More from Olshey on offseason plans

About the trade rumors involving Zach Randolph, Olshey said:
I think my owner summed it up best: you don’t give away guys averaging 20 and 10. I think the plan is, right now, not to give up a guy who’s averaging 20 and 10. One of the things Blake talked about on the stage was his versatility, and we think he can guard multiple spots on the floor. The pace we want to play at, there’s gonna be minutes, because guys aren’t gonna be able to play 43 minutes a game flying up and down the floor, up-tempo, in attack mode all the time. Baron called the other day — he’s lost weight — and he’s working out every day, he’s in phenomenal shape.

More past the jump.

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Excerpts from talk with Olshey

“Regarding the draft, there were a lot of people without picks that were trying to get into (the first round), and there’s a point, you know, in the second round, where overpaying for a pick makes it prohibitive: you just don’t get the same value. And that was a decision we made. We looked at some picks in the late first round but as we saw the way the draft was falling the guys we had targeted were all off the board.

“There are guys that we thought might be available later in the first round and those are the teams that we talked to, but when we saw the draft break, there was a run of those players, basically like 8 of the 9 guys that we had targeted that we’d acquire picks to get, were off the board.

“With the free agent market this summer, I think there’s gonna be some bargains out there that we can kinda start looking for.”

More to come.

Blake Griffin official introductory press conference

More to come from it later, but in the meantime, here’s an interesting blurb from Assistant GM Neil Olshey.

I asked him if the front office would be comfortable with Mike Taylor as the primary backup to Baron Davis at point guard.

“I think we would. Mike made progress during the year — he had played off the ball in the D-League, he was more of a scorer in college, so it was a different mindset for him. I think the way the Coach wants to play — playing up-tempo, pushing the ball, he’s as quick between the baselines as any other point guard in the league — but what we’ve gotta work on is his decision making and that’s what we’ll do in summer league. Getting an entire offseason with him, playing pickup in the gym with NBA players, the men’s gym at UCLA, the open runs there, getting him more comfortable with making plays for other people, but he’s got the tools. He can handle the ball, he’s got speed with the ball, he can finish at the rim, so it’s just a matter of him trusting and understanding that we’ve got big time scorers around him and he just needs to facilitate and get them the ball.”

Dunleavy/Olshey comments on Thursday’s NBA draft

Clippers Head Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy and Assistant GM Neil Olshey spoke to the media today about their draft day plans and how the roster might shape up. Surprisingly, very little was focused on the 20-year-old Oklahoma forward they’ve all but confirmed they’re taking at No. 1. Read on for more.

Don’t be surprised if the Clippers swing a trade for a late first or early-second round selection where they could take a “perimeter” guy, as Dunleavy mentioned. Spots to keep an eye on: In the first round, Nos. 33 (which, you may remember, once belonged to the Clippers), 35, 38, 39, 44, 55, 56.

Guys the Clippers are rumored to have thought about and could select if they trade for a second (or third) pick, in alphabetical order:

Chase Budinger, SG, Arizona (failed to live up to his potential in college, but still a lot of upside)
Toney Douglas, SG, Florida State (many liken him to Ben Gordon)
Darren Collison, PG, UCLA (a good bet to have at least some success at the next level)
Wayne Ellington, SG, UNC (good shooter, but not incredibly athletic)
Danny Green, SF, UNC (his ceiling is lower than any of these guys’, but a good role player)
Jack McClinton, PG/SG, Miami (a slightly better version of Daniel Ewing, but more selfish)
Jodie Meeks, SG, Kentucky (a prolific scorer who would’ve benefited greatly from staying for his senior year)
Patty Mills, PG, St. Mary’s (an interesting, score-first point guard who may — or may not — have a first-round guarantee)
Jermaine Taylor, SG, UCF (a poor man’s Eric Gordon)
Marcus Thornton, SG, LSU (more of an undersized 3 than a 2)

Continue reading for the full transcript of both of Dunleavy and Olshey’s interviews.

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