Other Notable Wizards' Front Office Hires (John Thompson III & Sashi Brown)

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

Wizards Hire John Thompson III and Sashi Brown to join the front office.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254972/Wizards-Hire-John-Thompson-III-To-Run-Athletic-Development-Engagement-Department

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254969/Wizards-Hire-Sashi-Brown-As-Chief-Planning-And-Operations-Officer


The Sashi Brown hire is the only front office hire that has me somewhat worried so far; I don't know the responsibilities of an NFL vice president, but hopefully they're a lot different than what Brown will be asked to do running the Wizards' organization.

Interesting hire to say the least. Hopefully Leonsis comes away looking a lot wiser this time around, when everything settles.

[queridiculo]

Does the Michael Longabardi hire belong here?

Cavs fans appear very enthused about the move.

https://realcavsfans.com/index.php?threads/fire-mike-longabardi.48421/

A few quotes..

This ass nugget is running the defense —which has been in rapid decline since the day he got hired from the Phoenix Suns...

Do you hire your defensive coach from the Phoenix Suns ??

Do you bring spicy mustard to a hot sauce party ??

The answers are pretty obvious... Totally understand it’s early but I’ve got my panic panties on and I need to see someone fall on our Nike Hypercool Goodyear sword for this lethargic play and this is the guy...

Longbardi has got to go. He has been a disaster. His defense has been scrapped multiple times buy this same team! He overcomplicates the defense so that it cannot be implemented.

Longabardi is Lue's man...why people think he was Griff's because he coached in Phoenix while he wasn't there is besides me.

People are also missing that he was Doc's defensive coordinator in Boston after Thib's left for 5 seasons, quite a few of those years leading them to the #1 defense in the league...he didn't cut his teeth running defenses in Phoenix.

Still believe we just straight up don't have the personnel to run his base defense. Only time we had the right group was when we had Timo. His entire defense, which it was in Boston, is all about being flexible with PnR coverages, and running guys off the 3 point line and into your rim protector.

Just, we don't have a KG, or a prime Kendrick Perkins, or even Timo back there to a) make those PnR coverage calls, or b) protect the rim at a high level.

Definition of a scapegoat right now, because if he's fired, nothing will change, unless firing him changes who plays for the Cavs.

[Shoe]

Sashi Brown is known for analytics/ trading down in the draft and hoarding picks. He's not making any GM decisions, but he'll probably express his opinions to Sheppard. Seems like one of his bigger roles is charismatic young guy in the front office who can engage players.

[FAH1223]

I'll be the first one to say it. This sounds like a disaster. Quote me in 2 years.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

Does the Michael Longabardi hire belong here?

Cavs fans appear very enthused about the move.

https://realcavsfans.com/index.php?threads/fire-mike-longabardi.48421/

A few quotes..

This ass nugget is running the defense —which has been in rapid decline since the day he got hired from the Phoenix Suns...

Do you hire your defensive coach from the Phoenix Suns ??

Do you bring spicy mustard to a hot sauce party ??

The answers are pretty obvious... Totally understand it’s early but I’ve got my panic panties on and I need to see someone fall on our Nike Hypercool Goodyear sword for this lethargic play and this is the guy...

Longbardi has got to go. He has been a disaster. His defense has been scrapped multiple times buy this same team! He overcomplicates the defense so that it cannot be implemented.

Longabardi is Lue's man...why people think he was Griff's because he coached in Phoenix while he wasn't there is besides me.

People are also missing that he was Doc's defensive coordinator in Boston after Thib's left for 5 seasons, quite a few of those years leading them to the #1 defense in the league...he didn't cut his teeth running defenses in Phoenix.

Still believe we just straight up don't have the personnel to run his base defense. Only time we had the right group was when we had Timo. His entire defense, which it was in Boston, is all about being flexible with PnR coverages, and running guys off the 3 point line and into your rim protector.

Just, we don't have a KG, or a prime Kendrick Perkins, or even Timo back there to a) make those PnR coverage calls, or b) protect the rim at a high level.

Definition of a scapegoat right now, because if he's fired, nothing will change, unless firing him changes who plays for the Cavs.

Front office hire that has me somewhat worried so far:

1. Sashi Brown
1a. Michael Longabardi

[DCZards]

Good moves with JT3 and Brown. It’s all about changing the organization’s culture and identity.

