John Gabriel

[JigglyPuff]

Can you give me some info on him? Good? Bad?

[theTHIEF]

he got fired...

[Optimus_Steel]

Drafting, very bad.........

[JigglyPuff]

What about the fact that he won executive of the year in 1999-2000? He can't be all that bad. I'm asking because he's interviewing for the Knicks GM position.

[surflawyer]

Can you give me some info on him? Good? Bad?

Both .... its good for us if we start negotiating any sort of trade with NY and just plain bad for you. Expect to give us David Lee and your first for a S&T Pat Garrity.

[surflawyer]

What about the fact that he won executive of the year in 1999-2000? He can't be all that bad. I'm asking because he's interviewing for the Knicks GM position.

1999-2000 ...... hummmm isnt that the year we gave up Maggette, Billups and Harpring to sign McGrady and Grant Hill.

[EasternMagic]

baddddd and now he might be in NY man the knicks are just stacking up the negatives

[Edrock]

Questionable signings, (GHill on crutches, Shawn Kemp, Patrick Ewing) questionable drafting ( eh... too many to mention), and tunnel vision when it came to constructing a team. He put all of his eggs in Tim Duncan's basket TWICE, got rebuffed both times, and lost out on some opportunities, his salary purges cost the Magic some promising young players (Ben Wallace, Corey Maggette, the Suns draft pick the eventually became Amare Stoudemire).

Despite all of these flaws, I think he's the perfect man for the Knicks in the short term. If there's one thing Gabriel was able to do it was dump salary!!

[AdamTheGreek]

John makes Isiah look like a genius.

[magictreat]

Can you give me some info on him? Good? Bad?

The man CAN'T DRAFT A DECENT PLAYER, even if his life depend on it....

[Max Power]

Gabriel had his pitfalls sure, but I thought he was a pretty good GM for several years. He kept the team afloat for several seasons after O'Neal took off, with us still being a competitive team. We weren't championship material, but we were in the playoffs most of those years. Of course trying to snag Tim Duncan and Grant Hill was a big risk, and he got burned by both, but Mcgrady became a star here. Too bad he just couldn't do anything about Hill and that contract. I think NY would probably be ok with him as GM if they give him some time.

[theTHIEF]

I tell you what, I would never knock him for brining in Hill or McGrady, or any of the moves he made in order to sign those two, that's just absurd. There wasnt a GM in the league that would not have done the same things if they were presented with the opportunity of signing 2 of T-Mac/Hill/Duncan...things happen...it is what it is...

[Cigamodnalro]

Very good communicator, well liked by players and other executives. Very bad judge of talent.

[craig01]

He conceded too much power to the coaches when it came to drafting players (Chuck Daly-Johnny Taylor, Doc Rivers-Hunter/Sasser)

Gabriel was very crafty and creative in dealing with cap management.

[macdalejax]

He's perfect for rebuilding the Knicks considering the GM talent pool that's available now.

[JigglyPuff]

Well he did trade Horace Grant for the rights to Maggette lol.

You guys forget that even if he is GM he wont be calling the shots. He'll just be the guy working the phones and presenting deals to Walsh. He's a good basketball man to have IF he gets hired.

[UKMagic]

Don't expect any gems in drafts, especially with later picks.

Will dump the salary from the Knicks...

Is better than Isiah

I'd class him as ambitious and with the NY market, that's pretty dangerous.

Don't hate on Gabe for the Hill and Mac deals, you're judging him in hindsight.

To sum it up, not a top grade GM, but not bottom of the ladder either. Don't let him draft players, even let Isiah do that! But knows how to work the salary cap and I reckon he'd find ways to dump big contracts and kick start the rebuilding process.

[UCF]

He's the perfect guy to get your team under the cap if you ask me. The man is a pro at ditching contracts!

People forget his whole goal during that time was to rid the Magic of contracts and I think he did really well at that. Yes we gave up Billups, Wallace, Maggette.... But at that point they were not even close to the players they are today. A lot of teams have made deals that in the long run weren't the best. If the Magic actually got Tim Duncan (which was a real possibility) he would still have his job today. He did land T-Mac and Grant Hill (yes Grant Hill who was at that time considered a top 10 player).

I blame Doc Rivers for the horrible drafts and it is true he does give in to the coaches a bit too much. Hopefully he's learned that is not his key to success. Also, judging by the talent that Portland has. I would say he's had any input on their current roster than his scouting skills haven't been that bad and improved.

He'll make the deals to get you ready for 2010. You can bank on that.

[N4U|Redux]

Yes we gave up Billups, Wallace, Maggette.... But at that point they were not even close to the players they are today.

Ah, so not recognizing talent is a great thing out of one of the preeminent execs in a franchise? LOL

I'm not saying those guys were the obvious diamonds they've become, but I'm also not sitting in a GM seat and winning executive of the year.

A lot of teams have made deals that in the long run weren't the best. If the Magic actually got Tim Duncan (which was a real possibility) he would still have his job today. He did land T-Mac and Grant Hill (yes Grant Hill who was at that time considered a top 10 player).

I doubt Duncan would've stayed with the Grant Hill situation. He'd have demanded a trade as well, Hill plagued our franchise.

I blame Doc Rivers for the horrible drafts and it is true he does give in to the coaches a bit too much.

A bit too much? I don't know, he just doesn't seem to be very good at judging talent that isn't starring you in the face. If I recall correctly, we almost took Eddie Jones over Tmac because he was more established, but I believe Jones turned us down. He also sucked at drafting regardless of who you blame -- again, a talent which requires judging how good a player will/can be, not how good they are currently.

He'll make the deals to get you ready for 2010. You can bank on that.

Gabe is superb at working with contracts, hopefully he'll defer talent decisions to Walsh though. He could work out well in NY.

[Edrock]

Wasn't Gabe the guy that lost Shaq?