Clippers Offer GM Job to Thunder Exec. Michael Winger

[Quake Griffin]

Per Woj.


Discuss.


Ninja Edit: Deal expected soon.

[Neddy]

excellent.

glad the doc's chronies are getting pushed out, one at a time.

[MartinToVaught]

Mike Winger, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant general manager/team counsel

Those with an intimate knowledge of Thunderology say the strength of the structure in Oklahoma City is in large part due to the complementary quality of the Weaver-Winger duo. Whereas Weaver excels as a talent evaluator, Winger is process-driven and exceptionally well-organized, skills that are more coveted than ever as front offices (and their budgets) grow exponentially larger.

Relationships with the league office serve a team well, and Winger would bring that strength to any organization. He initiates many of the Thunder's front-end conversations with other NBA teams and is one of the more competent CBA-heads in the NBA. Like Weaver, Winger has an awareness of his limitations and would pursue the sharpest basketball personnel people if given the top job.

A couple of business-side folks volunteered that, with the cap number exploding and organizations spending more than ever, they anticipate seeing even more team counsel/administrative types at the helm of basketball operations. If that prediction plays out, Winger will soon be in an owner's suite making his case for the position.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/presents18995570/nba-front-office-prospects-watch

[MartinToVaught]

Read on Twitter

[Quake Griffin]

excellent.

glad the doc's chronies are getting pushed out, one at a time.

Woj's article said he'd have to report to Lawrence Frank. I'm not sure if you consider Frank a crony or not.


Still feels good to get another cook in the kitchen that has a fresh perspective from Doc's cronies.

[JGOJustin]

Another fantastic get. What a summer for the LAC Front Office. The commitment to becoming a world class FO is obvious and appreciated.

[Neddy]

excellent.

glad the doc's chronies are getting pushed out, one at a time.

Woj's article said he'd have to report to Lawrence Frank. I'm not sure if you consider Frank a crony or not.


Still feels good to get another cook in the kitchen that has a fresh perspective from Doc's cronies.

so it's not a rebuild but a patch work. well? at least bringing a fresh set of eyes who learned from the best in business couldn't hurt.

[nickhx2]

agree

you're gonna have a lot of people still going on about how ballmer is dumb or a bad owner or hasn't accomplished anything. you'll find them to be shortsighted people who don't understand what the word progress means, or what the words big picture, for that matter.

[nickhx2]

excellent.

glad the doc's chronies are getting pushed out, one at a time.

Woj's article said he'd have to report to Lawrence Frank. I'm not sure if you consider Frank a crony or not.


Still feels good to get another cook in the kitchen that has a fresh perspective from Doc's cronies.

so it's not a rebuild but a patch work. well? at least bringing a fresh set of eyes who learned from the best in business couldn't hurt.

i don't see what the problem is with frank? he's been doing quite a lot of positive things since he's been given free reign. frank is a valuable asset to us and having him dedicated to the front office while relegating doc to the bench has only been good for the club.

[Neddy]

agree

you're gonna have a lot of people still going on about how ballmer is dumb or a bad owner or hasn't accomplished anything. you'll find them to be shortsighted people who don't understand what the word progress means, or what the words big picture, for that matter.

there are?

who wouldn't want to have the richest man in all pro sports in North America run your team, who actually has no intention to make money off of it but is an avid fan of the sport himself?

I mean, he is no Al Davis, but nobody is. seems that Jerry guy in Dallas has ruined his own franchise by being micro-manager. I like Big Steve's style. it's hard to be dumb and rise to the CEO of the microsoft. I guess those people must don purple and piss?

[Quake Griffin]

Woj's article said he'd have to report to Lawrence Frank. I'm not sure if you consider Frank a crony or not.


Still feels good to get another cook in the kitchen that has a fresh perspective from Doc's cronies.

so it's not a rebuild but a patch work. well? at least bringing a fresh set of eyes who learned from the best in business couldn't hurt.

i don't see what the problem is with frank? he's been doing quite a lot of positive things since he's been given free reign. frank is a valuable asset to us and having him dedicated to the front office while relegating doc to the bench has only been good for the club.

I don't have a problem with Frank but I think some people dont believe he can be insulated from Doc.

Not me.
And I will stop speaking for others after this post. They can tell you themselves.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[Neddy]

Woj's article said he'd have to report to Lawrence Frank. I'm not sure if you consider Frank a crony or not.


Still feels good to get another cook in the kitchen that has a fresh perspective from Doc's cronies.

so it's not a rebuild but a patch work. well? at least bringing a fresh set of eyes who learned from the best in business couldn't hurt.

i don't see what the problem is with frank? he's been doing quite a lot of positive things since he's been given free reign. frank is a valuable asset to us and having him dedicated to the front office while relegating doc to the bench has only been good for the club.

well, I think the Doc's Burmuda Triangle of Doc himself with Frank and his son are a sensitive subject matter. I still feel that the rumor of Doc nixing the deal to bring in Melo from NYC for the price of Jamal and Austin falls on the shoulders of Frank as much as on Doc.

don't get me wrong, I love this team and its make up as it is currently built, can't wait to see what Beverly and Milos can do together with Gallo in fold. but CP3-JJ-Melo-Blake-DJ starting 5 with Melo and Blake sliding a spot each for a small ball lineup with say, Sindarious( or slot in any name you wish) in the wing would have been more than entertaining, but possibly able to compete with the team in the BayArea.

[nickhx2]

agree

you're gonna have a lot of people still going on about how ballmer is dumb or a bad owner or hasn't accomplished anything. you'll find them to be shortsighted people who don't understand what the word progress means, or what the words big picture, for that matter.

there are?

who wouldn't want to have the richest man in all pro sports in North America run your team, who actually has no intention to make money off of it but is an avid fan of the sport himself?

