That assumption is that our current General Manager Larry Harris (GM in title, anyway) would not be allowed by our owner and President of Basketball Operations, Senator Herb Kohl to make any type of significant trade since Harris is in the last year of his contract and might be fired at some point during or after this season, perhaps as the "patsy", "scape goat", etc., or I suppose actually fired because it is warranted (if that is your opinion).
I've seen it argued here that Harris would need to get a contract extension before being allowed to make any significant trade, to eliminate his "lame duck" status first.
That may be the case, but I really do not agree, and I base that on the sum of the communications and observations I've engaged in over the past couple years regarding our front office.
Pretty much everyone with any type of experience in the world of NBA front offices is aware of the dysfunctional front office situation we have here with Herb Kohl, his VPs, lawyers, and cronies, etc.
Larry Harris is viewed in a positive light as a result of this as well as some of the decisions he's been allowed to make or has tried to make only to have those decisions vetoed. He doesn't want to try and make any kind of "desperation move" to try and "save his job" or anything like that (not that he really has that option, exactly). His position is that he would prefer to make moves that are in the best interest of the franchise, because Harris may very well end up remaining as our GM and he'd rather not screw things up for the near future of this franchise just to delay being a scape goat here. He figures that if the lack of that type of move ends up contributing to him getting fired this year, then so be it, because he can just move on to a franchise with a less dysfunctional power structure.
The audience Kohl has primarily concerned himself with is the broader audience of Bucks' fans. The kind that get their Bucks info from the flagship radio station of 620AM, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and the 60 seconds of Bucks coverage (if that) that the local news broadcast provides on a daily basis. Those people don't read RealGM. Those people don't listen to what Sparky and Gery Woelfel say on WSSP. Those people don't know the names of Ron Walter, Mike Burr, etc. and don't understand how involved Kohl is with decisions made for basketball operations. We have finally had one article recently from Michael Hunt that even touches on this topic, and he didn't even get very specific at all. And it was just one article. Senator Kohl can fire Larry Harris and make him a scapegoat for those people. Those that have concerns about the roster? Kohl can blame those concerns on Harris. Those that have concerns about Coach K? Kohl can blame those concerns on Harris. Kohl will basically be saying "Sorry about that, Bucks' fans. But I fired the guy that is responsible for all of that bad stuff, so please give us another chance here."
And many people won't realize they are being duped yet again by the man who has been duping them for most of the 20+ years he has owned the team.
It is not an issue of whether Harris is a "lame duck" or not. It is Kohl and his inner circle who will decide what trades to make or not make, not Harris. Sure, Harris can present his case for a trade to Ron Walter, and Ron Walter can take it to the next step. And if Kohl is interested in having something specific done, he will get the message to Harris via one of the lawyers, just like normal. Why would it matter to Kohl what Harris' status is?
If Kohl decides (via either of the methods in the last paragraph) that a trade should be made, he will direct Harris to make it. Harris could refuse to do it and try and force Kohl to either fire him or let Harris make his own decision, but he's never done that before and likely would yet again just follow Kohl's orders. But this would continue a method of operation that Kohl has engaged in. If Kohl decides a trade should be made, he can have Harris make that trade. Then he can find out how that trade works out as far as the rest of this season goes. If the trade works out well in the short term and we make the playoffs, then Kohl will keep Harris around. If the trade doesn't work out well for the short term and we don't make the playoffs, Kohl can just pile that on Harris too as the scapegoat when firing Harris when the season is over. Then Kohl gets to be the good guy, fire Harris, and hire a new GM to come in and fix things.
Why would Kohl fire Harris, put a new GM (even just someone like Dave Babcock) in place, and then have that GM execute a trade that may not result in the Bucks making the playoffs this year? That makes it more difficult to blame that potential failure on someone else. Kohl has an extreme aversion to being negatively perceived (by the larger audience that I mentioned before). Kohl has set things up like that before, and if he decides a trade should be made prior to the trading deadline, I fully expect him to set things up like that again.
Anyway...
The assumption that I refer to in the thread title really makes me think of Tom Hagen in The Godfather. He was so concerned with Tattaglia (Larry Harris) but, as Hagen came to realize when Don Corleone shared with him a revelation, it was Barzini (Kohl) all along.
Watch the video clip
And I'm sure Epi enjoys the comparison of Harris with a pimp who has less power than he appears to
