Head coach & GM options

mac said:
Give me a proven winner over sentiment any day. We spend so much time whining about how our team sucks and how we havent had a good coach, and the minute we have a chance to bring a winning figure to the team people rather hold on to sentiment. Same thing when people were discussing if we could get Kobe in a trade. Of course this is all just speculation, but it's something I've observed among some fans over the years nonetheless.
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A proven winner as what though? He wasn't behind the acquisition of the great players that allowed him to win 11 titles. Its not like Pat Riley, who often had GM power to go with his coaching. All PJ has ever done is coach what he was given. Well, not even that, as he picked and chose what teams he wanted to coach and which he did not. He's this big monster name, but what evidence is there he'd be any good at the particular job we need him to fill? I do have some sense of the old enemy coming to town and helping stabilize us for a couple of years of new ownership, but have no idea at all if that would work.

Its very hard for me to accept the idea of Phil Jackson as coach of the Kings, but at least there that's his thing, and I would bet a mint he could maximize Cousins and Reke. But as a front office guy? Who has he scouted? Drafted? How's his money management after coaching exclusively in environments where $$ did not matter? MJ was the greatest player too, but he's a turd in the front office.
 
I've been thinking about this and am getting worried. Final vote in on the 15th, then there's a 30 days period before our ownership group takes over. So we're looking at June 15th. That makes me pretty nervous heading into the draft if the NBA doesn't allow Vivek and company to put a new FO in place.

But beyond that is getting a new coach. Ideally, you have a coach and gm working hand in hand leading up to the draft, deciding what direction they want to head. Then we get into who will be available. PJax appears to be talking to teams. JVG is a target of the Bucks. I'm afraid some top coaching options might be off the table by the time the 30 days is up, although maybe the NBA allows Vivek to put everything in motion during that period. Lakers probably go after a new coach in that period. NJ probably fires PJ and goes after a new coach. Bucks need a new coach. Adelman might not return and that team might be a somewhat attractive option for candidates. I could see VDN being fired in a couple weeks and the Clips going after a new coach, and all this probably happens during the 30 days where Vivek can't take complete control.
 
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Not much, but in the ESPN possible landing spots for PJax, we're #2.

2. Sacramento Kings/Seattle SuperSonics
Even if the Kings don't move north, the geography makes sense in this scenario. The franchise needs a kick in the pants, and longtime general manager Geoff Petrie is rumored to be on his way out, as is coach Keith Smart. Sacramento has talent on hand, but because the Maloofs have kept the payroll so low, the Kings also have all kinds of flexibility moving forward.



You'd think money wouldn't be an issue and Vivek will want to make an imprint from the start. Second, Phil likes small town, despite where he's been in the NBA. He lives in Montana now and has always spent off season there. Third, Reke/Cuz is a young two man punch I could see him wanting to work with. Fourth, we will have flexibility and he'll have options to improve the roster quickly and an owner with money always helps. Fifth, I wonder if the Lakers going with MDA over him left a bad taste in his mouth and coming here and building us up could be a good way to get back at them.

But who knows. My fantasy is Phil as GM and JVG as coach. One can dream, right?
 
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rainmaker said:
I've been thinking about this and am getting worried. Final vote in on the 15th, then there's a 30 days period before our ownership group takes over. So we're looking at June 15th. That makes me pretty nervous heading into the draft if the NBA doesn't allow Vivek and company to put a new FO in place.

But beyond that is getting a new coach. Ideally, you have a coach and gm working hand in hand leading up to the draft, deciding what direction they want to head. Then we get into who will be available. PJax appears to be talking to teams. JVG is a target of the Bucks. I'm afraid some top coaching options might be off the table by the time the 30 days is up, although maybe the NBA allows Vivek to put everything in motion during that period. Lakers probably go after a new coach in that period. NJ probably fires PJ and goes after a new coach. Bucks need a new coach. Adelman might not return and that team might be a somewhat attractive option for candidates. I could see VDN being fired in a couple weeks and the Clips going after a new coach, and all this probably happens during the 30 days where Vivek can't take complete control.
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My guess is that Vivek has been having a lot of "hypothetical" conversations with prospect GM and coaching candidates. Like, "hypothetically, Jerry, if there were a position available with an owner such as myself, not too far from your current place of business, might you consider a GM position?" I would be surprised if those kind of conversations have not been occurring and are currently occurring. After May 15, if the Maloofs don't act like ***** and do in fact agree to enter in the a contract with Vivek, then I would also assume that they will give Vivek & Co. discretion in all personnel matters, including the draft, even though the contract might be executed after the draft.
 