[Illmatic12]

Wizards Hire John Thompson III and Sashi Brown to join the front office.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254972/Wizards-Hire-John-Thompson-III-To-Run-Athletic-Development-Engagement-Department

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254969/Wizards-Hire-Sashi-Brown-As-Chief-Planning-And-Operations-Officer


The Sashi Brown hire is the only front office hire that has me somewhat worried so far; I don't know the responsibilities of an NFL vice president, but hopefully they're a lot different than what Brown will be asked to do running the Wizards' organization.

Interesting hire to say the least. Hopefully Leonsis comes away looking a lot wiser this time around, when everything settles.

Brown doesn’t have a basketball related role. Will mostly be an advisor on the operations-side for all Monumental teams

[Shoe]

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[Jay81]

there isnt a guy Id rather want more than the guy who has run the cleveland browns!

[prime1time]

Does the Michael Longabardi hire belong here?

Cavs fans appear very enthused about the move.

https://realcavsfans.com/index.php?threads/fire-mike-longabardi.48421/

A few quotes..

This ass nugget is running the defense —which has been in rapid decline since the day he got hired from the Phoenix Suns...

Do you hire your defensive coach from the Phoenix Suns ??

Do you bring spicy mustard to a hot sauce party ??

The answers are pretty obvious... Totally understand it’s early but I’ve got my panic panties on and I need to see someone fall on our Nike Hypercool Goodyear sword for this lethargic play and this is the guy...

Longbardi has got to go. He has been a disaster. His defense has been scrapped multiple times buy this same team! He overcomplicates the defense so that it cannot be implemented.

Longabardi is Lue's man...why people think he was Griff's because he coached in Phoenix while he wasn't there is besides me.

People are also missing that he was Doc's defensive coordinator in Boston after Thib's left for 5 seasons, quite a few of those years leading them to the #1 defense in the league...he didn't cut his teeth running defenses in Phoenix.

Still believe we just straight up don't have the personnel to run his base defense. Only time we had the right group was when we had Timo. His entire defense, which it was in Boston, is all about being flexible with PnR coverages, and running guys off the 3 point line and into your rim protector.

Just, we don't have a KG, or a prime Kendrick Perkins, or even Timo back there to a) make those PnR coverage calls, or b) protect the rim at a high level.

Definition of a scapegoat right now, because if he's fired, nothing will change, unless firing him changes who plays for the Cavs.

Meh, there team sucks. I’ll judge him based on what happens here. Defense isn’t complicated. It’s not like he’s made up his own defensive principles that no one else implements.

[doclinkin]

I like these additions. I think there should be someone looking at an overarching philosophy of how both the Wizards and GoGo should build themselves. Sounds like the Browns philosophy was trading back and getting more chances, combined with cutting edge analytics. Sounds like as with The Process it bore fruit only right after they fired the guy who built it. I like that he’s coming to the NBA with new eyes and can question the way things have always been done.

And with JT3 we get a guy who can look at players career development. So many players get their individual trainers etc. Ok cool. But where do you want to end up in three years. What are your team goals and individual goals. How can you make smart choices that lead to success. This is franchise that drafted 18 yr old Kwame Brown and let him eat fried chicken for a year and throw away his clothes because he didn’t know how to do laundry. Hell no. We should have had personal chefs and nutritionists and financial consultants and people against whom to get bad business ideas and people setting up opportunities for players to improve in the off-season etc etc etc. Life coaches in some cases, concierge service in the case of more mature players. Gilbert Arenas should never have been the only person mentoring Nick and JaVale. I’m not saying JT3 should be their nanny. But a coach, a mentor. Setting up opportunities to meet those HOF Georgetown Alumni who played for his dad. Introducing them to charities and business leaders.

Shoot the NBA is poised to start letting high school kids back in. This franchise will be ahead of the curve if we basically establish ourselves as NBA University. How to make it in the league and then be successful afterwards.

Seems smart to me.

[keynote]

Sashi Brown: a Hampton grad who started his legal practice in DC. #localties?

Jokes aside, I'm excited about his hire, if only because it speaks to a commitment to improving the overall professionalization of the organization. I've made fun of the urinal cakes like everyone else, but if Sashi and other smart folks can find organizational synergies that others haven't spotted yet, that might result in a competitive advantage in our player development or in FA pitch meetings.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

It'll be interesting to see how Brown's NFL experience translates to the NBA, working in a different capacity.

