In his recent Hoopsworld article, Eric Pincus had this to say about Olshey's offseason inactivity.

Once the big names went elsewhere (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Rudy Gay etc.), Neil opted against over-spending on second- and third-tier talent. Instead he gave small, workable deals to role players like Ryan Gomes, Randy Foye, Craig Smith, Rasual Butler and Brian Cook. The team still has financial flexibility moving forward...

I've been rocking back and forth on the fence about this sort of "Patience" interpretation. Actually, I've been on the fence about every interpretation that you guys have been putting out there. Here's a brief list of the most popular positions, as I've understood them.

1. The Clips' priority is to come in just above minimum salary, as the Cook signing suggests. The organization is thus run by some seriously cheap, ungrateful bastards. 

2. For an assortment of reasons, the Clips just struck out this offseason. It's probably a combination of poor reputation and not wanting to overspend. The general thing to conclude is that the new FO has gotten off to an ineffectual start. So it's just business as usual.

3. Gomes and Foye are actually better players than many think, and so the offseason hasn't really been so poor. There's reason to be optimistic, especially with the young talent coming in.

4. Why, of course, Olshey just doesn't want to muck up the cap space with merely above average guys. He's holding out for that big break, however long it takes. According to HoopsHype, we could have near max space next season, depending on what we do with Smith, Rasual, and DJ, along with the new CBA. So however stingy DTS and the FO may appear, the fact is that the team is looking to spend significant bucks on the right guy. We're committed to holding out until it finally happens.

Frankly, I haven't seen too many posts arguing for explanation #4, so I'm here to give it more airtime, which is not to say that I'm ready to believe it.

I would point out, this is not really an OKC strategy, but it does allow us to try out the new guys in the meantime. Hmmm, so why not be patient? The longer Griffin has to strut his stuff, the more likely we are to lure some top talent our way. Time appears to be on our side, and the tide is slowly turning, and it's not over 'til the fat lady sings. And I might even go on, if only I knew what to really believe.

Hey Olshey! What should I believe? Surely you recognize the huge gulf between #1 and #4... So why maintain this poker face? Why play into the hands of your accusers? Don't you think it would be in everyone's best interest to tip your hand here? 

There is one basic point I would like to make. As far as I can tell, there is no water tight proof for any of the above 4 positions. We still don't know for sure. If Olshey's plan (endorsed by DTS) has been to hold out for that one star talent, then of course he would do everything that he's done so far. Maybe he judged that Childress wasn't our guy, and nor were any of the others after the top tier guys were gone. So here he sits, like a cat waiting to pounce. Or maybe the Clips are just a bunch of cheap bastards.