Neil Olshey was a rare successful general manager with the Clippers, and did so without the help of a large support staff.

Olshey and director of player personnel Gary Sacks essentially ran everything.

With the Blazers, Olshey will have a larger infrastructure as Chad Buchanan, Joe Cronin, Bill Branch and Steve Rosenberry all play critical roles in the front office.

Olshey also received a substantial pay raise, believed to put his annual salary in the $750,000 ballpark.

But the Clippers also were willing to raise his salary from the $250,000 he was previously earning.

"The money was a wash," Olshey says. "It wasn't about that. It was really about that proactively, Paul and Larry and the (Blazers) organization were willing to make a commitment to me. Once Portland came in, (Sterling) was willing to put any resources together. The financial part of it wasn't an issue.

"I told Paul, 'If you make the offer and it's fair and equitable, I won't go and get a counter-offer (from Sterling).' Paul needed to hear that from me to know I was committed. At some point, money doesn't trump integrity. I wanted to be here because Paul wanted me here."