The new look decisive front office

[MasterIchiro]

This might be merged with the dreaded pirate Cho thread, but in light of the decision to pony up 20 million to a player who had hardly established himself with the team aside from supposedly raining threes in this season's early scrimmages and showing range in the preseason, along with the decision to decline the option of a first round pick, I thought I would cite some observations that make me think major big decisions could arrive soon regarding bigger names on the roster.

Front office decisions have been bold lately in addition to the Lamb extension and decline of PJ 's option (in no particular order):

Gordon Hayward was offered a max contract.

Biz, a number 7 overall pick was let go for nothing.

Kemba was extended.

MKG was extended.

Gerald Henderson, a fan favorite, was dealt alas.

Noah Vonleh, a top ten pick in a deep draft was traded for a contract year player.

Lance Stephenson, a lightening rod for controversy was brought into a Boy Scout clubhouse and promptly dumped.

Al Jefferson has been benched in a 4th quarter and cut out of the core of the offense.

The Celtics pick package was declined for the right to pick Kaminsky when the team already had Cody.

These are all tough choices yet they seem to fit a pattern that we're moving more towards a perimeter offense with ball movement.

They need to make a decision with Al and not wait.


I think we see something bold on the horizon like the team cutting ties with Al Jefferson sooner than later. Some will say there is no market if not a tiny one, but we thought the same about Lance and felt dismayed by the process. It took a while but he could have been here 3 years, yet it ended up being only one.

[Braggins]

I hope you are right. If we would have kept Biz I think we could just buy out AL and not even worry about trying to find a trade partner, but as is we probably need to try to get another halfway decent big to be a backup. I know you hate Biz, but someone like that is perfectly fine as a backup and even spot starter when the rest of the roster is littered with shooters. Id actually feel really confident about our playoff chances if we could just swap Al for Biz. Realistically, someone like Ajinca would also be perfectly fine as a backup if we could find a deal that would work. Al's contract and absolute suckiness makes it hard to trade him.

[MasterIchiro]

I hope you are right. If we would have kept Biz I think we could just buy out AL and not even worry about trying to find a trade partner, but as is we probably need to try to get another halfway decent big to be a backup. I know you hate Biz, but someone like that is perfectly fine as a backup and even spot starter when the rest of the roster is littered with shooters. Id actually feel really confident about our playoff chances if we could just swap Al for Biz. Realistically, someone like Ajinca would also be perfectly fine as a backup if we could find a deal that would work. Al's contract and absolute suckiness makes it harrd to trade him.

Dont be discouraged. If they stall with the AL ephant in the room, it's obviously not due to fear. They're not afraid to shake things up lately. They would like to give Al a fair chance to adapt his game but we both know that wont happen.

[DY_nasty]

Look at what Cho's being compared against though - how hard was it for him to simply be better than the last guy?

Paying out for a guy that simply showed up to work twice in a row in a hope that it'll one day be a great bargain deal is just plain bad business.

Bold isn't always good. Also, his 'contingency' ideas are routinely non-existent. When things don't go great, plan B is almost always pedestrian with him. He got us out of the hole, and that's awesome and I'll always be appreciative. But giving away money out of legitimate fear and apprehensiveness regarding RFA shows that he's not a guy you want with a franchise taking on those next important hurdles.

In the world of guaranteed contracts, you make guys earn their money until you lose the option. Not before.

[Braggins]

The fact that we are willing to make moves has me excited (maybe anxious is a better word lol), but yeah, I'm not exactly overflowing with confidence that any moves we make will be good.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

I think that a lot of this goes back to MJ, and I mean that in a good way. Cho talked about MJ telling him to stop putting time and effort into things that weren't working. Cho seems to have really taken that to heart.

I see less of that with Cliff, but maybe some with benching Al when needed this year. Still I think that Cliff is far more set in his ways than Cho is.

[Braggins]

I don't think its too likely, but I honestly hope the Lamb/PJ situation is an indication that Clifford's days are numbered. I would rather us trade Al first and give Clifford a shot with no Al, but I will take either at this point. I want something to change that bad. To be clear though, I wouldn't want us to fire Clifford if it meant Ewing or Silas being the HC for any extended period of time, only if we had a replacement lined up or planned on finding someone within like a month or so.

[DY_nasty]

If we do all of this to hire Thibs I'm done.

[Braggins]

^^^ Yeah that would be brutal

[ChokeFasncists]

What's wrong with Thibs?

How about MdA?

[Cheeze]

Cho is a genius if the club wins. He's toast if they don't. Simple math, if you ask me.

That said, I like Cho's moves, even his draft choices. I wouldn't have passed on Noel, but hey. Cho's done a great job gaining assets while maintaining fiscal responsibility. That's harder to do than we might think. Charlotte's main structural problem is that they lack a superstar, a transcendent talent that'll make the role players more effective. The Hornets need to land a star player somehow, and will remain a mediocre franchise until they do. Again, to me, simple math.

And with apologies to the talented stat-heads on the board, I hate math.

[HornetJail]

What's wrong with Thibs?

How about MdA?

I'd prefer D'Antoni to Thibs with this roster. If Clifford would be alright being demoted to a lead assistant (or associate head coach or whatever), he'd be able to work out the defense, while D'Antoni brings the best out of our offense.

Thibs would absolutely run MKG and Batum into the ground. Guarantee that he would ride MKG harder than he rode Luol Deng or Jimmy Butler.

[DY_nasty]

What's wrong with Thibs?

How about MdA?

both have let the league outgrow them

don't need thibs killing players and driving us further into the hole of all defense+no points and we don't need pringles proving yet again that he's not capable of developing a project

[ChokeFasncists]

Well, they are still pretty good at what they do......

How about this:?

Thibs as the defensive assistant coach and Pringles as the offensive assistant coach.

[MasterIchiro]

The next major decision looming is how to replace Al, externally, internally or a blend? They committed 2 lottery picks to the front court (3 if you count Vonleh). Are they going to go with Cody and/or Frank or will they bring in a veteran presence like Noah?

Another area some say we need to solidify is backup PG. Lin will most likely opt out but I think the front office will reach out to him and retain him (albeit at a higher pricetag).

Then with PJ likely not returning and Lamb still growing, do they spend on SG? I think so.

And with MKG, where does he fit? This could be impacted by what they do at SG.

Next year's roster is tricky but here's what I came up with for a 9 man rotation

Kemba - Lin
Bazemore - Lamb
Batum - MKG
MKG - Kaminsky
Noah - Zeller

This team has better all-around D, better rim protection, better passing and better depth than the current one.

It has fewer minutes for development of Kaminsky and Zeller. Both would have to fight to take over C from Noah.