Kingster said:
My guess is that Vivek has been having a lot of "hypothetical" conversations with prospect GM and coaching candidates. Like, "hypothetically, Jerry, if there were a position available with an owner such as myself, not too far from your current place of business, might you consider a GM position?" I would be surprised if those kind of conversations have not been occurring and are currently occurring. After May 15, if the Maloofs don't act like ***** and do in fact agree to enter in the a contract with Vivek, then I would also assume that they will give Vivek & Co. discretion in all personnel matters, including the draft, even though the contract might be executed after the draft.
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Exactly.
 
mac said:
Give me a proven winner over sentiment any day. We spend so much time whining about how our team sucks and how we havent had a good coach, and the minute we have a chance to bring a winning figure to the team people rather hold on to sentiment. Same thing when people were discussing if we could get Kobe in a trade. Of course this is all just speculation, but it's something I've observed among some fans over the years nonetheless.
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I'm with you! I could care less that Jackson coached the Lakers. In some ways, it would be poetic justice to have him coach our team to countless victories over the Lakers. I'm all about winning, and not some petty nonsense about someone being tainted by La La land. Its bad enough on a nationalistic level, such as when Petrovic turned on his close friend, Vlade, simply because he was Croatian, and Vlade was Serbian.
 
Kingster said:
My guess is that Vivek has been having a lot of "hypothetical" conversations with prospect GM and coaching candidates. Like, "hypothetically, Jerry, if there were a position available with an owner such as myself, not too far from your current place of business, might you consider a GM position?" I would be surprised if those kind of conversations have not been occurring and are currently occurring. After May 15, if the Maloofs don't act like ***** and do in fact agree to enter in the a contract with Vivek, then I would also assume that they will give Vivek & Co. discretion in all personnel matters, including the draft, even though the contract might be executed after the draft.
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I agree! It seems logical that someone like him would be very proactive, and already have plans in place moving forward. I certainly hope everything is done before the draft. Its not until June 27th.
 
bajaden said:
I'm with you! I could care less that Jackson coached the Lakers. In some ways, it would be poetic justice to have him coach our team to countless victories over the Lakers. I'm all about winning, and not some petty nonsense about someone being tainted by La La land. Its bad enough on a nationalistic level, such as when Petrovic turned on his close friend, Vlade, simply because he was Croatian, and Vlade was Serbian.
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Well, there was a little more to what happened between the two than that. Goes back to when they faced off in a Euro Championship I think it was, and when Serbia won Vlade waved a Serbian flag around and Croatia took it as a huge insult(the war) and Vlade was hit pretty hard by the media storm. It was unfortunate and Petrovic probably overreacted, but at the same time it wasn't simply nationality and I'd also say it's tough for us to put ourselves in their shoes as we don't face that kind of war here in the states. It's different in that part of the world with history. My fiancee is Bulgarian and still holds a grudge against Turks, as does most of Bulgaria. Tough to understand unless you have experience in that part of the world.

Agree on PJax though and disagree with anyone who wouldn't hire a former Laker if it improved our team. One reason our rivalry with LA was so good was because of the coaches on both sidelines. What that group in LA accomplished is what made the rivalry so sweet, as we almost stood toe to toe with them, an arguable dynasty.
 
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Kingster said:
My guess is that Vivek has been having a lot of "hypothetical" conversations with prospect GM and coaching candidates. Like, "hypothetically, Jerry, if there were a position available with an owner such as myself, not too far from your current place of business, might you consider a GM position?" I would be surprised if those kind of conversations have not been occurring and are currently occurring. After May 15, if the Maloofs don't act like ***** and do in fact agree to enter in the a contract with Vivek, then I would also assume that they will give Vivek & Co. discretion in all personnel matters, including the draft, even though the contract might be executed after the draft.
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Yeah, I hope and that makes sense, I just worry about the Maloofs and them muddying up the waters on the way out.
 
rainmaker said:
Well, there was a little more to what happened between the two than that. Goes back to when they faced off in a Euro Championship I think it was, and when Serbia won Vlade waved a Serbian flag around and Croatia took it as a huge insult(the war) and Vlade was hit pretty hard by the media storm. It was unfortunate and Petrovic probably overreacted, but at the same time it wasn't simply nationality and I'd also say it's tough for us to put ourselves in their shoes as we don't face that kind of war here in the states.
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Actually, they were on the same team! The Yugoslav team won the Euro Championship (in the middle of the tension before the war broke out in full force) and somebody came out of the stands with a Croatian flag (not a Yugo flag) and Vlade ripped it out of his hands, insisting that it was a Yugo victory. Petrovic took that as an insult, unfortunately.

