Neil Olshey, the Trail Blazers' President of Basketball Operations, spoke to reporters Tuesday for the first time since Portland's season ended with a loss to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals.

Olshey, who is heading into his fifth offseason with the organization, addressed a wide range of topics, including the NBA Draft, free agency, recruiting talent to Portland and the Blazers' biggest offseason needs.

Here's a transcript of the question-and-answer session:

If extending coach Terry Stotts was your first priority this offseason, what's your second?

The draft.

Without a pick, how do you approach the draft?

We always have a draft pick. We work for Paul Allen. The next priority is getting Terry's staff re-signed. But that's paperwork and negotiation. As far as what you guys need to be interested in, it's the draft. I watched Game 5 in Chicago at the combine. I know some people questioned why we needed to be there if we don't have a pick. It was even more essential that I was there. Anybody know why?

Because we're not going to get guys to come to Portland. You can't ask agents to send guys ... 30 teams tell guys, 'Hey, we're getting a pick. You should get your guys to work out.' It just doesn't happen. So it was critical that my staff and I were there, were meeting (with prospects). The league did a great job this year. There were multiple guys who are probably going to go in the first round participating in Chicago. A lot of second-round picks. It's a deep draft. We're always going to be involved when you work for Paul because he's always looking for an influx of talent. Again, going back to the coaches, they are going to develop our young guys. So we're more apt to take fliers on guys because we know they have a chance to become NBA players. That's the next priority. We approach it no differently.

Now we'll tier the draft in such a way where we'll know what the reality is based on the resources we have. We acquired the Cleveland 2018 first at the deadline, which is a pick that we can put into play. We've got cash, we've got future seconds. So we've got resources to get ourselves involved in this draft. The luxury that you do have is, instead of targeting players that might get to your pick, we can now be in a position like we were a few years ago, where we'll only get involved if we see the value. I think each of the drafts have kind of shown that. We'll be aggressive on draft night; we'll target certain players. But we'll stay true to those targets and not get swept up in draft fever just to grab a guy to grab him.

You've said you built the roster to match the career arc of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. Will that hold true this summer or will you stray from that to take the next step?

That's a good question. It always depends on who the player is. My buddy (Chris Kaman) is sitting up there, the gray beard. Chris got along with this group, regardless of age, as well as anybody. His leadership with Dame, the way he related to the younger guys in our locker room. I get your point about the age when we made long-term decisions. But age doesn't factor in if culturally, chemistry ... guys aren't going to fit into our group. I think that's really what's important. We've got a lot of young guys on the roster. Clearly if you can sign a younger player longer term, if you believe in them, it's more beneficial for the long-term health of the organization.

But we want to build on the success we had this year. We're not going to be reactionary and overreact to this season. We're going to stay on the same path. That said, if we have an opportunity to accelerate this and go get a veteran, proven player, we have the resources. We have a max cap slot. We have the flexibility to go spend money. We have a great owner. And, like I said, I think we're becoming more of a destination than perhaps we were in the past, because of players like Dame and CJ. And the success that we had this year put us on a national platform. When you make that second round the conference semis and you're down to the final eight and all games are on national television and the rest of the league is watching, it makes an impact on free agents, we hope.

One of the things I talked about to somebody this morning, was, look at the guys -- not just our young guys -- but I think we haven't talked enough about the job the coaches did last year and two years prior to that in building up the value of our veteran players. All you have to do is look at the salary variance from where they were to where they ended up as players. And those were guys who were proven that might not have had the same upside that some of our young guys did. So I think we are becoming a destination, not just because of style of play and the fact that we do have two star players, but the coaching staff, the consistency, the culture, the way guys are treated here. So hopefully that opens up a wider breadth of free agent targets for us.

What are this team's biggest needs heading into the offseason?

