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General manager Neil Olshey (right) is trying to get coach Terry Stotts a deeper roster.

(Brent Wojahn, The Oregonian)

Neil Olshey didn't exactly make a food cart disappear. He didn't, either, levitate Bill Schonely over the Rose Garden Arena. But the act he performed on Thursday, landing a capable starting center (Robin Lopez) in exchange for second-round pick Jeff Withey and a handful of pocket lint, ends up magic that any blue-collar grinder sitting in the 300 level should appreciate.

Lopez may have a "Sideshow Bob" hairdo. He may have had a knee injury, a foot fracture, and a bulging disk earlier in his career. But he's seven-feet tall and played in all 82 games last season. And that's the stuff of legends around here for a big man.

I know. I know. Olshey's act looks like street-corner-pass-the-hat magic. But I'd urge you to ignore the smoke and the words, and focus instead on the magician's hands. Because Thursday ends up as another very good moment for the Blazers GM.

Olshey celebrated his 13th month on the job by joining the Pelicans and Kings for a three-team trade that has Tyreke Evans going to New Orleans and Greivis Vasquez to Sacramento. The Blazers get Lopez and give up Withey, a future second-round pick and cash.

Tah-Dah.

A Trail Blazers video, produced in-house, appeared briefly online on Wednesday, showing the candid behind-scenes activity in Portland's draft room. It was pulled down almost immediately which was too bad because it humanized the organization like never before. But the most striking frames in the video were of a smiling, beaming Olshey working the room shortly after the Blazers picked CJ McCollum with the No. 10 pick.

Getting McCollum stoked Olshey so much that after he said, "CJ McCollum, Lehigh University..." he set down the phone, clapped with the rest of the room, and then, as he prepared to sit back in his chair beside owner Paul Allen, the general manager slapped Allen on the knee in a "How about that!?!?" punctuation gesture. The Blazers scouts and Allen's advisors were all smiling.

I figured Olshey would be vaporized by the Vulcans by the time fireworks went off Thursday. Instead, he was back at it, with a trade that makes Portland better.

If that video ever re-appears online, give it a look. Because it's about as emphatic as you're going to see a Blazers executive. That was followed up by Olshey and his team trading two future second-round picks for the draft rights of guard Allen Crabbe, and drafting Withey with a throwaway pick.

Mike Montgomery, Crabbe's college coach, said this week, "Allen has an NBA skill --- he can shoot. He'll help them right now." Later, Olshey traded two future second-rounders and the draft rights to two stashed Euros to the Houston Rockets for forward Thomas Robinson, who has big upside after being the No. 5 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Olshey's moves haven't been splashy. They've been calculated, wise, and --- good. The moves on draft day alone caused one Portland basketball operations staffer to say, "We're already a better team than last year and free agency hasn't even started." There's training camp, and things happen, but the Blazers already see McCollum with important minutes, and Crabbe as an upgrade on their bench from last season, and Lopez as a solid starter. At the very least, power forward LaMarcus Aldridge won't have to play center, and Lopez takes the pressure off second-year man Meyers Leonard. Yes, Olshey got that for two second-round picks and some lettuce.

Again, the 100-level honks will be unimpressed. They wanted Dwight Howard. But the 300-level fan knows that Olshey arrived last summer to find a deserted roster, and he's trying now to make magic without any pixie dust on his wand.

Olshey's added depth with Lopez, McCollum, Crabbe and Robinson. In getting those players he's given up Withey, Kostas Papanikolau, Marko Todorovic', four future second-round draft picks, and cash. It's not sexy stufff, it's not going to make anyone rush to buy season tickets, but what happening here is that the Blazers are in a walk toward legitimacy with Olshey leading the way.

I find it absurd that fans are sitting around today, upset, saying things such as, "I know he drafted Damian Lillard, but Olshey's a fraud."

Give him more time. If he's a fraud, he'll prove it. To me, Lillard doesn't feel like an accident.

It's been a trying free-agent week for Blazers fans. They've been forced to watch a line of star-studded players make big decisions while Portland seemingly did very little that got noticed. Nothing big. Nothing groundbreaking. Nothing that is going to be remembered outside this market. The big headliner on the Blazers trade on Thursday wasn't even anyone headed to Portland, but Evans, who is moving from Sacramento to the Pelicans.

I know some fans are outraged, waiting for a big move. But I'm thinking what Olshey pulled off in the last week using nothing but the wave of a wand is even more impressive.

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