Clippers Hire Mark Hughes as Assistant GM

[Quake Griffin]

Discuss


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[MartinToVaught]

Hughes, a veteran executive with the Knicks organization since 2007, also interviewed for the Atlanta Hawks GM position earlier in the offseason. He has been one of the key figures in the Knicks' recent draft success, which includes Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, the recently re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr., Channing Frye and Danilo Gallinari. The Knicks, of course, have made some poor picks in that span but have been largely successful in the draft.

http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0679536860447383479-4

[Ranma]

Read on Twitter

[nickhx2]

let's hope he provides positive impact

[Ranma]

This is a deflating hire for me, especially with my hopes for Ryan West, but I figured Ryan was still loyal to the Lakers and considers them family. I'm admittedly biased against Mark Hughes given his previous time with Doc in Orlando. He's considered a key figure in the Knicks' front office when they selected Porzingis and Gallinari. Plus, he was part of the group that selected Tim Hardaway, Jr. just ahead of the Clippers when I was hoping for him to fall to us during the 2013 draft instead of Doc's first selection for the organization in Reggie Bullock.

I hope he learns from Jerry West and will be more involved with Trent Redden and Mike Winger instead of being another avenue for Doc to exert influence through. As assistant general manager that is to be expected.

Despite the highlights of the Knicks' draft record during his time there, I'm not really impressed. Granted it's been better than Doc's time leading the Clippers' front office, but come on, that's a low bar to clear.

I certainly hope he will contribute in a positive manner, but I'm going to start out skeptical until he shows us something. As I've mentioned before, my tepid enthusiasm hasn't just been reserved for Hughes as I've stated how I initially had similar feelings when the Dodgers tabbed Billy Gasparino to lead our baseball draft efforts. At least Hughes apparently has a background in talent evaluation.

[nickhx2]

if ryan west were gonna be here he'd likely have already jumped ship, so we shouldn't have expected his name to be in the running this far down the line. and unless we get it from the horse's mouth i don't think we can know if he was actually a viable option or not.

furthermore there's no reason west can't still come over in the event some major changes occur with the lakers. having one doesn't mean you can't have the other, necessarily.

[Ranma]

You're right about Ryan West, but even if he is not a part of the equation, Mark Hughes, by himself and based on his own merits, is not exactly an impressive hiring IMO. Even before the hirings of Mike Winger and Trent Redden, the community wasn't exactly excited when news first broke that the Clippers were interviewing him and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

[Ranma]

Also, as I just tweeted to Wammy Giveaway, I'm suspicious of whether hiring Hughes was a concession to Doc after Ballmer stripped Doc of his President of Basketball Operations title. As I've acknowledged, this may be unfair to Hughes, but I don't find being a part of the Knicks' front office to be impressive despite their relative success at the draft recently.

Read on Twitter

Knicks Director of Pro Player Personnel Mark Hughes will join the Los Angeles Clippers as an assistant general manager, league sources confirm to ESPN. Hughes, a veteran executive with the Knicks organization since 2007, will join Trent Redden as an assistant general manager under new Clippers GM Mike Winger and Lawrence Frank, who will oversee basketball operations as executive vice president of basketball operations. New president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry have added members to their front office but were hopeful of keeping Hughes, according to sources. Hughes' agreement with the Clippers was first reported by The Vertical.

[esqtvd]

Hughes, a veteran executive with the Knicks organization since 2007, also interviewed for the Atlanta Hawks GM position earlier in the offseason. He has been one of the key figures in the Knicks' recent draft success, which includes Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, the recently re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr., Channing Frye and Danilo Gallinari. The Knicks, of course, have made some poor picks in that span but have been largely successful in the draft.

http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0679536860447383479-4

Still, The House That Doc Built.* Lawrence Frank is his man, and in the off-season of last year, Doc also brought on development guru John Welch, and replaced the entire scouting staff. One area I wondered about--esp after what seems to be the wasted pick on David Michineau--was international scouting. Looks like Doc alumnus [Orlando Magic] Mark Hughes has some cache there. At least he might know who to talk to, although if you look up the Spurs' vaunted draft record, they haven't had a big international score since Goran Dragic in 2008, and Dragic never even suited up for them.** The international talent pool is no great secret anymore, but you gotta at least keep up with the Joneses.

If not yet the destination for basketball talent, the Clips are sure a destination for ambitious FO talent. There's gonna be a lot of action around here the next few years, I think. Ballmer's ready to play.

_____________________________
*Except for Jerry West, although Doc claims he'd been after The Logo for years, and new GM Michael Winger, who's a lawyer and presumably won't be involved in basketball decisions. [Not the "who" but the "how."]

**Traded for the immortal Malik Hairston + a second-rounder that became the modestly useful DeJuan Blair. Ooops.

[clips4ever]

I also like this move. That one ESPN article that had promising front office executives and said Michael Winger will get the basketball personnel since he isn't a scouting and talent evaluator guy was right on. Every person in our FO has a specific role, and the role for Hughes is for player evaluation and scouting. Love this offseason.

