Portland Trail Blazers Making Right Decision To Drop Elliot Williams


Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Neil Olshey has had a busy offseason for the Portland Trail Blazers as general manager on making decisions on who to sign and who not to.

Olshey’s best decision yet in recent years was drafting Damian Lillard in the 2012 draft, with Lillard turning out to be the NBA Rookie of the Year.

Olshey has another decision to make soon on unrestricted free agent Elliot Williams and it appears he’s not going to be resigned by the Hawks, according to reports coming out of Portland.

Frankly, there’s no reason for Olshey to invest in Williams any longer. He just hasn’t worked out in terms of being a serious contributor with the Trail Blazers.

The Trail Blazers didn’t have him on the 2013 Summer League roster in Las Vegas and that’s clearly not a good sign.

He’s played a total of 24 game since being a 2010 first-round pick. But he’s been out with a season-ending Achilles injury he sustained last fall and he’s had multiple knee surgeries and a shoulder injury.

Portland decided not to pick up Williams’ rookie option in the fall. That didn’t have to take a lot of thought. The Trail Blazers have been waiting for him to regain his health and be a contributor. It hasn’t happened and isn’t going to happen.

With an active draft, which included picking up C.J. McCollum and the recent trade for Robin Lopez, the Blazers are starting to identify who the key players will be for the 2013-14 season. Williams, who has been so unreliable because of his injuries, clearly will not be on the roster.



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