Frustration can be a big part of a NBA fan’s life – especially when their beloved team is not doing so well. And by ‘not so well’ we don’t just mean regularly losing games and underperforming, we are also talking about the inability to escape this misfortunate spiral.
The fact that it is so easy to tell a bad organization from a good one is what makes the US sports scene so great. The salary capped leagues, the drafts and trade deadlines are making it so easy to notice if a front office is capable of dealing with the present and meanwhile laying the foundations for the future.
There have been good examples throughout the last several seasons. Many organizations underwent rapid changes that got them in a much better situation than before. Think the Warriors, the Lakers, the Sixers or Celtics. Or the Rockets, Jazz and others.
Unfortunately, in that same period of time some teams have either sank to the bottom without any clear plan for the future or have missed on opportunities to improve and stay relevant. In different words – they have been terribly frustrating for their fans.
As already alluded, in the NBA it takes no more than a couple seasons to spot a dysfunctional management. In the following text, to the attention of the reader five teams will be presented – each fitting in that same category of either having an incompetent front office or somebody up the stairs has no idea what they are doing.
Chicago Bulls
If you are not a Bulls fan and a person who does not follow the news as much the infamous duo of GarPax may be unknown to you. However, Gar Forman – the Bulls GM and John Paxson – Basketball Operations VP, are perhaps the two most hated men in the entire city of Chicago.
For many longtime fans they are directly responsible for the many struggles the team has had in the post-Jordan era. To their credit, the great 2009-2012 Bulls squad was put together on their watch and indeed that was somewhat of a short-term revival for the desperate basketball community.
Unfortunately, the team’s slow decay and subsequent collapse also happened on their watch. Or lack of one rather.
Instead of trading Derrick Rose while he was still “that guy” even after the injuries, the management decided to hang on. Which in the long run was a bad mistake. They also had a problem with Luol Deng regarding his treatment by the medical staff. That was swept under the rug as if nothing had happened. Then the Bulls front office missed out big time in the 2014 free agent market by letting Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James slip away.
The only reason, the team managed to stay afloat was because Jimmy Butler was turning into an All-Star while Derrick Rose and crew were playing pedal to the metal basketball. Essentially, that took a toll on their careers but that is another topic.
Both Gar and Paxson knew that that was not going to last long and a rebuild was on the horizon. But instead of trading their players for picks or young pieces, the Bulls front office opened a yard sale that got them nothing substantial. The only trade they might have “won” was the Butler to Minnesota move that brought Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markannen to the Windy City.
Apart from that, the Bulls got nothing worthy in return after the breakup. It sure looked like GarPax were desperately trying to wipe out any memory of the Derrick Rose era with no regard for the team’s interest.
Apart from totally messing up in the big picture, the Bulls front office is also incredibly inadequate when it comes to player management. For instance, instead of trying to fix the situation with Bobby Portis and Nikola Mirotic, the organization just let go off Mirotic for a future pick. Really? Trading away a solid player for crumbs while still having struggling Cameron Payne on the roster? Reminding of how they got Payne in the first place – by trading another seasoned vet in Taj Gibson for… nothing.
And, as if on a mission to prove themselves as wasteful spenders too, the GarPax duo matched Sacramento’s absurd offer for Zach LaVine. Okay, LaVine is great young player who has the potential to be a star. He also pairs well with all the young guys on the team. But he is not worth 19.5 million a year. As a free agent coming back from an injury he would have never gotten more than 15 and that’s on two year contract at best. The Bulls signed him for four guaranteed years!
GarPax better be seeing star potential because if they clog up the pay sheet with underperforming players – so long, so long hopes for a better future.
Orlando Magic
Ever since Dwight Howard left Orlando high and dry the team has been lacking identity. Orlando became a free agent wasteland and rebuilding times were on the horizon. Unfortunately, the Magic’s strategy for the future was a mixture of trying to find “the franchise guy” while trying their best to get high picks.
Sadly, they had little to nothing to offer in trades. So logically, Orlando went for tanking. But instead of doing it all the way to the bottom like Philadelphia or like Atlanta right now, the Magic was trying to somehow stay afloat probably worried by the fact that the Miami Heat was overtaking Florida’s entire NBA market.
As their tanking wasn’t a real breakdown with pick acquisitions and purposeful losing, so was their desperate search for a team star. In a span of five years Orlando was selecting the most hyped up player they could get instead of the player they actually needed. The end result is a team that has no effective rotation, player development or plan for the future.
Drafting Jonathan Isaac was probably the crown jewel of the odd draft choices. In a stacked class Orlando took yet another forward, instead of getting a shooting guard. Who could have they taken – Donovan Mitchell, Malik Monk or Terence Ferguson. All of them would be a more logical choice than Isaac who right now is outshined by other rookie forwards as Kyle Kuzma and John Collins.
All in all, Orlando has at least tried its best with their top picks. Unlike in 2016 Draft, when the Magic pulled off the most obscure senseless move they could have done. They gave up their 11th pick (Domantas Sabonis) and Victor Oladipo (while still on his rookie deal) for OKC’s Serge Ibaka. It’s quite ironic because Oladipo has pretty much become a franchise player for the Indiana Pacers.
Meanwhile, the “Ibaka Experiment” failed since the forward was the answer for none of the many problems the Magic had. So after a while, he was traded to Toronto for Terrence Ross and a pick. Wow! A pretty remorseful sequence of decisions there. It probably costed the franchise some fans but who knows.
