RealGM

Clippers Rise in the NBA

He speaks with John Rothstein on the Chris Paul trade, the players involved as well as the additions of Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler.

He said Gordon was tough to move, but thought the team's finances would best be served upgrading the point guard situation with Paul than paying Gordon.

He sees Tyson Chandler as a blueprint for DeAndre Jordan.

Compares the direction of the team switching from the OKC Model (accumulating draft picks/prospects) to the Boston Model (using assets to acquire stars and veterans).

Blake needs to work on extending his range to take his game to the next level. Team would like to see him shoot the ball more.

Sees the Knicks, Grizzlies, Kings and Timberwolves as teams to really make a jump in wins and losses. Views the Kings and Wolves as threats to compete for the playoffs and to challenge teams every night.

that's funny... i've been telling all my friends that the kings and wolves are going to be good this year... interesting...

I think the Wolves before the Kings, but both teams certainly look good. Oshley will be garnered a genius if the TWolves make the playoffs & the pick is no longer a lottery pick.
The West is wide open w/ about 12 teams fighting for spots: OKC/Memphis/S.A./Lakers/Clippers are teams that will battle for seeding, anyone can get one of the next 3 spots.
Oshley is surprising me w/ his abilities after the Mo/Baron trade, I had little faith in the guy. He seems to be a student of the game and is trying to figure out the future while having a competitive team now.

Olshey is a lot smarter than anyone in the Clipper FO the last 10 years...

I really would love to see the Wolves do well. I hated the thought of having to root against them because of the pick. Adelman is one of my favorite coaches and they have a young talented team that is going to be exciting to watch. They may struggle early due to their schedule (Heat, Mavs, Spurs & Grizzlies are their next 4 opponents), but it gets a lot easier after that.

Olshey has given up a lot to get the team that we have, but I believe that he has done well for the most part.

Most will say that we traded away Kyrie Irving, but I really don't think that we would have gotten the number 1 pick if that trade was not made. We would have likely ended up with someone like Walker, Fredette, one of the Morris twins or Burks. We wouldn't have Billups nor Butler. I seriously doubt that Sterling would have used the amnesty on Baron, so we may not even have Paul. He still needs to get us a legit back-up center though.