vest in a player who has prospered under Stotts.
Noah Vonleh, PF
Seasons in Portland: 1
Vonleh is another acquisition in what Olshey calls the 'second-draft' model and is a prospect who could have worked for Portland on both the 'LaMarcus comes back' and the 'LaMarcus doesn't come back' tracks.
"We had made the decision we were going to move [Batum], but we couldn't lose him for nothing," Olshey says. "We were trying to acquire a draft pick. Everybody falls in love with the draft. It's sexy, it's seductive. Nobody wants to give away a pick before the draft because you've worked all year on it, and it's all about potential. And we couldn't acquire a pick in the range we targeted."
In exchange for Batum, the Trail Blazers received from Charlotte the next best thing to a first-round pick in the 2015 draft -- a redshirted 2014 lottery pick in Vonleh, who came over with veteran wing Gerald Henderson. Think of it this way: Had Vonleh -- a 19-year-old last summer with one productive college season at Indiana University and a rookie season in which he struggled at Charlotte -- been eligible in last summer's draft, where would he have gone? The answer for Portland was much higher than any pick it could receive for Batum.
"Noah was another guy who could join the group of Lillard, McCollum, [Allen] Crabbe and Leonard, and guys who could develop if we went with our Plan B, which was the rebuild."
In 56 starts with Portland, Vonleh struggled to find his offensive game and was eventually replaced in the lineup by Harkless. The Trail Blazers control his rights through the summer of 2018, with the hopes that he'll sculpt his athleticism into an ability to both drain shots facing the basket and blow by defenders from the elbow.
Gerald Henderson, SG
Seasons in Portland: 1
Acquired along with Vonleh from Charlotte, Henderson is the veritable graybeard in the Portland rotation at age 28. The Trail Blazers pursued Henderson at the deadline last season, but they ultimately landed Arron Afflalo. Olshey had long been a fan of Henderson -- "classy guy, consummate pro, good pedigree" -- since they met years ago on the basketball circuit back when Olshey was working out players during the summer at St. Monica High School in Santa Monica, California.
"We knew [Henderson] could step in and play on a veteran playoff team, but a guy we knew would fit in culturally here no matter which model we pursued," Olshey says.
Henderson was seasoned and had a veteran disposition, but also was young enough that he fit in with the Lillard-led youth squad. The Trail Blazers would hold his Bird rights and, should they find themselves 15 games under .500 at the break, he's precisely the kind of wing player contending teams chase for reinforcement.
The phones did ring in Portland at the deadline, but with the team riding a winning streak and looking like playoff material, Lillard urged the front office to keep the rotation intact for the postseason run. Henderson will enter the summer as a free agent.
Ed Davis, PF-C
Years in Portland: 1
"When LaMarcus told us at 3 o'clock that he wasn't coming back, at 4 o'clock we had a deal with Ed Davis," Olshey says.
Like Aminu, Davis was the kind of high-character young journeyman the Trail Blazers felt they needed to jump on before the market settled and turned its attention to the second tier of free agents. And, like Aminu, Davis signed a long-term deal with descending annual salaries, his for three years and $20 million.
"We made a high-level financial commitment to him, and he really bought in early," Olshey says. "He's been great for us."
A former McDonald's All-American and a lottery pick whose father played in the NBA, Davis never found his niche in Toronto, in Memphis or with the Lakers. He isn't a conventional 5, nor does he display the stretch teams look for in today's power forwards. But in Portland's youth movement, Davis can just be a basketball player. At 18.8, he posted the second-best player efficiency rating on the team behind Lillard and a strong defensive real plus-minus of 2.89.
Allen Crabbe, SG
Years in Portland: 3
As the Trail Blazers watched team after team pass on Crabbe toward the end of the first round of the 2013 draft, they started strategizing about how they might sneak their way up the board to nab a guy they had rated as a solid first-rounder.
"Based on our roster at the time, we weren't looking to get into the second round," Olshey says. "We had drafted Damian, drafted Meyers, drafted Will Barton the year before, and now we were drafting C.J. McCollum. We had a veteran-laden team, and [the wing] wasn't a position of need. But we had Allen rated higher on our board, and we were really high on him. We knew he would fit in culturally, and he had a skill set we valued."
Olshey contacted Cleveland, which had Nos. 31 and 33 in addition to two first-rounders, and orchestrated a swap during the break after the first round that sent a couple of future second-round picks for No. 31.
There was initial concern about Crabbe's path. The Trail Blazers were settled with Matthews and Batum on the wings and had just spent a lottery pick on McCollum, but, over the past two seasons, Crabbe has played himself into the Portland rotation. As a second-rounder, Crabbe will go into this summer as a restricted free agent after only three seasons.
Meyers Leonard, PF/C
Years in Portland: 4
After snatching Lillard with the No. 6 pick in the 2012 draft, the Trail Blazers went looking big and selected Leonard at No. 11 out of Illinois.
"From a talent standpoint, to have a guy who is 7-1 and can run the floor, jump, pass the ball, and make shots at that spot made a lot of sense for us," Olshey says.
Whereas Lillard moved into the starting role immediately, Portland had more modest expectations for Leonard, who played sparingly as a freshman and took a measurable leap as a sophomore. Olshey, who resisted calls from inside the Clippers' organization to ship out DeAndre Jordan when he was slow to develop, has preached patience with Leonard. "He's still developing," Olshey says.
At the same time, Olshey rebuffed a hefty ask from Leonard's representative before the extension deadline this past October after the big man put up a 50-40-90 season. Leonard will enter the summer as a restricted free agent, and the Trail Blazers will have the right to match any offer.
Chris Kaman, C
Seasons in Portland: 2
When Spencer Hawes chose the Clippers in the summer of 2014, Portland extended Kaman a midlevel contract offer, the second year of which was a partially guaranteed team option that needed to be exercised by June 30. The Trail Blazers told Kaman that he'd remain their third big man were Aldridge to come back but that it was unlikely he'd see much court time if the team moved into a rebuild. That being the calculus, would Kaman like the team to pick up his contract?
Kaman, who has taken to Portland, decided to roll the dice and encouraged the Trail Blazers to pick up the $5 million. He played in 16 games this regular season and all three playoff games thus far. He presides benevolently over the couch in the video area adjacent to the Trail Blazers' locker room, where he has a good-hearted, if a little odd, relationship with the young core.
The rest: Brian Roberts, PG; Pat Connaughton, SG; Cliff Alexander, PF; Luis Montero, SF;
Combined seasons in Portland: 4
The Trail Blazers acquired veteran point guard Roberts in a complicated deadline deal that netted them a first-round pick. Connaughton was chosen out of Notre Dame with the 41st pick in the 2015 draft. Portland took a flier on the undrafted Alexander, named Mr. Basketball USA and the Naismith Boys High School Player of the Year in 2014, with a two-year deal that's non-guaranteed for 2016-17. Montero, a community college player who also went undrafted, signed a non-guaranteed three-year deal in July.