I don't want to get too specific, because then it all of a sudden it translates to we're talking about specific players. Clearly there's areas we need to improve. We didn't answer all of our questions last year. When we talked ... last July, nobody was under the impression that we built an entire roster for the next five years. But it was step one. I think step one just got us closer to where we want to go, but there's still work to be done. We'll look for upgrades, even if it's not over guys that are here. But if we lose guys to free agency, we'll have roster spots. We'll find ways to continue to build the roster. We'll have some flexibility because the cap holds for our restricted free agents are lower, probably, than their market value. So we have the opportunity to go out and use these resources this summer. Like I said, we'll be as aggressive as we were last July.

What did you learn this year in watching this team's unexpected success?

That empowerment and talent are key when they meet. There were guys like Moe Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu that we thought had talent. Obviously I drafted Farouq. We really liked Moe in the draft. I think one of the things ... I think Terry's greatest skill as a coach is the ability to empower players. It's not just about inspiration. Empowerment is why a guy like Al-Farouq Aminu, who really doesn't change his mechanics, goes from never shooting over 30 percent from three to shooting 37 percent from three. And the games that Moe Harkless had in the playoffs. In the four years I've been here, I've never heard Terry say, 'That's a bad shot.' And I have to tell you, the discipline (that takes), because I've watched the television a lot of times saying, 'Dear God that's a bad shot.' (laughter)

You guys are here even more than I am after practice. How long does it take for these guys to leave the floor? Because they know the longer they stay and the more they work on it, they're going to be allowed to do things with the ball. I think we saw that with Nicolas (Batum) when he was here. His ability to facilitate, to handle, to be more integral in the offense, I think it's helped having played for Terry for those years to become the player he is today. I think that's the biggest thing. It's our job to find the talent and it's the coaching staff to empower them to believe in themselves as much as we do. I can't tell you how many times as a general manger I've talked to younger guys -- I've talked to Meyers (Leonard) about it -- 'If you believed in yourself half as much as I believe in you, you'd be an All-Star.' And I think that's Terry's greatest skill and the skill of Jay (Triano) and Nate (Tibbetts) and David (Vanterpool) and Dale (Osbourne) and the group (of assistant coaches) is that they're out there reinforcing it every day with the player development work that they do. This year was a prime example of talent meeting opportunity and empowerment. And the results speak for themselves. On an individual basis, as we'll all find out, unfortunately, on July 1st, and on a team basis.

Do you know where Chris Kaman's future stands with organization?

We'll figure all that out." Stotts: "We can't answer that because Chris still needs to answer that. He's going to be driving cross country today, he's going to have a lot of time to think."

With so many free agents, how does that alter how you approach free agency?

It's communication. Clearly everybody that was here did an unbelievable job. And I think Terry would admit that I don't think this is done unless it's one through 15. At one point we had talked about a couple of our young guys, getting them down to the D-League again. Terry liked the idea. Our bench demeanor changed when those kids weren't around. So everybody this year; Chris's leadership as a veteran, after Meyers got hurt, as soon as he could travel, he came back. Everybody contributed at different points of the season. Everybody was a part of what we built here. I think it went top to bottom, one through 15, they were all on the same page, which was really a testament to the coaches and to Dame's leadership. Early, getting everybody to buying in. The fact that we had a chance to be better than people thought. So all that'll be taken into consideration. We'll communicate with their agents when we're allowed. The good news is I think guys want to be here. Our goal is to keep as much continuity as possible. But there are realities in free agency that we'll kind of have to live with. We'll be proactive in some situations and reactive in others.

Historically, big-time free agents have not come to Portland. Do you view that as a hurdle?

It's absolutely a hurdle. I think we've said it. Whenever we break the ice on that, when we get that first guy to come, it will be unprecedented when you look at the history. I think we've gotten good free agents. Brian Grant and Wesley (Matthews) and guys like Farouq and Ed Davis and players like Chris. We've gotten guys, but they've had the right sensibility that we knew they would work in this marketplace, they fit with the team.

The key for us is making sure the guys we get are about what we're about, that basketball is their first priority. And they'll subordinate lifestyle at times for success on the court. And that's what we've tried to do. All we can control is creating the best basketball environment we can possibly control. The longer we're at this and the more we do this; our guys that were here become ambassadors for the way they were treated. You want that to circulate around the league, that this is place you want to go. If basketball is your priority, they'll make you the priority. You'll work as a team and as an individual.

