During the Blazers’ recent homestand, a respected and veteran beat reporter approached me and told me that an assistant coach for the team he covered said the Blazers are shopping LaMarcus Aldridge.

I chuckled, because earlier that night, I spoke with Olshey about the trading deadline, which is now eight weeks away. In a nutshell, Olshey said the Blazers will likely be built through the draft and free agency, not trades – and certainly not mid-season trades.

I asked him directly if he is shopping Aldridge.

Olshey said he has made zero calls to other teams about Aldridge. He did say he has fielded one inquiry from another team, but it was more exploratory in nature, that team feeling the Blazers out. And he said he has no plans to make any future calls about Aldridge as February approaches.

That is no longer the method of operation. Olshey has identified a core: Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Damian Lillard and Matthews.

“The players on our roster who are no-brainers,’’ Olshey said, referring to that core, “are not going anywhere.’’

via Jason Quick of The Oregonian