Re: Kings To Hire BJ Armstrong As Assistant GM

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Sacramento Kings are set to hire BJ Armstrong as an assistant general manager under Scott Perry, sources told Shams Charania of ESPN.

Armstrong has been working as a player agent over the past two decades.

Perry was hired as the team's new general manager in mid-April. 

The Kings also retained Doug Christie on a multi-year contract this offseason. 

Via Shams Charania/ESPN

[puja21]

Seems like exactly the kind of hire a Vivek-owned team would make for their front office

... A former agent who is most well known for very public financial mistakes related to CBA nuances

e.g.
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=114904402#p114904402

Donatas Motiejunas rejected a 37 million dollar contract from the Rockets on BJ Armstrong's advice.

"Motiejunas' agent, B.J. Armstrong, told ESPN: "We know our rights. We don't have a problem with the Rockets at all. We understand the rules fully.""

He ultimately went on to earn ~$637K total in the rest of his NBA career and play exactly 40 more games for the Pelicans and Spurs over the next 3 seasons.

This was an RFA match by Houston of a Nets offer sheet... the CBA allowed Houston to "not match" another 6M (because it was incentives), so Armstrong told him not to report. The Rockets released him on December 15th, he played 37 games for New Orleans on a minimum ($576K) and then went unsigned until 2019 when he played 3 more games with the Spurs and earned <$60K (prorated)

Sources:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18227996/donatas-motiejunas-report-houston-rockets-6-million-difference-offer-sheet
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18219753/donatas-motiejunas-show-physical-houston-rockets-match-offer-sheet

[Sactown4Life]

That is....interesting for sure, but is only one example. Are there others? Perry wouldn't bring this guy on board if he didn't know his stuff. He needs a qualified assistant to help him out...not going to give out a million+ dollar contract to him just cause he's his buddy.

[Future Coach]

Seems like exactly the kind of hire a Vivek-owned team would make for their front office

... A former agent who is most well known for very public financial mistakes related to CBA nuances
]

Not going into the details of what he has done as an agent, but BJ is a former NBA champion with the Bulls, who then became an agent after his playing career. That is what he is most well known for when it comes to the NBA.

[puja21]

That is....interesting for sure, but is only one example. Are there others? Perry wouldn't bring this guy on board if he didn't know his stuff. He needs a qualified assistant to help him out...not going to give out a million+ dollar contract to him just cause he's his buddy.

"Are there others?"

Yes, several.

Armstrong was the agent who convinced Josh Jackson to refuse to meet with Boston during the Fultz/Tatum draft -- they did this after Stevens/Ainge were **already in the air** on a flight to see Jackson workout in-person. Then-Suns GM Ryan McDonough (now a regular host on SXM NBA) has several times since strongly implied they colluded with Armstrong on this path to get Jackson to PHX. Ainge super mad about it then but obviously Boston is happy w/ the result now.

Armstrong was DRose's agent during his "extra year sitting out" era with the "graduations and meetings" speech etc... all the stuff that went over in Chicago like a lead pipe. And Armstrong's agent platform has always been "life after basketball" -- he marketed his niche w/ Wasserman as "looking for business partners when they retire."

There was another story about Armstrong (potentially) lying RE: Biyombo's real age to Hennigan -- but to be fair the origins of that story went back to before BB was drafted -- when Armstrong was NOT his agent. Magic should've done their own due diligence. (Ironically, Perry was on Hennigan's staff when this terrible deal was inked).

^An argument can be made all of these situations are simply examples of "agent works for the player" and FO relationships don't matter.
But he is said to have a reputation of being stubborn/short sighted/ even arrogant.

And while the Biyombo deal was lauded, it was built on the infamous "cap-spike" offseason... Huge money, and Biyombo was convinced to opt out of a good playing situation w/ Massai to get it, so that's not nothing -- especially for a guy who didn't even get a QO from Jordan after his rookie deal. But this was the same offseason as the KD/Hamptons signing, when guys like Timofey Mozgov landed 17%+ of the salary cap because of the one-time spike that CP3 and Lebron orchestrated. Every agent was hitting home runs.