But it doesn't mean we're going to stop trying. The easy way out is to say, 'Hey, we're in a non-destination market, we're not going to play in that pond.' I don't think that's true. We've gotten meetings. We've been close. We have got some guys to commit, whether it be offer sheets or not. And circumstantially it didn't work out. But we're in the mix and I think the more that you play on a national stage -- this year was integral. I can tell you that conversations we had last year with players that had choices (who) opted for playoff teams. I think the narrative last summer was, 'I like you guys. We like Dame. We like some of the guys that are there. But I don't think, even with me, we're a playoff team.' I think now, that's just understood. We're in the second round as is. And we have a slot. And we can go into that meeting and say, 'Look, we're already in this position.'

We just need to get the first domino to fall. In a market like Portland, in a culture like we have, player retention is always going to be key first. Acquiring players through the draft and trade, bringing them into our culture, getting them to adapt to how we do things and embrace how we do things, and wanting them to stay here. I think we've talked about this; Dame is the first guy. This is a guy who has an incredible off-court presence, he has a big portfolio off the floor in terms of endorsements. And there was never a question mark about him being here, signing on full five years. No player options. No outs. He was fully committed. That sends a message across the league to his colleagues and the guys he wants to work with and want to work with him.

Will Dame play a role in free agency?

He played a role last year, too. I'm a big believer in talking to players about player acquisitions. I did it with guys with the Clippers, I did it since I've been here. It's not a matter of them signing off on guys, it's a matter of getting feedback and how do we think a guy would fit in. Because we do protect our culture. Players know players better than we do. They're in the locker rooms with them, they're on the road with them, they play against them, they're on the floor with them. So they know what guys are about. It would be obtuse not to go ask these guys, 'Hey, what do you think? What have you heard? You played with this guy in this spot. Would he fit in with how we do things?' I can tell you there have been decisions we've made -- and this isn't just Damian at the All-Star level, this is across the board -- where I've asked guys and I've said, 'You know what, based on what he's said, we might want to kind of dig in on this guy a little bit and make sure he would fit in with what we're doing.'

Dame will be involved. I embrace it. Any of our guys want to come to recruiting meetings and sit there. They're our best ambassadors. Our current players; they're the ones who have to play with these guys. I think them embracing the fact that it's a guy they want to be a part of what we do is really important. When you look at the recruiting meetings last year, our guys attended. At the end of the day, players want to win. If it can help get guys that can help them win, they'll embrace it. This starts at an early age. Guys start asking guys to play on AAU teams with them. I was a high school coach. Guys transfer schools to play together. They go to colleges together. They sign with agents together. It's not revolutionary to have guys help recruit. It's just a little bit more unique in the league the last decade or so, that players are just more involved because of the proximity through social media, that these guys stay in touch throughout the season probably more than they did when Terry first got in the league or I first got into the league.

You have at least one assistant coach interviewing for a head coaching job elsewhere. Will you look to make assistant coaching here a more lucrative job to encourage coaches to stay?

How do you know it's not lucrative? (laughs) I can tell you we're incredible competitive with the assistant coaches. We've structured them maybe differently than some other teams do. I can tell you they all have great value. I'd be surprised if all three guys didn't at some point get head coaching interviews this year, depending on where the process goes. I talked to Memphis today for Nate. I think he would be an incredible choice in Memphis. He's a great young coach. He's ready for the opportunity. He has the body of work. Jay's already been a head coach. David Vanterpool will be on that list. He had head coaching interviews last year. Consistency and stability are really important, not just for all of us. Terry and I were in a meeting before we came here about his guys and making sure that we're really aggressive with trying to retain the staff. Obviously if somebody gets a head coaching situation, it's totally different. If somebody moves from behind the bench to the front of the bench, that's a different jump. But the goal is to keep this program in place because it's working.

Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com 503-294-5183 @BlazerFreeman