Around the NBA II

[nickhx2]

so this escalated pretty quickly, huh? i'm honestly pretty surprised that doc gets to take over this talented of a team in so little of a turnaround, after his stint with the 76ers. i mean, good for him i guess. personally a little curious if he's learned anything from his last few stops in terms of being more flexible when he needs to be, but i expect not.

[esqtvd]

Doc Rivers Died for their Sins

[playaloc916]

Given who's available, Doc is probably the safest choice. They'll continue doing well during the regular season, but come playoff time, I would not bet on Doc to right the ship if things go off course... but hey, you never know. Maybe his "set it and forget it" style of coaching might work with Giannis and Dame. I wonder who he is going to bring in to his coaching staff?

[wco81]

The thing is, Bucks passed him up in the offseason, hired a first-time coach, which it turns out it was because Giannis didn't want Nurse.

Then apparently Doc was the Bucks consultant during this season? And it's possible that his advice and recommendations contributed to Griffin's firing.

[nickhx2]

possible, yeah

i mean if you had to side between likely and unlikely that was, i feel like by far the rational thing to think would be the former. imagine you're the owner, you've made a lot of wealth for yourself by talking to lots of smart people all around you who know the product better than you do, and when things don't go as planned you seek outside opinions to best inform yourself. certainly plausible, i would think.

[esqtvd]

possible, yeah

i mean if you had to side between likely and unlikely that was, i feel like by far the rational thing to think would be the former. imagine you're the owner, you've made a lot of wealth for yourself by talking to lots of smart people all around you who know the product better than you do, and when things don't go as planned you seek outside opinions to best inform yourself. certainly plausible, i would think.

Pretty much what Ballmer did when he bought the Clippers. Sat back for a year or two, let Doc run things, eventually demoted him from PoBO to just coach, then sacked him when somebody had to take the fall for the Bubble debacle.

Jerry West is still here if Ballmer needs a sounding board, but I think most every major decision is made by Ballmer himself now. Remember, he and the Sixers owner made the Beard trade happen directly.

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[ERClips]

If anyone saw the TNT broadcast of our game against the Lakers, I think Jamal said it best about the Griffin firing & Doc hiring. He didn’t like the way it all went down and felt there’ll be a honeymoon of success before the reality of what that team is sets in. They lost a lot by trading Jrue.

BTW I know Jamal doesn’t bring the comedy like Chuck but he is a thoughtful panelist and has unique intelligent insight to bring to the broadcast. I like what he has to say

[wco81]

3 years, $40 million for Doc to take the Bucks job. That's more than the contract he gave to Austin when he was in charge of basketball operations for the Clippers.

He may still be getting paid from the 76ers.

If the Bucks don't win the title this season or next, they'd probably let him go and he'd get the third year of salary while probably going back to ESPN.

That 2008 title is paying dividends decades later. His salary then must have been a fraction of what he will earn.

But hey more power to him to squeeze the most out of that one ring.

[clipperlover]

That's more than the contract he gave to Austin when he was in charge of basketball operations for the Clippers.

He still made Silver Spoon a lot of money. First, he traded for Spoon rather than pick him up off the street on a minimum deal. Then, because they had his Bird Rights they re-signed him for more than he would have made if the trade never happened (no Bird Rights). In that 1st contract he gave to Spoon, he included a Player option after the 1st year that no other similar player would have been offered. Then, Spoon opted opt and Doc outbid himself in the new deal.

Spoon made millions that other players of similar caliber wouldn't have been able to receive. Those other players didn't have their fathers in a position to unjustly enrich them. Not only did Spoon get unjustly enriched, but his Dad's enrichment caused extra luxury tax implications for Ballmer. You want to see where the Clippers went downhill during that time, you have to look no further than how Spoon was acquired and unjustly enriched.

Other players noticed. Especially when Doc forced SG Lance Stephenson to SF, so Spoon could get more minutes. Lance had no trouble contributing to the Griz after he was traded to them.

[esqtvd]

Austin seems happier than he's ever been. He had a nice 10-year journeyman career but as a #10 pick, he always had the burden of expectations. But now he can just be himself and he's loving it.

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[nickhx2]

If anyone saw the TNT broadcast of our game against the Lakers, I think Jamal said it best about the Griffin firing & Doc hiring. He didn’t like the way it all went down and felt there’ll be a honeymoon of success before the reality of what that team is sets in. They lost a lot by trading Jrue.

BTW I know Jamal doesn’t bring the comedy like Chuck but he is a thoughtful panelist and has unique intelligent insight to bring to the broadcast. I like what he has to say

jamal crawford's someone i would like to see as the analyst for our telecast. i wonder if he was ever considered? not a fan of jim jackson by any means.

jj redick is another player who is well-spoken and thoughtful as well. it'd be kind of a dream to have either him or both him and crawford as the analysts.

anyway, i think jamal's probably right about this but we'll see!

[NickP]

Teams bound for the Eastern conference playoffs are hoping to play the Bucks in the first round. I can understand why.
I could also see some level of tanking in the future just to play the Bucks.

[Captain Ballmer]

Teams bound for the Eastern conference playoffs are hoping to play the Bucks in the first round. I can understand why.
I could also see some level of tanking in the future just to play the Bucks.

I think they will improve in the regular season and probably secure 2nd seed and maybe even go for the first seed if Boston stumbles. However playoffs are definitely another story and could see Heat comfortable on staying play-in level

[MartinToVaught]

I think Jamal said it best about the Griffin firing & Doc hiring. He didn’t like the way it all went down

It was a total snake move by Glenn. It's only not being called out as such because the national media can't be objective with him since he's part of their club.

It's bad enough that he's failed upwards into job #5 when there are brilliant coaches all over the world who can't even get one chance. Obradovic, Laso, Itoudis, Mateo, etc. could coach circles around this guy in their sleep. But it gets a thousand times worse when you realize that he undermined a first-time head coach and stole the job from him before he could even finish his first season. Then he got rewarded for it with a massive contract before coaching a game for the Bucks himself. Why would anyone new even bother trying to be an NBA head coach anymore?

The coaching retread carousel in the NBA is worse than any other sport and Doc is the face of it. Bill Parcells is a million times more accomplished than Doc will ever be and he only got four head coaching jobs in the NFL.

[NickP]

Doc gets hired as a consultant. Gets Griffin fired. Then "consults" his way into the head coaching gig. Why does this semi one hit wonder has this much clout? Friends in media?

[esqtvd]

Joke of the Week

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[MartinToVaught]

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[Captain Ballmer]

Based on the report on wiretap, cap numbers finalized for 2024-25 season and Clippers are set to be a second apron team which will be at $190 million. We are at $170 million already with Kawhi' extension, including player options of PG at $48 M, PJ at $ 11M and Russ at $ 4M. There is no world Harden signs for $20 M annually kind of money so any type of Harden extension will put this team on second apron level for years.

Reminder, with the new cap rules if a team is on second apron level repeatedly, for each year above it, the future first round picks will be set at 30 instead of team' record of the previous year. Why not trade them all

[NickP]

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And now losing to the Blazers. Lol.
I wonder why the mods killed my thread on Doc Rivers' new gig.

[MartinToVaught]

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