RealGM

What do you guys think about Neil Olshey?

I think he's doing a great job. Clippers are associated with blockbuster type trades, he offered an extension to Gordon and DJ, and he's targeting a veteran 3. We'll see what actually happens but so far I like what I'm reading.

Is there any team issues that he hasn't discussed? (maybe coaching and trainers)

Neil has had some hits and some misses, but I like him for the most part. This season as a whole will give the opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his critics or fully cement their negative opinion of him.

Last season I liked his draft, but many felt that his free-agent signings were pretty underwhelming. Right now, those signings don't look as bad, because they have allowed us to remain flexible for this upcoming season. The Mo/Baron trade was a huge risk that hasn't paid off yet, and may never pay off unless we use the cap savings to drastically improve this team.

I like that he has been active in offering an extension to EJ and making DJ a priority. Gordon would probably be better suited in waiting until next season to get his contract, so don't be surprised if he doesn't accept a deal now. DJ is excited that his paydays are going to take a huge leap forward. I wish we had a better idea of how much he was expected to make. We don't want to offend him even though we can match. It's time for the Clippers to stop letting the market determine a free-agent's value and take an initiative in good faith. We have a lot of options at the 3 spot, and the key will be to adding the best fit for the best value. We have the money and the location, and just have to add the guy that is going to make this team better.

As far as the Paul, Howard and Williams situation goes, we've been declared to be currently in the driver's seat. That doesn't mean anything if these guys don't want to play here. If no preseason trades are made, then it is imperative that we start the season off strong with what we do have. If we show that we can win without them, they would only imagine what we can do with them. With Neil, he's going to have to stick his guns and not give up the house for these guys. I hope that he would not give up Griffin, Gordon or Jordan in Paul trade and I hope that Griffin and Gordon would be off the table in Howard trade. People can say that more is needed, but I honestly think that we'd be outbidding ourselves at that point. All eyes are on Neil right and he knows that, so I'm trusting that he's going to make wise choices.

Olshey's first priority should be signing EJ to an extension.
Second getting a deal done for Howard, Paul or Deron without giving up EJ or Blake. and give DJ only if we can Howard.
Depending on the trade DJ would get a S&T.
Third get a SF who can shoot.

Last year's trades and free agent signings were not impressive but not damaging as well.
The Baron trade may work out if we can use the amnesty on another contract to help facilitate a trade. If we don't use the amnesty then the trade was horrible because Mo doesn't really move the needle. I don't blame Olshey for trading away the draft pick because the chance of us ending up in the lottery were so low (plus I don't think Kyrie will be a Chris Paul type of player)

I hope we can keep Gordon in any trade situation (his perimeter defense and scoring would be hard to replace). I hope we didn't low ball DJ and Gordon because their agents might get offended and we might have a Brand situation all over again.

bighugeballer52 wrote:Last year's trades and free agent signings were not impressive but not damaging as well.
The Baron trade may work out if we can use the amnesty on another contract to help facilitate a trade. If we don't use the amnesty then the trade was horrible because Mo doesn't really move the needle. I don't blame Olshey for trading away the draft pick because the chance of us ending up in the lottery were so low (plus I don't think Kyrie will be a Chris Paul type of player)

I hope we can keep Gordon in any trade situation (his perimeter defense and scoring would be hard to replace). I hope we didn't low ball DJ and Gordon because their agents might get offended and we might have a Brand situation all over again.

If we do sign a SF for an above the MLE-level now, then the amnesty clause is definitely something we could explore using. If Paul or Williams make it to free-agency, using it on Williams should give us enough room to sign one of them. Otherwise, Gomes is the only other player on the team that would be eligible to be amnestied. It's not something I'm expecting us to use unless the situation absolutely calls for it.

It certainly helps that DJ and Gordon are/will be restricted. Just reading DJ's twitter, you can tell that he's amped to finally be getting paid. It's hard to anticipate a precise number. With there being other bigs available in free-agency, it means that other teams have other options at filling their holes in the middle. Does that help drive the price down, or does that set a standard of what DJ's going rate should be? He's going to be overpaid to an extent, but hopefully it's not too dramatic. Right now, I'm expecting a starting salary of around $8.5M which will average to around $10M/per. He's not worth that now, but if we don't offer that to him, someone else will.

The Baron trade was pretty terrible at the moment and worse looking at what we missed in Irving in the draft. People say we got better with Mo but forgot we we're a pretty strong team with Baron and everyone healthy

Totally agree w. TNE, I didn't like the Baron trade & Oshley's excuse of paying 2 Lottery picks was nuts. Don't like our G.M, thought he got played on the Baron Trade!