Ranma wrote:Hype97 wrote:Sources say the team has plans to add another assistant general manager to its brain trust.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20405545/la-clippers-hire-long-cleveland-cavaliers-executive-trent-redden-assistant-general-manager
This was the last sentence, and possibly the most interesting, from the Kevin Arnovitz article on ESPN about hiring Redden. I must second Ranma's previous sentiments and feel like we could still use another talent evaluator in the mix. I also agree that Ryan West would be an ideal fit. But, regardless what direction we take, it's nice to hear from a reputable source that we aren't complacent yet and continue to be aggressive despite what we have managed to pull off so far.
I've previously mentioned how Lucas Hann's apparent resentment of Justin Russo's credibility pushed him to be looked at as a credible source. As such, he's probably in more of a position to spread false info as an eager and willing mouthpiece for teams and agents, but in this instance, I think it's safe to say that the organization already has someone in mind and that negotiations are underway. See the linked screenshot below.
I'm curious who it is if that is indeed the case. The secrecy has members on the Clips Nation comments section speculating and hoping that it's Ryan West. Obviously, I feel the same in hoping that the sensitivity of the situation indicates that it's the highly regarded son of the Logo who is currently employed by our crosstown rival Lakers.
However, the Clippers have previously been linked to Mark Hughes and Shareef Abdur-Rahim per Los Angeles Times beat writer Broderick (Brad) Turner, but both were already publicly reported, so Hann would be making much ado about nothing if it were either one of them, which is not something I would put past him, by the way. Also, Turner previously quoted an anonymous executive saying that it was likely that Ryan would join his father Jerry West, but that was when Ballmer hired the elder West as consultant.
Hughes is currently with the Knicks but is also another Doc crony from their time together in Orlando. Abdur-Rahim, on the other hand, is a well thought of up-and-comer, but he also lacks experience and is not either the pure statistical guru or talent evaluator we could use.
At the same time, Hann responded to a comment that also specifically referenced Ryan West. Could Hann have reached out to Ryan's agent for that comment about "ongoing negotiations" with the Clippers? Man, I hope so.
It looks like Hann is joking that he's the one being considered for the position and can't comment on the ongoing negotiations in that quote to me.