The

on Monday hired Neil Olshey as their general manager, three days after the former Los Angeles Clippers executive was reported to have reached an agreement to stay with the Clippers.

Portland swept in after contract negotiations with the Clippers broke down, and the Blazers will introduce Olshey in a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

Olshey, 47, has been the Clippers vice president of basketball operations since March 2010 and has worked for the Clippers in varying roles for the past nine years. He is most known as the man who helped engineer the Clippers' trade for All-Star guard Chris Paul last season.

He comes to Portland in perhaps the most fluid time in the franchise's history. The team needs a head coach, a starting point guard and a starting center, and the franchise owns several assets -- most notably the No. 6 and No. 11 picks in the June 28 draft -- as well as salary cap flexibility to make widespread changes.

Olshey twice interviewed for the position -- once in summer 2011, then again in late May with owner Paul Allen in London. He replaces Rich Cho, who was fired in May 2011, 10 months into his tenure.

“Neil is someone we’ve had on our radar for quite a while,” team president Larry Miller said in a statement issued by the team. “Over the past two seasons he has demonstrated success in constructing a roster, managing salary cap and evaluating player talent. We feel very fortunate to have him in Portland and are thrilled about what this means for the future.”

It is unknown whether Olshey will keep the Blazers' current basketball operations staff, which includes Chad Buchanan, who served as acting general manager for the past year. Most of the staff is under contract through June 2014, including Buchanan, the team's director of college scouting; Mike Born, director of NBA scouting; and assistant general managers Bill Branch and Steve Rosenberry.

Buchanan on Monday night said he had yet to speak with Olshey.

"I don't have any idea if he will want to keep me,'' Buchanan said.

Olshey has a background in player development, having worked for SFX Sports Group Inc. in running predraft training camps and working at the Adidas ABCD camps, where talented youths make their names.

For the Clippers, he served as director of player personnel, assistant coach and assistant general manager before he replaced Mike Dunleavy as the man who made the organization's top decisions on personnel.

He was assistant general manager when the Clippers drafted Blake Griffin with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft and he was general manager in 2010 when the team took forward Al-Farouq Aminu with the No. 8 overall pick and point guard Eric Bledsoe with the 18th pick, two spots after the Blazers drafted Luke Babbitt.

Last season, the Clippers did not have a first-round pick because Olshey traded it to Cleveland along with Baron Davis for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon. The pick ended up being No. 1 overall, which the Cavaliers used to select eventual-Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving.

"The drill is, as always, is 'Is the player you're getting back more valuable than the potential you could get in the draft?'" Olshey told ESPN.com at the time of the Davis trade. "Our analysis at this point in February is that it was more valuable to get a 28-year-old All-Star point guard that we have for the next few years, cap flexibility to make sure we take care of business and re-sign

and have flexibility to take care of

as well, as opposed to speculating on another kid that's 19 years old with one year of college experience.

"And I'm not that high on the draft to begin with this year."

Olshey did re-sign Jordan, but he had to trade Gordon and Aminu as part of a blockbuster deal this season that netted him Paul, one of the premier players in the NBA. It was part of a massive roster overhaul that included the additions of Chauncey Billups, Caron Butler, Reggie Evans, Nick Young and Kenyon Martin. The changes helped vault the one-time laughingstock franchise into the national spotlight. The Clippers went 40-26 (.606 winning percentage) and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the second time in 31 years before they were swept by San Antonio.

Last month, he finished third in a vote by his peers as Executive of the Year for the 2011-2012 season.

“I am very pleased to have Neil as our new general manager,” Blazers owner Paul Allen said in the statement. “He has the skills and the vision to successfully guide our organization into a new era of Trail Blazers basketball. He’s proven that he can quickly turn around a franchise, and we are confident he can do that in Portland.”

Olshey grew up in Flushing, Queens, N.Y., and later dabbled in acting, landing parts in commercials and in soap operas. He was also a high school basketball coach for Artesia High in Lakewood, Calif., where one of his players was Jason Kapono, who went on to play for UCLA and now plays for the Lakers.

Olshey reportedly had been working with the Clippers on a month-to-month contract, but the team announced Friday evening that it had come to an agreement to keep him. But agent Warren LeGarie and owner Donald Sterling -- a notoriously stingy owner -- couldn't come to an agreement on Olshey's contract, and the Blazers moved in and made their offer.

Olshey is married and has two sons.

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