If you haven't caught the ESPN 30-For-30 "Once Brothers" it's a can't-miss sports documentary.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
Actually, they were on the same team! The Yugoslav team won the Euro Championship (in the middle of the tension before the war broke out in full force) and somebody came out of the stands with a Croatian flag (not a Yugo flag) and Vlade ripped it out of his hands, insisting that it was a Yugo victory. Petrovic took that as an insult, unfortunately.

If you haven't caught the ESPN 30-For-30 "Once Brothers" it's a can't-miss sports documentary.
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I stand corrected. I knew it was something like that, and Vlade was killed in the media for it, right or wrong. But tension runs very deep in that part of the world.
 
rainmaker said:
Well, there was a little more to what happened between the two than that. Goes back to when they faced off in a Euro Championship I think it was, and when Serbia won Vlade waved a Serbian flag around and Croatia took it as a huge insult(the war) and Vlade was hit pretty hard by the media storm. It was unfortunate and Petrovic probably overreacted, but at the same time it wasn't simply nationality and I'd also say it's tough for us to put ourselves in their shoes as we don't face that kind of war here in the states. It's different in that part of the world with history. My fiancee is Bulgarian and still holds a grudge against Turks, as does most of Bulgaria. Tough to understand unless you have experience in that part of the world.

Agree on PJax though and disagree with anyone who wouldn't hire a former Laker if it improved our team. One reason our rivalry with LA was so good was because of the coaches on both sidelines. What that group in LA accomplished is what made the rivalry so sweet, as we almost stood toe to toe with them, an arguable dynasty.
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Not quite right! Yugoslavia won the championship just before the war and while they were celebrating a fan with a Croatia flag ran onto the court. Vlade took the flag away and I can't remember if he ripped it or not but Vlade's line of thinking was that this is Yugoslavia and there is no place for nationalistic flags. That did not go down too well in Croatia and that is why he is disliked there to this day.

EDIT: just on caching job in general, are we maybe dismissing Phil Jackson too casually in this conversation. Many would say he won't come to Sacramento but you never know. The new ownership could certainly afford to pay him the salary that he would demand and if you think about it, he would just about be the perfect coach for someone like Cousins and Reke. Cousins in particular.

While Cousins is not at Shaq level yet and Reke is not and likely never will be on Kobe level, the key ingredients for PJ to coach would be here and he just might be tempted. If you add Jerry West and the GM and those guys could get it done with the new ownership group. I would love to see what someone like Phil Jackson could do with Cousins and Reke. I am thinking they would reach their potential with Phil as a coach.
 
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At this point in time P. Jackson is best served as a GM because 82 games might be a strain on him health wise that's not to say he won't spend a great deal of time around the facilities with the team. As for the coaching position there's no telling what kind of connections Jackson has there could be a huge splash made that we haven't even thought of.
 
the worrying part about talks of a "hypothetical" coaching job in Sacto our owners might be having is that most anybody is going to prefer an actual coaching job that is right there over that and there are more and more of those available by the day. as long as the ownership situation isn't resolved, we'll be quite a ways behind the Milwaukees and Detroits of the league.
 
jalfa said:
the worrying part about talks of a "hypothetical" coaching job in Sacto our owners might be having is that most anybody is going to prefer an actual coaching job that is right there over that and there are more and more of those available by the day. as long as the ownership situation isn't resolved, we'll be quite a ways behind the Milwaukees and Detroits of the league.
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The ownership is essentially resolved, Seattle just refuses to read the memo. I am sure that interviews are being scheduled for late May to formally talk.
Unfortunately for us fans the new owners can't talk about any of that right now. So we wait for the formality of the vote and what ever follows it to find out what these guys have been up to.
 
HndsmCelt said:
The ownership is essentially resolved, Seattle just refuses to read the memo. I am sure that interviews are being scheduled for late May to formally talk.
Unfortunately for us fans the new owners can't talk about any of that right now. So we wait for the formality of the vote and what ever follows it to find out what these guys have been up to.
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Even if it is assumed that ownership is resolved, it still isn't official yet. I would think the GM and other front office staff would have to be somewhat established before we could hire a coach. As a coach, if you've already got an offer on your plate (and mind you some of the teams are playoff teams as opposed to our longstanding track record) you may not want to turn down the offer just so you can wait to interview with the Sacramento Kings.
 
mac said:
Even if it is assumed that ownership is resolved, it still isn't official yet. I would think the GM and other front office staff would have to be somewhat established before we could hire a coach. As a coach, if you've already got an offer on your plate (and mind you some of the teams are playoff teams as opposed to our longstanding track record) you may not want to turn down the offer just so you can wait to interview with the Sacramento Kings.
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yup. this has been my fear over the last few weeks, as the sale of the kings has dragged out. ordinarily, the league likes a nice, tidy, and quick process, but circumstances have forced this one to stall, and for a variety of very good reasons. sacramento now has the opportunity to keep its team, but the side effect of the protracted process is that other lottery-bound teams with coaching and/or gm vacancies will soon have their tables set for draft day, while the kings are in an awkward limbo of sorts...