The prior offseason, Armstrong couldn't get Draymond market value <-- a move actually made the Warriors appear "light years ahead" of the league. Green signed for less than Dragic (MIA), Lopez (BKN), Millsap (ATL), Deandre (LAC), Jimmy (CHI), Love (CLE) etc... This despite Dray just finishing 2nd in DPOTY, 1st team all defense, and key player on championship.

Armstrong was later at the helm when Draymond rejected a near-max extension (Dame/AD/Beal per year money) from GSW. Dray later ended up firing Armstrong over that rather publicly and using Klutch to leverage the Warriors. His signing day came just weeks after the KD/Klay injuries, and with KD leaving -- so Klutch was able to claw back the same offer Armstrong had rejected (only longer).

Short-sighted seems accurate. Months before this Kings hire, Armstrong was on a podcast trashing the modern game and modern player for being too 3PT heavy and one dimensional.

RE: "Perry wouldn't bring this guy on board if he didn't know his stuff"
I'm don't have a strong opinion on Perry either way, but what are his specific credentials other than "able to work with a difficult owner".
He worked for Hennigan when Orlando missed the playoffs every year and was a bottom 10 offense every single season (they are still bottom 10 btw -- 13 straight years now). And he worked for Steve Mills during the forgettable post-Phil teardown (dumping Melo, Kristaps and drafting Frankie Smokes and Kevin Knox in the lottery.

Time will tell of course but I'm not expecting major success out of Vivek/Perry/Armstrong. This just feels like Kings business as usual.

[puja21]

Seems like exactly the kind of hire a Vivek-owned team would make for their front office

... A former agent who is most well known for very public financial mistakes related to CBA nuances
]

Not going into the details of what he has done as an agent, but BJ is a former NBA champion with the Bulls, who then became an agent after his playing career. That is what he is most well known for when it comes to the NBA.

fair.

Poorly written but my thought was "most well known as an agent for"

[Sactown4Life]

That is....interesting for sure, but is only one example. Are there others? Perry wouldn't bring this guy on board if he didn't know his stuff. He needs a qualified assistant to help him out...not going to give out a million+ dollar contract to him just cause he's his buddy.

"Are there others?"

Yes, several.

Armstrong was the agent who convinced Josh Jackson to refuse to meet with Boston during the Fultz/Tatum draft -- they did this after Stevens/Ainge were **already in the air** on a flight to see Jackson workout in-person. Then-Suns GM Ryan McDonough (now a regular host on SXM NBA) has several times since strongly implied they colluded with Armstrong on this path to get Jackson to PHX. Ainge super mad about it then but obviously Boston is happy w/ the result now.

Armstrong was DRose's agent during his "extra year sitting out" era with the "graduations and meetings" speech etc... all the stuff that went over in Chicago like a lead pipe. And Armstrong's agent platform has always been "life after basketball" -- he marketed his niche w/ Wasserman as "looking for business partners when they retire."

There was another story about Armstrong (potentially) lying RE: Biyombo's real age to Hennigan -- but to be fair the origins of that story went back to before BB was drafted -- when Armstrong was NOT his agent. Magic should've done their own due diligence. (Ironically, Perry was on Hennigan's staff when this terrible deal was inked).

^An argument can be made all of these situations are simply examples of "agent works for the player" and FO relationships don't matter.
But he is said to have a reputation of being stubborn/short sighted/ even arrogant.

And while the Biyombo deal was lauded, it was built on the infamous "cap-spike" offseason... Huge money, and Biyombo was convinced to opt out of a good playing situation w/ Massai to get it, so that's not nothing -- especially for a guy who didn't even get a QO from Jordan after his rookie deal. But this was the same offseason as the KD/Hamptons signing, when guys like Timofey Mozgov landed 17%+ of the salary cap because of the one-time spike that CP3 and Lebron orchestrated. Every agent was hitting home runs.