[Sofia]

You get an assistant GM! And you get an assistant GM!

[Quake Griffin]

This is a deflating hire for me, especially with my hopes for Ryan West, but I figured Ryan was still loyal to the Lakers and considers them family. I'm admittedly biased against Mark Hughes given his previous time with Doc in Orlando. He's considered a key figure in the Knicks' front office when they selected Porzingis and Gallinari. Plus, he was part of the group that selected Tim Hardaway, Jr. just ahead of the Clippers when I was hoping for him to fall to us during the 2013 draft instead of Doc's first selection for the organization in Reggie Bullock.

I hope he learns from Jerry West and will be more involved with Trent Redden and Mike Winger instead of being another avenue for Doc to exert influence through. As assistant general manager that is to be expected.

Despite the highlights of the Knicks' draft record during his time there, I'm not really impressed. Granted it's been better than Doc's time leading the Clippers' front office, but come on, that's a low bar to clear.

I certainly hope he will contribute in a positive manner, but I'm going to start out skeptical until he shows us something. As I've mentioned before, my tepid enthusiasm hasn't just been reserved for Hughes as I've stated how I initially had similar feelings when the Dodgers tabbed Billy Gasparino to lead our baseball draft efforts. At least Hughes apparently has a background in talent evaluation.

Had?

You're on the Gasparino wagon now?

[Quake Griffin]

Still, The House That Doc Built.*

Call it whatever you want as long as he isn't involved much if at all (hopefully not at all) in front office affairs.

[Ranma]

Had?

You're on the Gasparino wagon now?

It's more like he's on mine now since he started taking more risks in higher upside prospects in the first round. As long as he continues with mixing this approach with what he normally does in the later rounds, I'll be onboard the Billy bandwagon.

It's been encouraging not only because he drafted Jeren Kendall in the first round in the most recent draft, but he also targeted Blake Rutherford in the previous one when both of us and Neddy had to revise our draft plans when our initial targets were swooped up. If I recall correctly, Rutherford was the guy all of us wanted of what was left at some point until the Yankees took him 2 picks right before us. Gasparino eventually took Gavin Lux over Delvin Perez, but Lux has started to pick up his batting while Perez seems to be struggling of late.

Plus, as you are well aware, I'm still upset we passed on Alex Scherff for a prospect projected to be no more than a relief arm. Granted it's more complicated given the capped-salary limitations but we should have found a way to make that work.

Despite my misgivings on the Lux and Scherff selections, I like what Gasparino has been doing and trying to do overall. I do want to not worry about his selections so much, but he still does not garner as much faith than Logan White from me.

Sorry for the Dodgers talk, folks. We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

[esqtvd]

Still, The House That Doc Built.*

Call it whatever you want as long as he isn't involved much if at all (hopefully not at all) in front office affairs.

I think [hope] he realized his limitations, and also that there's a lot of drudgery involved that he has no real interest in. It was Doc who has rounded up the help to do all the boring stuff. If he lost some power, I think he ceded it willingly or at least without much protest.

What I think Doc meant when he said he didn't want to rebuild in Boston was that he didn't want to be Danny Ainge's employee, to be handed a roster, advised/ordered who to play and develop, and be fired at Danny's will. That sucked. Here he's still first among equals, answering only to Ballmer. That'll do.

[og15]

This is a deflating hire for me, especially with my hopes for Ryan West, but I figured Ryan was still loyal to the Lakers and considers them family. I'm admittedly biased against Mark Hughes given his previous time with Doc in Orlando. He's considered a key figure in the Knicks' front office when they selected Porzingis and Gallinari. Plus, he was part of the group that selected Tim Hardaway, Jr. just ahead of the Clippers when I was hoping for him to fall to us during the 2013 draft instead of Doc's first selection for the organization in Reggie Bullock.

I hope he learns from Jerry West and will be more involved with Trent Redden and Mike Winger instead of being another avenue for Doc to exert influence through. As assistant general manager that is to be expected.

Despite the highlights of the Knicks' draft record during his time there, I'm not really impressed. Granted it's been better than Doc's time leading the Clippers' front office, but come on, that's a low bar to clear.

I certainly hope he will contribute in a positive manner, but I'm going to start out skeptical until he shows us something. As I've mentioned before, my tepid enthusiasm hasn't just been reserved for Hughes as I've stated how I initially had similar feelings when the Dodgers tabbed Billy Gasparino to lead our baseball draft efforts. At least Hughes apparently has a background in talent evaluation.

Well considering the difference in where the teams were picking, if they didn't generally pick better players than the Clippers, that would be a big problem.