Sheppard and the front office are at least showing a willingness to explore different avenues to assemble a winning product...I like it.

[doclinkin]

I like that Ted is talking about throwing massive budget into things like coaching staff hires in Tommy’s budget.

Hopefully that carries over into Sashi’s Budget as well. One ‘systems’ area we’ve know the Wizards need to innovate is their training department and medical staff. Sounds like they are doing so in hiring Dr Medina from Barcelona, and giving him control over this department.

I think Ernie liked having a medical excuse. But if year after year we hear the narrative that we have lost more starter hours to injury than anyone in the league, well that’s not “bad luck”, clearly we are doing something wrong.

If we can get a Phoenix Suns level sports medicine and training team then we will be doing well. If we have nutritionists and sports therapists and acupuncture and hypnotherapy or I don’t care what. It only makes sense to me.

And biophysical analytics. If we have someone at the top who is able to look at load management and overrule coaches that want to grind Players into the ground and enforce a real plan for rest and recuperation and analysis of possessions and performance, I’m all for it.

[The Consiglieri]

Sashi Brown is known for analytics/ trading down in the draft and hoarding picks. He's not making any GM decisions, but he'll probably express his opinions to Sheppard. Seems like one of his bigger roles is charismatic young guy in the front office who can engage players.

I can't express how ecstatic I am at the Sashi Brown hire. I've been begging and pleading (w/no real hope of actually having said dreams come true) for the Redskins to hire Brown ever since he was idiotically fired by the Browns for the crime of saving the franchise from two straight decades of horse manure, really three if you think about it. As Matt Kelley and Evan Silva outlined a year ago, it was Brown, and not John Dorsey that built this Browns team. He dynamited the foundations, tore it down to the studs, and was fired because the idiot owner didn't have the vision or good sense to let him finish the project. All the things Dorsey was able to do after destroying the Chiefs Cap and getting fired for it a year earlier? None of that happens without Brown. He eschewed QB in a sketchy class so they could the 1.01 in back to back years to get two of the most valuable commodities in sports: Elite pass rushers and of course, franchise QB's. He executed the rebuild so perfectly that even after Dorsey wasted assets w/stupid trades and signings, the team still had plenty of cap space and draft pick assets to land guys like OBJ. Have to give some credit to Dorsey for not botching the 1.01 in 2018, and for not making too many mistakes w/his final touches but honestly, dig under the hood in Cleveland, and you'll find just about everything good that has happened has its roots in Sashi Brown's management decisions regarding the rebuild.

[The Consiglieri]

there isnt a guy Id rather want more than the guy who has run the cleveland browns!

I'm going to appear redundant here, but it's crucial to give Brown the credit that idiots like Dorsey aim to steal (and many of us called exactly what happened when Sashi Brown was fired and afterwards).

Again, let's make it simple.

Sashi was brought in when the Browns were spiraling towards rock bottom.

Rather than try a quick fix, he set about on a full scale demolition approach, piling up cap room, and acquiring draft capital at any and every opportunity.

Some of his moves were criticized, like eschewing QB with top draft picks in '16 and '17 because he wasn't sold on the consensus #1's in either class. Two years later, he's clearly been proven right.

#1 Goff: While he's piled up stats, few if any view him as a top ten QB.
#2 Wentz: He passed up on Wentz as well. Why? My guess is, sketchy competition, sketchy injury history and sketchy overage issues. I think Wentz is as good as advertised, but he's also been incredibly injury prone.
#3 Trubisky: He's looked like a bust, and nowhere near as good as good as Mahomes or Watson so far.

He also may have refused to trade for AJ McCarron (2nd or 3rd rounder, I forget), rumors are he nixed the deal, driving Hue Jackson up a wall in the process (fully acknowledged moron at this point) and probably helping to get him fired. Who was right? Brown of course.

It's simple, he gave John Dorsey a mountain of cap space and picks to work with including the 1.01 he tanked for in a QB loaded class to land the Browns the QB they'd been searching for (at the time it was believed to be Rosen or Darnold going into the season, w/Josh Allen a dark horse, it became Mayfield). He also gave the team several linchpin defenses pieces and plenty of assets for the offense as well.

