We'll have to see on the Peja thing. I can easily believe that Vlade, having experienced months of the den of snakes our front office had become would like nothing more than to have Peja around as a trusted lieutenant. However I also can't help but remember Vivek's rueful comment that one of the things he had learned about his first attempt at a front office was that the NBA was much more about cronyism than his tech world was. And then Vlade comes along and makes a move that looks like the same thing. Hopefully not, but it could be a bit of a misplay by Vlade. Whatever the last guy was doing, do the opposite.
When a new coach is hired, usually during the off-season, its expected that he'll clean house and bring in his own assistants. No on calls it cronyism. A new head coach is going to want people around him that he trusts, and that know what he expects. I don't see anything different about the hiring of a new GM, or president of operations. What ever title you want to give the position. Vivek's problem from the start, was that he did everything backwards. He went ahead and did the hiring that a GM usually does, and then hired the GM. He didn't do it just once, he did it twice. First with PDA, and then with Vlade. Of course in Vlade's case, he didn't have a lot of choice.
Obviously PDA wouldn't have hired Malone, since he did everything in his power to get him fired. None of that drama would have occurred had Vivek hired PDA first. It doesn't matter that we liked Malone, my point is we never would have had the chance to like or dislike him if Vivek had followed the norm. Then he went and hired Vlade in essentially the same role, but with a different title. And as Bricky stated, Vlade inherited a den of snakes, some hired by PDA, and some hired by Vivek. So what was he to do. He was the true outsider.
The answer of course is start weeding out who is loyal and whose not. So far it looks like Mike Bratz is the going to be the only holdover when the smoke clears. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, but of course the national media, is going to feed off any little thing that looks out of place in sacramento. I'm sure that Vlade knows this, will apply a little more sunscreen, and once done, probably take a well deserved vacation. As for hiring Peja. Yes, he's someone that Vlade trusts, so can you blame him? You get tired of looking over your shoulder all the time, never knowing where the next blow is coming from. I don't care what Peja's position will be. Hell, make him director of international scouting. Does it matter? So we have to buy one more roll around chair for the conference room. Big deal! As long as it brings stability to the franchise, I'm on board.
We, and by we, I'm speaking in general, can criticize Vlade. We can dissect his moves and hires. He''s fair game because of the position he holds. My advice to him, is to do it his way. When you get your chance to lead, you have to have a plan, and that plan should emphasis your agenda, whatever that may be. If your going to be successful or if your going to fail, you want to do it your way. It's hard, because believe me, your going to get a lot of advice from so called experienced people, and sometimes, it's bad advice. Orson Wells made Citizen Kane. It is lauded by some as the best movie of all time. When he directed that movie, he had no experience as a director, and he decided to go against the advice of every known expert in Hollywood. At the end of the day, you don't want to hear Frank Sinatra singing, I did his way!