I mean, he is no Al Davis, but nobody is. seems that Jerry guy in Dallas has ruined his own franchise by being micro-manager. I like Big Steve's style. it's hard to be dumb and rise to the CEO of the microsoft. I guess those people must don purple and piss?

believe it or not those people exist in this very forum and claim to be clipper fans.

[Neddy]

agree

you're gonna have a lot of people still going on about how ballmer is dumb or a bad owner or hasn't accomplished anything. you'll find them to be shortsighted people who don't understand what the word progress means, or what the words big picture, for that matter.

there are?

who wouldn't want to have the richest man in all pro sports in North America run your team, who actually has no intention to make money off of it but is an avid fan of the sport himself?

I mean, he is no Al Davis, but nobody is. seems that Jerry guy in Dallas has ruined his own franchise by being micro-manager. I like Big Steve's style. it's hard to be dumb and rise to the CEO of the microsoft. I guess those people must don purple and piss?

believe it or not those people exist in this very forum and claim to be clipper fans.

guess I haven't been paying much attention lately to our little home.

[Quake Griffin]

agree

you're gonna have a lot of people still going on about how ballmer is dumb or a bad owner or hasn't accomplished anything. you'll find them to be shortsighted people who don't understand what the word progress means, or what the words big picture, for that matter.

there are?

who wouldn't want to have the richest man in all pro sports in North America run your team, who actually has no intention to make money off of it but is an avid fan of the sport himself?

I mean, he is no Al Davis, but nobody is. seems that Jerry guy in Dallas has ruined his own franchise by being micro-manager. I like Big Steve's style. it's hard to be dumb and rise to the CEO of the microsoft. I guess those people must don purple and piss?

It's a learning process. The people who take runs at him as an own are typically, as fans, invested in seeing the Clippers lose/look bad (Warriors/Laker fans/ Clipper haters).

I knew it'd be a learning process for him, so I've been patient with him and this offseason is what I expected from him. Do I wish he would've done this earlier? Sure, but I can respect him having the courage of his conviction to stick with his pick early on. I also would rather him be calculated and precise with adding a GM to our FO. I never wanted him to fire Doc and start a "search" for a GM while we have no GM or structure.

We have structure here. We're adding from a position if strength and not desperation.

I'm comfortable.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[Neddy]

guess I have been way too invested into my dodger season in last few months, but having Steve is a treasure. I do wish to move on now, but I do appreciate Doc as the head coach, just the same way I appreciated Mike Dunleavy Sr ( I know that is still a controversial topic)as our coach. adding any viable member from OKC is a good thing, and ultimately, given enough time, I trust Steve to bring us a championship.

yes, I too am comfortable.

[clips4ever]

Steve Ballmer is one of the best owners in the league and that is not an overstatement. He is committed to creating a culture and creating a world class franchise from top to bottom.

[playaloc916]

so it's not a rebuild but a patch work. well? at least bringing a fresh set of eyes who learned from the best in business couldn't hurt.

i don't see what the problem is with frank? he's been doing quite a lot of positive things since he's been given free reign. frank is a valuable asset to us and having him dedicated to the front office while relegating doc to the bench has only been good for the club.

I don't have a problem with Frank but I think some people dont believe he can be insulated from Doc.

Not me.
And I will stop speaking for others after this post. They can tell you themselves.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

With West giving input, I don't think they would bring him aboard just for the sake of bringing someone new to the FO. My guess is at the time Frank was promoted to FO from assistant coach, that was a more of a makeshift move, but with how everything has gone, they had to keep running with it and maybe now they are realizing they also need someone who has more experience with the contract/cba/numbers side of things. It's funny how we had basically just Doc running the whole show, then we added Frank, then West, now Winger... At first it seems like it's overkill, but actually it shows how dangerous of a game we were playing with essentially one guy with total control.

I like Frank, he's a well spoken guy, but I don't think he projects anywhere near the amount of confidence and professionalism that Olshey did. I'll forever associate Frank with the clip of him swearing on tv:

Watch on YouTube

[esqtvd]

Olshey is why I didn't think Doc was so bad

http://oregonsportsnews.com/why-the-portland-trail-blazers-need-a-change-in-management/

[Neddy]

i don't see what the problem is with frank? he's been doing quite a lot of positive things since he's been given free reign. frank is a valuable asset to us and having him dedicated to the front office while relegating doc to the bench has only been good for the club.

I don't have a problem with Frank but I think some people dont believe he can be insulated from Doc.

Not me.
And I will stop speaking for others after this post. They can tell you themselves.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

With West giving input, I don't think they would bring him aboard just for the sake of bringing someone new to the FO. My guess is at the time Frank was promoted to FO from assistant coach, that was a more of a makeshift move, but with how everything has gone, they had to keep running with it and maybe now they are realizing they also need someone who has more experience with the contract/cba/numbers side of things. It's funny how we had basically just Doc running the whole show, then we added Frank, then West, now Winger... At first it seems like it's overkill, but actually it shows how dangerous of a game we were playing with essentially one guy with total control.

I like Frank, he's a well spoken guy, but I don't think he projects anywhere near the amount of confidence and professionalism that Olshey did. I'll forever associate Frank with the clip of him swearing on tv:

Watch on YouTube

well? there are a few of us still around who appreciated what Neil Olshey did for us. the jury is out for Lawrence, but I am very skeptical.
thanks for digging up this gem. I have done away with cable/satellite TV and only able to watch livestream TV, so yeah, never saw this.