Grizzlies Hire Stefanski and Promote Wallace

Post #1 » by **SD2042** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:03 am

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--g ... 04473.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/grizzlies- ... --nba.html

Birth of the Cool · Post #2 » by **Birth of the Cool** » Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:20 pm

Ed Stefanski sure can network...the recycle culture of the NBA at it again...the last memorable thing I can remember him doing is calling Toronto on a whim to see if they can get Vince Carter and luckily having Rob Babcock pickup the phone...

This is a guy who hired Michael Curry to be headcoach of the Detroit Pistons...Michael Curry was also a networking guru around the NBA but for sure he was destined to be a failure as a coach no matter how many times commentators would pretend he was a coach on the floor (more like cheerleader & Coach lapdog)

Other than his vast contacts & history with the NBA I really don't see a history of good moves by him. To bad Rod Thorn works for the league now.

dark-child · Post #3 » by **dark-child** » Thu Jul 31, 2014 2:04 pm

There are plenty of times when an executive has the title but is not the decision maker in draft picks and or trades. I can only give you our current GM as an example. Chris Wallace has the title when two of the most panned moves in franchise history went down. The first was the Pau Gasol trade. Yes we eventually made lemonade out of those lemons(Marc Gasol & Zach Randolph) but Wallace received a better offer from Chicago but the owner at the time Michael Heisley was listening to Jerry West who bleeds Laker gold so Gasol ends up with the Lakers and they are gifted two championships.

The second instant was the drafting of Hasheem Thabeet. Hasheem Thabeet was so awful that his agent had the good sense to not let him workout for anyone prior to the draft. Moments after the draft lottery, the ESPN guy was reporting our owner loved Thabeet. Jerry West was once again in his ear telling him he could not pass on the 7ft who would be in the league for the next 15 years. Our owner never changed his decision and the Grizz passed on Ricky Rubio, Steph Curry, James Harden, and Tyreke Evans and it set the franchise back for years. Furthermore at the time we had Marc Gasol so the move was stupid and unneccessary.

I say all this not to defend Stefanski, but just to say because an executive has the title does not mean he called the shot. Stefanski is being brought in on the player personnel side and he has had a good eye for talent like Thaddeus Young while in Philly. The Grizz have been bloody awful in drafting so his skills are needed.