Kevin Arnovitz and Neil Olshey on NBA Today (Interview)

Post #1 » by **mkwest** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:35 pm

Kevin Arnovitz is joined by Clippers GM Neil Olshey to discuss the Chris Paul trade, Blake Griffin's reputation, the keys to success in the postseason, Donald Sterling and DeAndre Jordan

ESPN

Post #2 » by **mkwest** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 3:30 pm

Neil is a good salesman. Dude is smooth.

- Goes over the Chris Paul trade. He said there were a couple of players who were at risk of not staying with their current team (Paul & Howard) that the team would pursue at all cost.

- Most impressive thing about Chris Paul is the type of person he is and how he carries himself off of the court.

- On the backlash from opposing players and fans: Nothing Blake does to finish a play is self-aggrandizing. His most exciting plays are the ones that he finishes through contact. It was the right basketball play to make at the time. If he gets the team motivated and energized on the road to help team combat 20,000 fans rooting against them, then so be it. Team was a carnival act last year (exciting, but not a threat).

- Eric Bledsoe's impact is off the charts defensively. Team will need what he brings defensively to advance in the playoffs. While he was hoped to be the pg of the future, he is still productive playing off the ball (as he did at Kentucky).

- This team is a work in progress. He wants to tweak more than overhaul. It's hard to anticipate what the free-agent situation will look like due to player options (Mo Williams). Committed to doing whatever it takes to improve the roster (amnestying Gomes?). $500K under the luxury tax. Willing to go over, but avoid repeater tax as well.

- Bird Rights on Chauncey Billups who is part of team's future.

- Goal of the offseason is to construct team around Paul and his strengths. Team has been built to run and play open floor game. Desires to add more half-court players to complement Paul. Add players that can play both ways for a more balanced attack.

- Embraces the pressure (free-agent time lines). Everybody that is a part of the organization (outside of the guys that were drafted) wants to be here. He mentioned Kenyon signing, Nick Young waiving his bird rights.

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I didn't really know how Chauncey's contract situation was going to play out. I was unsure on if we had his bird rights or not due to the amnesty clause. Having his rights makes things much easier for us in the event that Mo doesn't opt out. We'd then have the MLE and I'd expect us to probably use Gomes' expiring contract as a trade chip. Mo could also be used as an expiring trade piece if necessary.

Post #3 » by **og15** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:51 pm

I like his thoughts. One of the main one's is this:

Desires to add more half-court players to complement Paul. Add players that can play both ways for a more balanced attack.

The lazy GM and analyst assumes that Paul is a fast break player and that the right pieces around him are open court guys. The reality is that he's a half court guy that can be great when he's in the open court, but loves to control the tempo. It is nice to see that Olshey understands this.

It seems like a lot of things are pulling together. It should be an exciting playoffs and then off-season

Post #4 » by **mkwest** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:44 pm

og15 wrote:I like his thoughts. One of the main one's is this:
Desires to add more half-court players to complement Paul. Add players that can play both ways for a more balanced attack.
The lazy GM and analyst assumes that Paul is a fast break player and that the right pieces around him are open court guys. The reality is that he's a half court guy that can be great when he's in the open court, but loves to control the tempo. It is nice to see that Olshey understands this.

It seems like a lot of things are pulling together. It should be an exciting playoffs and then off-season

He's saying all the right things and it's good to know that he gets it. It might be easier said than done to add the type of players that you need, but having players like Paul and Blake will entice players to come here. We had to overpay (per year) on Butler, but hopefully we'll get discounts and better value more often due to the potential of this team.