The prior offseason, Armstrong couldn't get Draymond market value <-- a move actually made the Warriors appear "light years ahead" of the league. Green signed for less than Dragic (MIA), Lopez (BKN), Millsap (ATL), Deandre (LAC), Jimmy (CHI), Love (CLE) etc... This despite Dray just finishing 2nd in DPOTY, 1st team all defense, and key player on championship.

Armstrong was later at the helm when Draymond rejected a near-max extension (Dame/AD/Beal per year money) from GSW. Dray later ended up firing Armstrong over that rather publicly and using Klutch to leverage the Warriors. His signing day came just weeks after the KD/Klay injuries, and with KD leaving -- so Klutch was able to claw back the same offer Armstrong had rejected (only longer).

Short-sighted seems accurate. Months before this Kings hire, Armstrong was on a podcast trashing the modern game and modern player for being too 3PT heavy and one dimensional.

RE: "Perry wouldn't bring this guy on board if he didn't know his stuff"
I'm don't have a strong opinion on Perry either way, but what are his specific credentials other than "able to work with a difficult owner".
He worked for Hennigan when Orlando missed the playoffs every year and was a bottom 10 offense every single season (they are still bottom 10 btw -- 13 straight years now). And he worked for Steve Mills during the forgettable post-Phil teardown (dumping Melo, Kristaps and drafting Frankie Smokes and Kevin Knox in the lottery.

Time will tell of course but I'm not expecting major success out of Vivek/Perry/Armstrong. This just feels like Kings business as usual.

Didn't know you were a BJ historian, was that all your knowledge or did you AI & paste? lol Perry is good and respected around the league, why would he bring in some clueless dork that doesn't know anything? Even if managing isn't his strongest point, BJ's connections with other agents/agencies could prove useful and pay off. Probably a big reason we couldn't actually improve the Kings for two straight years, MM could've been working his ass of for all we know, was just unable to get anything done because a) Monte is a newbie and people don't really want to do deals with him. b) It's the Kings and people don't want to do deals with them. A big reason, we had to wait 10 days after free agency to get DeRo, everyone else was gone. I would've preferred them going after Avdija and maybe Monte did too, but the Wiz just didn't want to work with him and the Kings and chose Portland instead.
And besides, if you look at the past record of most agents, I bet you can find instances where they have screwed things up for clients here and there. I'm just getting sick of the negative narrative most Kings 'fans' seem to be taking on all of the new hires.

[Sactown4Life]

Seems like exactly the kind of hire a Vivek-owned team would make for their front office

... A former agent who is most well known for very public financial mistakes related to CBA nuances

e.g.
https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=114904402#p114904402

Donatas Motiejunas rejected a 37 million dollar contract from the Rockets on BJ Armstrong's advice.

"Motiejunas' agent, B.J. Armstrong, told ESPN: "We know our rights. We don't have a problem with the Rockets at all. We understand the rules fully.""

He ultimately went on to earn ~$637K total in the rest of his NBA career and play exactly 40 more games for the Pelicans and Spurs over the next 3 seasons.

This was an RFA match by Houston of a Nets offer sheet... the CBA allowed Houston to "not match" another 6M (because it was incentives), so Armstrong told him not to report. The Rockets released him on December 15th, he played 37 games for New Orleans on a minimum ($576K) and then went unsigned until 2019 when he played 3 more games with the Spurs and earned <$60K (prorated)

Sources:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18227996/donatas-motiejunas-report-houston-rockets-6-million-difference-offer-sheet
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18219753/donatas-motiejunas-show-physical-houston-rockets-match-offer-sheet

This SI writer has a good breakdown and valid points on why it's a decent hire.
https://www.si.com/nba/kings/sacramento-kings-news/kings-announce-former-nba-champion-as-assistant-gm-01jtpj048qr6
Also, I didn't see anything of Armstrong's client lists that showed Green was one of his. The main biggest players I saw were Rose, JJ & McGee.
His take on the state of today's game is completely accurate, all people care about is 3s. No one cares about rebounding or defense any longer.