People tag him w/the horrendous job done in Cleveland. They are wrong, he tanked the team, put them in sweet position, and then the idiot criminal owner fired him before he could finish the job AND KEPT HUE Freaking Jackson instead. Those of us in the analytics community, or just fans and readers of their pieces like me, called that Dorsey would get the credit and crap on Brown's work the second he was hired, and surprise, look at what he did.

Let noone deceive you. The Browns renaissance is thanks to a Brown himself, not Dorsey, not the owner, and not the current coach either.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

there isnt a guy Id rather want more than the guy who has run the cleveland browns!

I'm going to appear redundant here, but it's crucial to give Brown the credit that idiots like Dorsey aim to steal (and many of us called exactly what happened when Sashi Brown was fired and afterwards).

Again, let's make it simple.

Sashi was brought in when the Browns were spiraling towards rock bottom.

Rather than try a quick fix, he set about on a full scale demolition approach, piling up cap room, and acquiring draft capital at any and every opportunity.

Some of his moves were criticized, like eschewing QB with top draft picks in '16 and '17 because he wasn't sold on the consensus #1's in either class. Two years later, he's clearly been proven right.

#1 Goff: While he's piled up stats, few if any view him as a top ten QB.
#2 Wentz: He passed up on Wentz as well. Why? My guess is, sketchy competition, sketchy injury history and sketchy overage issues. I think Wentz is as good as advertised, but he's also been incredibly injury prone.
#3 Trubisky: He's looked like a bust, and nowhere near as good as good as Mahomes or Watson so far.

He also may have refused to trade for AJ McCarron (2nd or 3rd rounder, I forget), rumors are he nixed the deal, driving Hue Jackson up a wall in the process (fully acknowledged moron at this point) and probably helping to get him fired. Who was right? Brown of course.

It's simple, he gave John Dorsey a mountain of cap space and picks to work with including the 1.01 he tanked for in a QB loaded class to land the Browns the QB they'd been searching for (at the time it was believed to be Rosen or Darnold going into the season, w/Josh Allen a dark horse, it became Mayfield). He also gave the team several linchpin defenses pieces and plenty of assets for the offense as well.

People tag him w/the horrendous job done in Cleveland. They are wrong, he tanked the team, put them in sweet position, and then the idiot criminal owner fired him before he could finish the job AND KEPT HUE Freaking Jackson instead. Those of us in the analytics community, or just fans and readers of their pieces like me, called that Dorsey would get the credit and crap on Brown's work the second he was hired, and surprise, look at what he did.

Let noone deceive you. The Browns renaissance is thanks to a Brown himself, not Dorsey, not the owner, and not the current coach either.

From the outside looking in, this sounds like what I felt took place with Mark Jackson, Steve Kerr, and the Warriors; not suggesting that Kerr passed himself off as the architect of what we see now, but I think he's looked at as being the savior responsible for their success, much like Dorsey is with the Browns'.

Good to know, because I was panicked when I first Brown's name being linked to the Wiz.

[The Consiglieri]

From the outside looking in, this sounds like what I felt took place with Mark Jackson, Steve Kerr, and the Warriors; not suggesting that Kerr passed himself off as the architect of what we see now, but I think he's looked at as being the savior responsible for their success, much like Dorsey is with the Browns'.

Good to know, because I was panicked when I first Brown's name being linked to the Wiz.

https://soundcloud.com/rotounderworld/hue-jackson-football-podcast

If you listen from around the 19 minute mark, they go from cocoon hires, to a discussion of Sashi Brown versus John Dorsey. Evan Silva is one of the most respected fantasy guys from rotoworld, believe he moved on to a bigger platform since then.

The Josh Allen references were dumped by both of them if memory serves. Mayfield was Kelley's #1 QB in the class by late January, I believe he was Silva's by February but I need to double-check the latter.

[trast66]

This all sounds good, trying a new structure and these specific guys.

But I’m still not pleased that Scott Brooks is the coach.

[doclinkin]

This all sounds good, trying a new structure and these specific guys.

But I’m still not pleased that Scott Brooks is the coach.

Scott Brooks was not at the press conference....

But Tommy did cite his developmental team in their ability to teach and improve players. And sounds like Brooks was excited about the attitude and mindset of the guys coming in.