i'm confident that the prospective local ownership group has had internal conversations regarding potential candidates for upcoming vacancies, especially as it's become more clear that sacramento will likely win the day. they may even have reached out to a couple potential candidates. but if it's a complete organizational overhaul we're talking about (and that really needs to be the tenor of the conversation), then there is a lot of work to do this offseason, and everybody else will have a head start. my hope is that jeff van gundy turns down overtures from other teams, and then vivek steps in to make him an offer he can't refuse...

;)
 
Regarding the GM issue and who exactly is going to be drafting on draft day, if Vivek would steal away the top scout or GM assistant from the Spurs, a guy who knows what the draft board of the Spurs is on draft day, I wouldn't mind that. At least then you'd have a guy who didn't have to do any homework on the draft. What we need is a guy who has totally immersed himself in this upcoming draft over the past year. He doesn't have time to get up to speed. He's got to hit the ground running.
 
I would certainly like a more established front office and coaching staff. Something led by Phil Jackson or a Van Gundy would be an idea you'd have to consider. I'm less high on Phil being the coach ... I just don't think he wants that job anymore. I think SVG is my #1.

One other angle I'd like to mention is Vivek Ranadive. He's coming from the GSW, he won't have as much time as he'd like selecting a new staff ... it might make sense (from his perspective) to go with someone he already has a relationshop with.

This is pure speculation on my part, but look out for Travis Schlenk who is the assistant GM of the Warriors. He's one of those 'video scout to GM' types. I read up on him a few days ago, I guess he's worked with Pat Riley and he's slowly becoming a candidate for GM jobs around the league. Wouldn't be my choice, just throwing it out there.

I'll take it one step further - Michael Malone is the assistant in Golden State and he's been around the league for a while. He's interviewing for the head coaching job in Philly. If this thing lingers and we start running out of time, watch out for a Schlenk/Malone combo.
 
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Kingster said:
Regarding the GM issue and who exactly is going to be drafting on draft day, if Vivek would steal away the top scout or GM assistant from the Spurs, a guy who knows what the draft board of the Spurs is on draft day, I wouldn't mind that. At least then you'd have a guy who didn't have to do any homework on the draft. What we need is a guy who has totally immersed himself in this upcoming draft over the past year. He doesn't have time to get up to speed. He's got to hit the ground running.
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Would the Spurs have as closely scouted players in the range that we'll be picking at?
 
mac said:
Would the Spurs have as closely scouted players in the range that we'll be picking at?
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Yes. Any organization worth a darn will have evaluated every single player in the draft because their draft position could change due to a trade. Essentially, if you bought one of these Spurs guys you'd buy their thinking on this year's entire draft.
 
the timberwolves have officially fired david kahn in order to bring flip saunders back to minnesota, this time as president of basketball operations. i also wonder if they plan to hand flip the coaching reigns should rick adelman decide to retire. hm. either way, that's another head coaching possibility off-the-table for sacramento. of course, he would not have been my preference to begin with, but he wouldn't have been the worst hire, either...
 
Padrino said:
the timberwolves have officially fired david kahn in order to bring flip saunders back to minnesota, this time as president of basketball operations. i also wonder if they plan to hand flip the coaching reigns should rick adelman decide to retire. hm. either way, that's another head coaching possibility off-the-table for sacramento. of course, he would not have been my preference to begin with, but he wouldn't have been the worst hire, either...
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he's got the rep of bringing an enormous playbook with him and little patience when his team doesn't grasp those concepts quickly enough. it's why he flamed out in Washington (to be fair, everyone would've with that team) and I'm skeptical that he'd be the right coach for this team. a lot of foundation work has to be laid here and the coach should be willing to do that without overcomplicating matters. a point working against SvG, too...yeah, I'm off that bandwagon.
 
I would gladly take Sloan, even if he was only here for a few years before retiring again. Let him come in and establish a culture and then let one of his disciplies take over once he leaves
 
jalfa said:
he's got the rep of bringing an enormous playbook with him and little patience when his team doesn't grasp those concepts quickly enough. it's why he flamed out in Washington (to be fair, everyone would've with that team) and I'm skeptical that he'd be the right coach for this team. a lot of foundation work has to be laid here and the coach should be willing to do that without overcomplicating matters. a point working against SvG, too...yeah, I'm off that bandwagon.
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agreed. i'm mostly interested in possibility as the available pool of head coaches starts to shrink...
 
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