Danny Ainge is making a mess in Boston. Kevin McHale is a joke in Minnesota. ML Carr was a disaster. Larry Bird is ok but not especially good. Am I missing anybody?
Ainge baffles me though. I look at that roster full of young talent and I keep thinking they've got to get better, but then year after year they get worse rather than better. And even though I should learn from experience, I still can't help but think if they pick up Oden or trade for Pau (or both even), they can still be good next season. Well, at least by eastern standards. If they managed to draft Oden AND trade for Pau, there is just no way they won't make big noise in the Eastern Conference next year. p.s. It's a pretty sound theory. I don't like what Bird did with Artest and I'm not much of a fan of the trade with GS either. McHale is clearly one of the worst GM's in the league. If Ainge gets the Celtics in gear, we'll call him a former Sun.
I think Bird is actually pretty good but when you have one of your top two guys go crazy on you, there isn't much you can do. Especially when your top guy is injury prone.
How many ex-players have gone on to become good GM's? The "best" of them would probably be considered Joe Dumars and Jerry West, right? Dumars at least has a championship to show for it despite his disaster pick in the '03 draft while Jerry West has done little to better Memphis and their zero playoff wins. All those Celtics guys, Mullin, Ferry, Baylor, etc are all either mediocre or bad. Isiah deserves his own category.
I agree. I think Bird is pretty good. He really basically had 2 of his top 3 players go nuts on him (Artest and Stephen Jackson), and had to lose value to trade them away. Pre-brawl, he had a serious Eastern conference contender on his hands.
The amount of young talent on the Celtics roster is pretty unbelievable. There ain't much you can do when your entire team, including the superstar, is hurt for a significant period of time. I'd be inclined to give Ainge at least two more seasons before canning him. The team needs to show improvement next year, though. I'd say they also need a new coach. I don't think Doc Rivers is a bad coach, but they probably just need a breath of fresh air.
West did have a decent amount of success with Los Angeles. Geoff Petrie's a pretty good GM. I think John Paxson's been solid too. Kiki Vanderweghe also had a pretty good reputation. I think there's a decent amount of former players who have made decent to good general managers.
They are tanking big time now, 13 in a row. Ainge better hope the ping pong balls fall into the right place. He is as good as gone if no Oden or Durant. Can't believe I still have more tickets this season, what a disaster.
I would say that bringing Shaq and Kobe to LA deserves higher praise than "a decent amount of success."
i thought ferry did a great job surrounding Lebron with talent. -they held on to illgauskas/gooden -signed a 2nd scorer/defender, hughes -added shooters (marshall, jones, gibson) i think their only problem is PG with Snow, but hes not bad, just not great tough defender (minus the wade cross over), solid locker room guy im not surprised their one of the top teams out east
Too bad the trade with the warriors will be his downfall. I cant tell you how surprised I was when I read about the trade. How on earth did Mullin trade away 2 of warriors worst players(based on contract and performace) in one trade. I know many people thought it was a good trade for the pacers, but warrior fans felt they made out like bandits. Ive seen quite a few warrior games since I'm from the bay area and some of the things people say about the ex-warriors just make me laugh.
He overpaid for Hughes and Illgauskas. They're both underachieving and Illgauskas is making almost $1M a year for every point he's averaging. Plus, that team is mediocre. They're 3-7 in their last 10 and if the playoffs started today they would play Toronto in first round (4/5 matchup) and they would probably lose. You can attribute my criticism of their play to bad coaching but I think it goes deeper than that. ...and for those bringing up Jerry West's days with the Lakers, i'm not referring to those. He was the GM of the Lakers starting in 1982 -- his success there goes without saying. My point is he's been with Memphis since 2002 and has nothing to show for it. No playoff wins and the team is currently in rebuild/firesale mode.
Yeah, and Larry was the guy who got him. I'm always happy with the moves Larry pulls off. He usually gets equal or better value for his trades. Getting Al Harrington this off-season using the TE he got earlier just shows careful, methodological planning. Even with all the misfortune Indiana's been having these past few seasons, they've been hanging tough, and I have to say that part of that is due to the professionalism Bird's advocating. I can't ever remember him getting great picks though.
I think these guys are either good head coaches or GMs (though some GMs could be good assistant coaches). And some are in the wrong position. Bird should be a coach Isiah should stay a coach Dumars should stay a GM Paxson should stay a GM (or asst coach I think) Personally, I think Ainge is doing fine. He needs to make a move...but they're poised for one. They almost pulled one off in the offseason.. he either needs to make a huge move or blow it up by moving Pierce. But either way, some great young pieces. Jefferson looks like the real deal. McHale coulda been a coach. He needs to be bounced like Matt Millen in Detroit should be. Kiki great job for the most part. Mullin deserves more time--made some poor decisions, but got rid of most of them (Fisher, Dunleavy, Murphy) and has a good young group right now.
