Talking NBA Draft   It has been awhile since I did a full 60 pick Mock Draft, so with not a lot going on today, here is my latest:
 

 

Feel free to bang away on it in the comment section.

Do you know your Draft Prospects? The 2012 NBA Draft is just 24 days away and HOOPSWORLD has put together the ultimate cheat sheet for knowing and understanding the prospects in this year’s NBA Draft. Check out of the player profiles for all of the players expected to be drafted this year.

We Have A Series  Yesterday in this space we covered how being 2-2 in a series wasn’t a big deal until someone won a road game… The Oklahoma City Thunder did just that last night.

Historically the winners of Game 5 in a 2-2 series have gone on to win the series 83.5% of time, so we have something to watch out West. The Celtics will get their crack tonight in Miami, although the HEAT will get Chris Bosh back in the lineup and that will surely change things.

So with four teams still left standing, the question to you is:

Why Neil Was Lost?  Before you get too Machiavellian about Neil Olshey’s decision to leave the Clippers for the Portland Trail Blazers keep in mind when multi-time billionaires fight single time billionaires, the multi-time billionaires typically win. There are not many things in the world that Blazer’s owner Paul Allen wants, that Paul Allen doesn’t obtain.

Olshey started his career in the NBA as the Clippers’ Director of Player Personnel, he was named an assistant coach in 2004. In 2088 Neil was promoted to assistant general manager and ultimately named GM in 2010; truly a “work your way up the ladder” story.

As a result Olshey was never at the high end of the compensation scale. While well paid for his work, Neil was never paid as a top tier executive and even the new deal that was reached last week “in principal” wasn’t on par with what other top level GMs make.

Enter the Portland Trail Blazers.

Olshey met with Blazers owner Paul Allen in Europe several weeks ago and was said to have pegged Olshey as his guy. The two sides talked at length, but Olshey wanted to be loyal to the Clippers and told they Blazers he wanted to give them the first shot at making a deal.

Sources say once the Clippers and Olshey reached a deal “in principal” last week, the Blazers upped their offer and that apparently soured things with the Clippers. Sources close to the process say owner Donald Sterling was offended by the tactic, believing he had a deal with Olshey.

In the end the two sides broke off talks and Olshey took the Blazers’ offer agreeing to a multi-year deal yesterday.

The Blazers have been without a true General Manager for more than a year after letting Rich Cho go last May. The Blazers had talked with more than a dozen candidates over the last year and zeroed in on Olshey about a month ago.

The Clippers will continue to run things internally with team president Andy Roeser making all final decisions with head coach Vinny Del Negro, who was an executive with the San Antonio Spurs before turning to coaching, and Clippers Director of Player Personnel Gary Sacks running the NBA draft and initial free agency until a new GM is hired.

The Clippers do not hold a first round pick this year, but do hold the 53rd pick and have been working out players in advance of the NBA Draft.

The 2012 NBA Draft Combine gets underway in Chicago this week and the The Clippers are expected to be active in talking about their open position. Sources say they want to complete that process quickly, but won’t rush to make a bad decision.

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NBA Chats: There are three NBA chats scheduled for today starting with HOOPSWORLD’s Anthony Macri at 10am. Coach Macri works with The AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League in Southeast Asia and is based in Jakarta. Coach Macri is involved in all aspects of the leagues operation as a consultant and has worked with dozens of NBA players developing their game. Senior NBA writer Eric Pincus will hold down his weekly NBA chat at 4pm EST. Eric covers the Western Conference from LA with the Lakers and the Clippers. Stephen Litel will wrap up the day with his weekly NBA Chat at 8pm EST. You can always find the next upcoming chat here: Upcoming NBA Chats. If you are looking for a completed chat, check