The Trail Blazers are undergoing a major overhaul this offseason after losing Fs LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, G Wesley Matthews and C Robin Lopez, and team President & CEO Chris McGowan said that nearly 80 season-ticket accounts have "called to voice their displeasure or demand an explanation of where the Blazers are headed," according to Jason Quick of the Portland OREGONIAN. McGowan said that he has "received an earful from angry fans," and three have even "asked about canceling" season-ticket packages. He said that comes after 97% of the team's 13,000 season-ticket holders "renewed this spring, a figure he calls unprecedented in his 20 years of front office experience." McGowan: "Fans are obviously concerned that this wasn't what they signed up for. So we work with them ... try to get them to stay at the table and not rush to a decision based on emotion.'' Quick reports there is a "faction of Trail Blazers fans who are excited to see what this collection of largely young and mostly unproven talent can do this season." But others feel like President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey "betrayed them" with the "ol' bait-and-switch." Some season-ticket holders "are wavering on which faction to side with: the this-could-be-exciting group, or the we-paid-for-a-steak-and-got-chopped-liver group." McGowan: "We hope they stick with us, because we think we have a good plan" (Portland OREGONIAN, 7/10).
NOT FOLLOWING THE TRAIL? In Portland, John Canzano writes Olshey during a 55-minute press conference on Thursday "peddled hope and the future." Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard, who earlier in the day officially signed a five-year deal for at least $120M, is "part of the near future," but in its current form, this is an "undermanned roster." Canzano: "Asking the public to place blind trust in management after they've eroded so much of it feels ridiculous." What the organization "doesn't realize is that the public hangover and frustration in the wake of the decision to go young this summer isn't just about losing Aldridge." The real frustration "stems from fans being told to have patience when they've already demonstrated so much of it over the years." This was "once a great NBA franchise," but Olshey is now the franchise's seventh GM since '02. Canzano: "Somewhere along the line, over many years and too many changes, Trail Blazers, Inc. turned into an exhausting relationship for fans" (Portland OREGONIAN, 7/10).