[og15]

Hughes, a veteran executive with the Knicks organization since 2007, also interviewed for the Atlanta Hawks GM position earlier in the offseason. He has been one of the key figures in the Knicks' recent draft success, which includes Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, the recently re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr., Channing Frye and Danilo Gallinari. The Knicks, of course, have made some poor picks in that span but have been largely successful in the draft.

http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0679536860447383479-4

Still, The House That Doc Built.* Lawrence Frank is his man, and in the off-season of last year, Doc also brought on development guru John Welch, and replaced the entire scouting staff. One area I wondered about--esp after what seems to be the wasted pick on David Michineau--was international scouting. Looks like Doc alumnus [Orlando Magic] Mark Hughes has some cache there. At least he might know who to talk to, although if you look up the Spurs' vaunted draft record, they haven't had a big international score since Goran Dragic in 2008, and Dragic never even suited up for them.** The international talent pool is no great secret anymore, but you gotta at least keep up with the Joneses.

If not yet the destination for basketball talent, the Clips are sure a destination for ambitious FO talent. There's gonna be a lot of action around here the next few years, I think. Ballmer's ready to play.

_____________________________
*Except for Jerry West, although Doc claims he'd been after The Logo for years, and new GM Michael Winger, who's a lawyer and presumably won't be involved in basketball decisions. [Not the "who" but the "how."]

**Traded for the immortal Malik Hairston + a second-rounder that became the modestly useful DeJuan Blair. Ooops.

IIRC that job was actually given to and done by Lawrence Frank as the 2016 offseason was when Ballmer/Doc and Frank promoted Frank and put him in charge of revamping the front office. I don't even think Doc had time to be doing all that stuff. Also, the job Frank did over last summer and through the year in making all those changes and additions is why he has retained his Basketball Operations role.

[esqtvd]

Hughes, a veteran executive with the Knicks organization since 2007, also interviewed for the Atlanta Hawks GM position earlier in the offseason. He has been one of the key figures in the Knicks' recent draft success, which includes Kristaps Porzingis, Willy Hernangomez, the recently re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr., Channing Frye and Danilo Gallinari. The Knicks, of course, have made some poor picks in that span but have been largely successful in the draft.

http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0679536860447383479-4

Still, The House That Doc Built.* Lawrence Frank is his man, and in the off-season of last year, Doc also brought on development guru John Welch, and replaced the entire scouting staff. One area I wondered about--esp after what seems to be the wasted pick on David Michineau--was international scouting. Looks like Doc alumnus [Orlando Magic] Mark Hughes has some cache there. At least he might know who to talk to, although if you look up the Spurs' vaunted draft record, they haven't had a big international score since Goran Dragic in 2008, and Dragic never even suited up for them.** The international talent pool is no great secret anymore, but you gotta at least keep up with the Joneses.

If not yet the destination for basketball talent, the Clips are sure a destination for ambitious FO talent. There's gonna be a lot of action around here the next few years, I think. Ballmer's ready to play.

_____________________________
*Except for Jerry West, although Doc claims he'd been after The Logo for years, and new GM Michael Winger, who's a lawyer and presumably won't be involved in basketball decisions. [Not the "who" but the "how."]

**Traded for the immortal Malik Hairston + a second-rounder that became the modestly useful DeJuan Blair. Ooops.

IIRC that job was actually given to and done by Lawrence Frank as the 2016 offseason was when Ballmer/Doc and Frank promoted Frank and put him in charge of revamping the front office. I don't even think Doc had time to be doing all that stuff. Also, the job Frank did over last summer and through the year in making all those changes and additions is why he has retained his Basketball Operations role.

Yes, Frank was promoted first, in June, iirc. It still goes down on Doc's ledger. Dunno about you, but when I'm chief cook and bottlewasher, I fire myself from the scut work as often as possible.

[Ranma]

Well considering the difference in where the teams were picking, if they didn't generally pick better players than the Clippers, that would be a big problem.

Precisely, though, I do have to give props on the Kristaps Porzingis selection. Not only was it a great pick, but it was an unpopular one in New York at the time as Knicks fans were without a first-round selection for consecutive years prior to that and the Big Apple locals wanted a more known and familiar quantity back then.

[esqtvd]

Well considering the difference in where the teams were picking, if they didn't generally pick better players than the Clippers, that would be a big problem.

Precisely, though, I do have to give props on the Kristaps Porzingis selection. Not only was it a great pick, but it was an unpopular one in New York at the time as Knicks fans were without a first-round selection for consecutive years prior to that and the Big Apple locals wanted a more known and familiar quantity back then.

Verdict: TRUE

Most mock drafts I'm googling have Mudiay at #4 after KAT, D'Angelo, and Okafor. Justise Winslow slips in on some. Porzingis the consensus Magic pick at #5. This mock gets it right--for all you Sam Hinkie fans out there--

http://www.nbadraftroom.com/p/2015-nba-mock-draft.html

Porzingis was the brave call at #3. The consensus pick--the "safe" pick--Okafor, is garbage. Hinkie can wheel and deal and bluff and raise like Dolly Brunson, but he don't know jackspit about basketball.