MagicTownBaller wrote:Ya know, I was pretty upset about the Dwight Howard trade earlier. I was thinking that "Hennigan is outta his mind!" and "He turned our team into a joke." But, then I was thinking about another team that was pretty similar and was considered a joke of a franchise. Do you know who that other team was? The Seattle Sonics.
Then, I looked up Sam Presti's introductory press conference, where he got introduced as the new general manager of the Seattle Sonics, and everything he said sounded so familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it until I re-watched Hennigan's introductory press conference also. Rob Hennigan says and does everything just like Sam Presti!
In each of their press conferences, they talked about getting better incrementally, talked about wanting to change the culture (I don't know if Presti used the word culture though), talked about wanting to be a professional team, talked about wanting players who WANT to be there. Both were also hired at age 30.
Also, if you look at their transaction history, they're very similar also.
Rob Hennigan
Signed & Traded Power Forward Ryan Anderson to the New Orleans Hornets for Gustavo Ayon
Sam Presti
Signed & Traded Forward Rashard Lewis to the Orlando Magic for a future second round pick
Ron Hennigan
Traded our STAR Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark for Moe Harkless (Rookie), Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic, Al Harrington, Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga, and 5 draft picks (3 first rounders and 2 second rounders) to form another super team in Los Angeles
Sam Presti
Traded the Sonic's STAR Ray Allen and a second round pick (Glen Davis) to the Boston Celtics to form a super team for a first round pick (Jeff Green) and Delonte West.
Rob Hennigan
Hired San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Jacque Vaughn as the head coach of the Orlando Magic
Sam Presti
Hired San Antonio Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo as the head coach of the Seattle Sonics
Do you see the pattern yet? Both are planning for the future. They are both consummate professionals and Hennigan will prove that soon enough. The thing that's funny is, that's only Sam Presti's first year, and he kept making a good decision after good decision that led to the Thunder eventually being as good as they are today.
Point is, I'm a Magic fan until I die and I'm going to be sticking it out and root for my team and be excited about them every time I watch them. I'm going to trust Hennigan and I'm going to trust the process that he is using to build our team. Eventually, we will be a good team again, it may take time, but we will be a good team and a championship contender.
For anyone that wants to watch the Sam Presti press conference, here it is.
http://www.nba.us/sonics/news/presti_video1.html