As Orlando has yet gone with the flow by drafting Mohammed Bamba at least the hype is an okay excuse for the move. But at some point the front office will have to build a team with a deeper structure not just depend on who is out there for taking and call it a day.
Sacramento Kings
You would imagine that an owner in the likes of Vivek Ranadive would have a clue how to manage a team. After all he has built one of the best arenas in the league for the Kings. It’s pretty obvious he spares no expenses. Yet somehow the Sacramento Kings have been notoriously bad for several years now.
And instead of seeing the light of day, the team continues to struggle to the point the Kings have become the Nets of the Western Conference. With only one difference – at least they have their picks.
The main problem with Sacramento is how the management is dealing with the post-Cousins rebuild era. When it comes to player things are looking okay. When it comes to spending money… not so bright.
Most recently a deal the Kings offered for then restricted free agent Zach Lavine proved that the organization was extremely close to shooting itself in the foot. Why on Earth would you pay almost 20 million a year for Lavine when you have Buddy Hield and Bojan Bogdanovic on your roster. Both of them could have costed you less for a season but still you try to make a deal anyway. Huh?
Same thing goes with the George Hill trade – instead of bargaining for a better offer the Kings just shipped their veteran PG for nothing in return since the Cavaliers were the last team to offer anything good. (Brooklyn’s one excluded)
In the meantime, the Kings do have a major advantage. The organization is enjoying relative freedom when it comes to money since the team is very young and the contract burden is quite favorable. One could imagine they could try to open up a max slot or two and try to surprise the league by signing a major free agent.
Instead, the Kings have been spending their money rather recklessly. Paying Vince Carter 8 million dollars last season was unnecessary to say the least. Giving Zach Randolph 12 million a year has also been an inexplicable move. Why would the Kings overpay for these vets when they could have signed them for half the money?
Is their mentorship that valuable – it’s a yes-no answer. Yes, it’s fine to get s solid vet on your young team to sort things out and be a leader. But it’s is not okay to overpay him. In the Kings’ case the team is not only foolishly throwing away millions of dollars – it is also showing great levels of ineptitude when it comes to making trades and moving pieces. That’s good enough of a reason for having one of the most disappointed fanbases in the NBA.
Charlotte Hornets
When the Hornets made it to the eastern playoffs in 2016 many thought a long era of failure has come to an end. Finally, after all those years of bad picks and loses as the Bobcats and couple of dismal seasons as the Hornets, the team was starting to gain traction.
Ironically, it was just a short-lived moment as the Miami Heat burned down Buzz City’s small run. However, hopes were high that this whole thing was a good omen for a better future. Unfortunately, that future did not came upon the organization. The last two seasons the Hornets have been stalling, the team is miles away from even being a playoff contender and on top off that the East has been getting better and better.
Of course that’s not happening without an uproar by the fans. The team supporters have been given a new tough-to-swallow pill – weird trade rumors. As if bad draft picks and free agent decisions were enough. This past season Michael Jordan’s team was “buzzing” with rumors about a potential Kemba Walker trade.
This move was perceived as an indication for an imminent rebuild and the Internet exploded with potential landing spots for the point guard. In the end, no trades were pulled off and things seemingly eased up after the end of the season.
However, there hasn’t been an official statement on Kemba’s future. Nor has been one about the Dwight Howard trade. And no answer to why in hell is Timofey Mozgov on the roster? As of today the Hornets have no clear plan for the future and no clear plan for the present, too.
There is only one person to blame for this – Michael Jeffrey Jordan. It’s quite obvious that the GOAT is trying to implement the San Antonio low media profile while trusting his instincts on who to draft ala Golden State. The combination has been anything but successful.
For instance, the fans have been left without any promises for the future while the roster still has some very questionable players on it. If MJ was more vocal, more media and camera-friendly things would have probably been better. If Magic Johnson can do so many things for the LA Lakers then Jordan can do even more.
He is not just the GOAT and a team manager – he is also the owner! Such an outstanding combination should have already gotten the Hornets better free agent signings. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case giving Charlotte a well-deserved place on this list.
Washington Wizards
On first glance the DC-based team is doing pretty good to even make this list – they have two all-stars, multiple winning record seasons and a solid playoff presence in the East. That’s great, right? Well, not if you pay attention to details.
Just like Chicago’s GarPax duo, Washington has its very own hated man – Ernie Grunfeld. The man behind the rise and… stall of the team. His weird decisions have been a key factor in the Wizards’ inability to overcome other teams in the playoffs. This offseason Grunfeld has once again indulged in proving himself as a bad decision maker.
After allowing the deterioration of the team’s chemistry and letting it amost spin out of control, Grunfeld traded Polish center Marcin Gortat to the LA Clippers in exchange of guard Austin Rivers. Well, the Wizards got rid of an old player and their only starter-ready center as well. The move was rather edgy but understandable as it was supposed to defuse tensions in the locker room.
But the problem was that it was after the draft in which the Wizards used their highest pick for guard/forward. Which leads us to the conclusion that either Grunfeld found a trade option for Gortat too late or he just knew Dwight Howard was on his way to DC. In either scenario Grunfeld completely botched the team’s chances of drafting a player to fill in the five spot.
To top it off he got a slow center in Howard who is going to have a solid presence only in the post area. But in fast breaks and pick and rolls he may not live up to the team’s ambition to play fast ball. Which is going to be quite bad for John Wall and Bradley Beal whose quickness has been a key factor in Wizards’ recent success.
To sum up, thanks to Mr. Grunfeld the Wizards are stacked with guards and forwards. Who by the way are not bad players but in reality the dire need if a mobile center was far from met.
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