[puja21]

Didn't know you were a BJ historian, was that all your knowledge or did you AI & paste?

My AI is knowing 2 guys currently in FOs (I used to work for a power 5 CBB team years ago and they made it a career)

Just have to be being interested enough to ask questions on the groupchat & probe for opinions and stories

[puja21]

Also, I didn't see anything of Armstrong's client lists that showed Green was one of his.

Like i said the firing was very public.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/832923/2019/02/23/thompson-heres-why-draymond-green-is-set-to-sign-with-lebron-james-agent/

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/draymond_green_s_ex-agent_on_why_warriors_forward_left_him_for_klutch_bay/3934/

BOTH Dray and BJ Armstrong were podcasting about this in real time

[puja21]

His take on the state of today's game is completely accurate, all people care about is 3s. No one cares about rebounding or defense any longer.

I agree Rebounding has become secondary but I'd argue everyone who wins is defending at least in the playoffs (e.g. Indiana right now)

Boston, OKC, and Cleveland all defended great all year (but OKC still can't rebound even w/ iHart)

The critique of the NBA/players feels on brand for Armstrong's (supposed) reputation of arrogance / stubborn.
Just meaning, there is little/zero diplomacy to crapping all over the players you are about to be overseeing and wooing in free agency.

Plus he's walking into an NBA that is three heavy and this gives off a bit of "other 29 are doing it wrong"

If the Kings get a generational player somehow (or don't) his personality and style probably won't matter either way (same as an NFL coach with a great QB). Talent trumps all.

But we can still look back and evaluate his decisions 3-4 years from now and decide if this was a good hire.
^Meaning, he can lose on circumstances and still have been a good GM in a bad situation.
Or he could land a Wemby and we can look at his picks and signings and trades and say "this guy didn't have it"

I just think the evidence from his agent career points to this being a concerning hire.

[puja21]

This SI writer has a good breakdown and valid points on why it's a decent hire.
https://www.si.com/nba/kings/sacramento-kings-news/kings-announce-former-nba-champion-as-assistant-gm-01jtpj048qr6

Personally this doesn't sell me at all. It reads like a combination of team copy about the hire paired w/ a sunny reading of his resume.

But I'm not a Perry guy either so makes sense I'd be not onboard

[Sactown4Life]

His take on the state of today's game is completely accurate, all people care about is 3s. No one cares about rebounding or defense any longer.

I agree Rebounding has become secondary but I'd argue everyone who wins is defending at least in the playoffs (e.g. Indiana right now)

Boston, OKC, and Cleveland all defended great all year (but OKC still can't rebound even w/ iHart)

The critique of the NBA/players feels on brand for Armstrong's (supposed) reputation of arrogance / stubborn.
Just meaning, there is little/zero diplomacy to crapping all over the players you are about to be overseeing and wooing in free agency.

Plus he's walking into an NBA that is three heavy and this gives off a bit of "other 29 are doing it wrong"

If the Kings get a generational player somehow (or don't) his personality and style probably won't matter either way (same as an NFL coach with a great QB). Talent trumps all.

But we can still look back and evaluate his decisions 3-4 years from now and decide if this was a good hire.
^Meaning, he can lose on circumstances and still have been a good GM in a bad situation.
Or he could land a Wemby and we can look at his picks and signings and trades and say "this guy didn't have it"

I just think the evidence from his agent career points to this being a concerning hire.

I can agree, I see where you're going with it. If he makes the same bad choices as an agent, then who's to say he won't with other basketball decisions.
I'm still on board with what he's saying about 3s though. Some teams are shooting basically every other possession. Kind of ruining the game. But not anyone's fault until the League and Silver do something about it. They've got to come up with something to eliminate the signficance/obsession with the shot. Maybe get rid of the corner 3, or move the line back 2 ft. Expand the court to 98' x 54' maybe?