NBA: The hidden value of winning and a competent front office
Looking back at the offseason, perhaps winning and strong front office leadership is the key to making a big splash in NBA free agency
The focus for Kevin Durant for this upcoming season should be simple, rehabilitate from his season-ending injury of the Achilles tendon. People were hoping to see him returning faster so he can play for the Brooklyn Nets but that doesn’t appear to be the plan. Durant, in an interview, shot down that idea to set the record straight.
At the same time, he also took somewhat of a shot at the New York Knicks.
"[via New York Daily News]"
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"“I think a lot of fans look at the Knicks as a brand and expect these younger players who, in their lifetime, don’t remember the Knicks being good… I’ve seen the Knicks in the Finals, but kids coming up after me didn’t see that. That whole brand of the Knicks to them is not as cool as let’s say the Golden State Warriors or even the Lakers or the Nets now. The cool thing right now is not the Knicks.”"
Putting aside the direct shot, one could argue that Durant has a point. Kids that watched the NBA normally are routing for the winning team, and in the future, these kids, that grow up watching his team wins, would like to play for their team and win for them.
We can analyze different teams and determine if the point that Durant is touching is right or not. For the sake of this article, we will be analyzing four teams, that have different results with different circumstances.
The LA Clippers
The LA Clippers are one team that one could argue that kids have not necessarily grown up watching them. So why would an elite superstar like Kawhi Leonard decide to sign with them? The answer is simple.
Since the NBA forced Donald Sterling to sell the team, the organization has completely changed. With the help of the new owner, former CEO of Microsoft, Steve Balmer they change from the laughing stock of the league to a contender that players actually want to play for. One should not underestimate the value of having an owner that is eager to make his team a contender, that understands that he is a businessman, not a “basketball man”.
Balmer has put the right people in the right places and trust that they would make the correct basketball decision. With Lawrence Frank as the President of Basketball Operations and Doc Rivers as the head coach, they have a good argument for the best front office in Los Angeles.
During this offseason, they made huge acquisitions in acquiring both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
The LA Lakers
On the other hand, the 16-time NBA Champions have not made the playoffs in six seasons.
With so much disaster happening over the last few years, people forget that all started when Jerry Buss passed away. People forget that the Lakers began this decade with a championship in 2010, which feels like forever ago. With the combination of fail trades (Chris Paul trade) and acquiring the wrong stars, the front office needed to make a change. In the middle of the 2016-17 season, Jeanie Buss decided to fire her brother Jim Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak and replace them with Rob Pelinka as the GM and with former Lakers legend Magic Johnson as President of Basketball Operations. In the last game of the 2018-19 season, Magic decided to step down and, in his place, came Rob Pelinka.
Despite the craziness, why would a player like LeBron James decide to sign with them when he was a free agent in 2018 offseason? The answer is easy because many business opportunities are in Los Angeles and LeBron is also a businessman aside from the fact that his family is living in LA.
Don’t misinterpret that Anthony Davis demanded a trade to the Lakers, one of the main reasons for him to sign was that LeBron is in the roster not for the glamour of the Lakers, and don´t forget that he said that he would test free agency. So, the true test is this upcoming season for the Lakers.
Brooklyn Nets
The Nets are the example that many tanking teams should follow. The transformation from the team that makes one of the worst trades in NBA history to a powerhouse that free-agent superstars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant decided to sign with was quite amazing.
After the brutal trade with the Celtics, in which the Nets lost three unprotected first-round picks and three swap rights in exchange for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry, the Nets, led by Sean Marks, managed to rebuild its brand and become respectable again – even before adding Kyrie and KD.
Summary
As we can see in these different situations, all these teams have one thing in common. And it’s that the front office has a huge weight on overall team success. So, Durant has a point, the most losing franchises of the past decade are the Knicks and Phoenix Suns – and none of them have a great front office situation.
Next. NBA: Potential breakout candidates for every team in 2019-20. dark
Perhaps the key all along to landing the biggest stars lie within the front office, and not all that much in terms of a location or past success.