Neil Olshey looked like a man who hadn't had a lot of sleep, but that was not the case.
In truth, as the Clippers' vice president of basketball operations joined Coach Vinny Del Negro Thursday afternoon to discuss the trade yielding Mo Williams and Jamario Moon in exchange for Baron Davis and a first-round draft pick, he was operating on zero sleep.
The wild final day before the NBA's trade deadline had been an around-the-clock affair. Despite his best efforts to be presentable -- "I just had time to go home, change my shirt and shave," Olshey said -- he looked pale and drained.
Asked how many calls he might have made in the final week before the trade deadline, Olshey groaned.
"I either called or was called by every single team in the league," he said. "You have to uncover every stone. Even if you're not really looking to do anything specific, you just have to look for opportunities, even if it's not a straight-up deal, to get involved as a third team or a fourth team, any way to improve your roster.
"We had those talks up until, literally, 11:55."
The trade deadline was at noon.
The deal with Cleveland, which developed in the last 48 hours before the deadline, was a good illustration of the time that goes into some deals. While word of the trade leaked out by the time the Clippers concluded their game Wednesday night in New Orleans, it wasn't complete until about 1 a.m. Thursday, Olshey said. A little more than five hours later, he was back on the phone with Cavaliers GM Chris Grant to iron out the final details, and the call to the league finalizing the trade was made at 7 a.m.
"I think they worked around the clock," Olshey said. "They did an unbelievable job, and this was just one of many deals for them."
The Cavaliers also acquired Semih Erdan and Luke Harangody from Boston for a second-round pick in 2013.
Olshey said the Clippers approached the deadline looking to act in one of two ways.
"We knew that we were either going to do a move like this, which was going to add a piece," he said, "or we were going to make a big deal that was going to get our third guy, whoever was going to join Eric (Gordon) and Blake (Griffin) as the third piece to this puzzle. And that deal wasn't there for us now.
"So the best thing to do is not use assets and move on. We felt like Mo was a good enough piece for now and for the next couple of years, and maybe into the future, that we wanted to get that secured now. Now we've got our point guard for the next few years, we've got Eric, we've got Blake, we're going to re-sign DeAndre (Jordan), we're OK at the small forward position right now, and we'll see what comes up in June."
Giving up this year's lottery draft pick was acceptable to Olshey because he's not that enamored with the draft class, and he's comfortable with the decision even if the pick rises to No. 1 overall in the lottery.
"Our scenario was if this ends up being a top-three pick," he said, "are we still going to be happy with this trade? And our answer, based on our draft analysis to this point, is yes.
"We've got enough young guys we're developing. We need a piece, and this was the right time to do it."
It's not the last piece the Clippers will add, or will need to add.
"Everybody wants it done now," Del Negro said, "but you have to do it step by step, and you have to do it the right way, and I think we're moving in the right direction."
The List:
Disparity
The Clippers have become a pretty good home team -- they are 16-15 -- but the road remains a serious issue. After Friday's game with the Lakers (an away game, even if it was at Staples Center) they are 5-24 as the visiting team.
This is not exactly a new phenomenon for the Clippers, who have had some significant disparities in home and road records over the years, including nine seasons when they won at least 10 more games at home:
Season Home Away Differential
2005-06 27-14 10-31 17 games
2009-10 21-20 8-33 13 games
2000-01 22-19 9-32 13 games
1992-93 27-14 14-27 13 games
1991-92 29-12 16-25 13 games
1985-86 22-19 10-31 12 games
2001-02 25-16 14-27 11 games
2006-07 25-16 15-26 10 games
1984-85 20-21 10-31 10 games
