Blazers hire Neil Olshey as new GM

[Andrew]

In a interesting turn of events, his agreement with the Clippers fell through and the Blazers have subsequently snapped him up. The story at Yahoo! NBA.

The Trail Blazers have hired former Los Angeles Clippers general manager Neil Olshey to serve in the same role with Portland.

The announcement by the Blazers on Monday came less than an hour after the Clippers revealed that they and Olshey had decided to part ways.

Last season, Olshey oversaw a major retooling of the Clippers that included signing All-Star point guard Chris Paul in December as part of the biggest trade in franchise history. In the same six-day span, Olshey signed All-Stars Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups, and re-signed DeAndre Jordan.

The Clippers finished 40-26 and reached the second round of the playoffs.

Not to re-hash the Executive of the Year debate but I still thought he did a good job this year and should've at least received a few more votes. Time will tell if he can work some magic with the Blazers' roster but for now I think it's a good hiring.

[shadowgrin]

I was wondering what happened to the Clippers we all knew. Their GM situation showed that it's back to normal with the Clipps.

[Andrew]

They've still got a few of the players he acquired under contract for next year so it's not all doom and gloom...yet.

[Lamrock]

Not a fan of this hiring. Chad Buchanan was doing a good job and I think had Stern not rescinded the Paul to LA deal, he's be considered among the NBA's worst.

I'd love to be proven wrong, but the Blazers are a small market team that's been mediocre to good the last few years and as suck doesn't have as many assets as the Clippers tanked into.

[Andrew]

I thought you were in favour of Olshey getting EotY?

[Lamrock]

That's a good point. I thought he was the shoe-in for the award and aside of maybe Utah no other teams had made outstanding moves in the last year. Somehow I have little faith that he'll be able to bring say, Deron Williams to Portland though.

[Andrew]

Fair call. He'll need some time to work some magic though and there are factors beyond his control: the payroll he's inheriting, the picks at his disposal, free agents already having a limited selection of teams they're interested in playing for, etc. Hold off on the parade for him and be prepared to be patient I guess, but at least he's not coming in with Isiah Thomas-like baggage.

Looking at the current roster, who would you bring back and for those who are free agents, how much would you pay them?

[Lamrock]

Only guy I'd want back is Batum, but I think they should wait to see what they can get in free agency, then match whatever offer he gets. Giving him an extension before he hits the market could result in him getting a Rudy Gay-type albatross contract.

Przybilla can return too if he's not retiring, but I'm sure Kurt Thomas is either done or headed to a contender. Felton came on towards the end of the season, but there's probably too much bad blood with him at this point. My biggest worry is that J.J. Hickson is given a long term deal based on his 19 games where he played well. Barring that stretch, the guy's been awful sans LeBron and isn't a good fit on a team with an all-star PF.

I'd love to see Andre Miller return to mentor whichever PG is drafted. Nash is a pipedream but Miller's one of my favorite Blazers ever.

[Andrew]

I think Hickson is actually capable of being a solid player in the league but I agree; he's also the kind of player teams easily end up overpaying for and with Aldridge around, he'd be an expensive backup/occasional starter with that kind of deal. Perhaps they could extend the qualifying offer, but if he's looking to move on and someone else is willing to gamble a big contract on him, let him go. Maybe he does live up a big contract somewhere else, but with Aldridge around they can certainly afford to take that risk and weather the loss of his services.