The Blazers are a train wreck thanks to horrible decision-making by John Nash. I'd wager a large sum of money that they'll be burried in their division and in the lottery for at least two more seasons. Why would McMillan defect to them?
They are in full-out rebuilding mode so lottery for two more seasons is not that bad, especially when considering how competitive the West is.
Why is this so hard to understand? It isn't rocket science. Duh, Portland offered $30MM vs. Seattle's $18MM. Case closed. This may be McMillan's ONE opportunity to cash in as a coach and he went for it. Seattle chose to not sign him at the beginning of the season and that allowed him to test the open market. It turns out that business decision cost them their coach. The only surprise is McMillan would cut his longstanding ties to the Sonics and the city of Seattle. $12MM guaranteed does that to people. I wish someone would do it to me. Comparing the teams, Seattle may be ready for a slight fall this year after such a great year last year. The pressure will be on to take the next step. It is Portland who can't do much worse and the expectation is very low. Portland also has the wealthiest owner in the NBA by a wide margin. McMillan is a much better coach than Cheeks. The two aren't comparable. Cheeks is a very decent guy but I'm not sure he is true head coach material. McMillan belongs in the job and the coaching change by itself will bring the Blazers up several notches. If you can't tell already, I'm extremely happy for Nate McMillan.
Good move for Nate. He becomes perhaps the 2nd highest paid coach in the NBA and the expectations in Portland are so low right now. There is nowhere to go but up. And Portland has a history to throw money around. In Seattle, they perhaps overachieved, might lose some players and the owner watches the checkbook. Probably nowhere to go but DOWN in Seattle.
Ridiculous to pay that much for a coach and for that long unless you expect a championship. I'm sure he'll get blamed for all their problems in 3 years and be kicked to the curb, like most other NBA coaches.
Exactly, I think the Sonics are gonna be next years T-Wolves. They really overachieved last season and I don't see them doing the same next season, especially since a couple of West teams have improved a lot already. The Blazers are a very young team that many don't have high expectations for. I think Nate is a good coach to teach these young kids how to play.
You really can't blame McMillan. Seattle won't do as well as last season. They were really lucky to win that division. They wilted badly the second half of the season. Now that Ray Allen got paid, he'll probably mail it in. The Northwest is wide open. Denver's going to be better this season, and Minnesota will bounce back. Heck, even Utah will do better if they stay injury free.
The thing is that Allen hasn't gotten paid yet. He hasn't signed a contract and I'm wondering how this will effect his decision. A lot of Sonic fans on realgm are still shocked and very worried that Allen may not resign now.
I don't know if Portland was a great choice, but leaving Seattle is no great loss. They were good last year but don't have much room for improvement. They may have won their division, but they finished only a game ahead of the Rockets. Now, they'll have Allen locked up; he'll be good for a couple more years, but he'll cripple the franchise towards the end of his contract. It's not like they'll be winning a championship in Seattle anytime soon.
I think it was a good move for Nate long term. You know for a fact that Portland will spend the money to build a good team. Portland has only missed the playoffs like twice in the last 20 years. You know they are willing to do what ever it takes to win. If a coach trusts his ability to coach and to pick players, Portland would be the ideal situation. Like New York without the pressure and stupidity.
Allen re-signed a few days ago. Or rather, he and Seattle agreed to terms. Can he just back out now? I didn't think so...
His young guys were awesome in their first summer league game; Outlaw with 30 points, Webster with 20, and Telfair with a near triple double. Not sure how much they'll win, but they're going to be fun to watch next season.
Allen agreed to terms, that doesn't he's locked up. The first day to resign your agents is July 22. You can only negotiate up to then, and Allen and the sonics were done negotiating. But he can always sign with another team, ala Carlos Boozer.
Check out this article. It casts a completely different light on the Sonics and McMillan. I've always liked him, and I will despise the Sonics from now on after reading this. http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3744396
i once saw a documentary where howard scultz was talking about how he marketed starbucks with very "white" ads and wasn't that fussed about letting the public know it was owned by him an african-american. i get the feeling these draft picks were more a marketing decision rather than an attempt to undermine mcmillian.
