Well, I think his main motivation is that he is worried about looking bad for giving up this lottery pick in a good draft, but he is not going to say that to Stotts; I don't think they are that good of buddies.
Now that both are gone, this is an interesting reread. Some of my favorites include: "he put together an amazing team around Dame and CJ" "I still think Olshey is a bad GM; too many ego-driven decisions and too much time drafting off of Dame's greatness" "Neil did a bang up job upgrading our defense across the board...what's not to like?" "I honestly think Jones will quickly win over the naysayers with his high energy game, passion (wanting the guard the other team's best player), and skill." "If Neil is a bad GM I don't know what a good one looks like." "Right now I think Olshey is being OVER respected" "Neil is not destined to stay here to many more years, he will end up in one of the larger higher profile markets." "This roster is very talented."
No doubt... really wanted that one to work out... he was ok last year, but not worth two 1st round picks. This year, even worse.
The more impressive ones are those who stood up against the people saying we were one of the most talented, deepest teams in the league, and that Derrick Jones was a great deal. Much easier to come in after all the information and crap on it!