Worst Owner in the NBA?

[ItsJustSoSab]

I don't remember who championed this going back to the ESPN board days, but somebody would often say that this team will never be successful as long as Glen is the owner. I didn't agree, and thought "if we just get a great GM, or a winning coach, or finally get the #1 overall pick in the draft, etc, then this team can be saved".

Here I am X amount of years later, with some of those things I thought would turn this franchise around actually happening. They didn't. The only constant on this god for saken franchise is Glen. Not Thibs, Jimmy, KG, Rubio, Kahn, Love, McHale, McCants, Rosas, Saunders, Flynn, Wiggins, KAT, Wittman, etc. Just Glen, and I guess Jim Pete. Worst owner in basketball? Try one of the worst in all of American Sports

[Wolvesfan21]

I wonder what would have happened if we drafted say Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Giannis. I still think it comes down to simply having some luck but also some skill in picking the best players. The Wolves have drafted horribly. Ultimately that is Glens fault as he has done the hiring.

It is also not uncommon for franchises to suck horribly then turn it around. Like I posted before both the Warriors and Clippers had 14 and 15 year stretches where they made the playoffs once. Don't you think those fan bases were thinking it would never get better too?

GSW was handed basically Steph and Klay on a platter to them, with help from us but give them credit too for picking them. Heck we could have had Kawhi, Steph and Giannis and many other superstars. We failed in the draft and so did a lot of other teams.

Also we are not alone either. Teams like Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando and Sacramento have been bad for a very long time as well as others. Doesn't make it OK, just pointing out that in order to have winners you have to have losers too.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I wonder what would have happened if we drafted say Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Giannis. I still think it comes down to simply having some luck but also some skill in picking the best players. The Wolves have drafted horribly. Ultimately that is Glens fault as he has done the hiring.

It is also not uncommon for franchises to suck horribly then turn it around. Like I posted before both the Warriors and Clippers had 14 and 15 year stretches where they made the playoffs once. Don't you think those fan bases were thinking it would never get better too?

GSW was handed basically Steph and Klay on a platter to them, with help from us but give them credit too for picking them. Heck we could have had Kawhi, Steph and Giannis and many other superstars. We failed in the draft and so did a lot of other teams.

Also we are not alone either. Teams like Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando and Sacramento have been bad for a very long time as well as others. Doesn't make it OK, just pointing out that in order to have winners you have to have losers too.

To be fair, the Warriors went through an ownership change in 2010. They had made the playoffs once in 16 seasons prior.

The Clippers were the worst franchise in NBA history, even up to the point Sterling was removed as owner. That is no longer the case.

Coincidence?

[Wolvesfan21]

I wonder what would have happened if we drafted say Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Giannis. I still think it comes down to simply having some luck but also some skill in picking the best players. The Wolves have drafted horribly. Ultimately that is Glens fault as he has done the hiring.

It is also not uncommon for franchises to suck horribly then turn it around. Like I posted before both the Warriors and Clippers had 14 and 15 year stretches where they made the playoffs once. Don't you think those fan bases were thinking it would never get better too?

GSW was handed basically Steph and Klay on a platter to them, with help from us but give them credit too for picking them. Heck we could have had Kawhi, Steph and Giannis and many other superstars. We failed in the draft and so did a lot of other teams.

Also we are not alone either. Teams like Charlotte, Atlanta, Orlando and Sacramento have been bad for a very long time as well as others. Doesn't make it OK, just pointing out that in order to have winners you have to have losers too.

To be fair, the Warriors went through an ownership change in 2010. They had made the playoffs once in 16 seasons prior.

The Clippers were the worst franchise in NBA history, even up to the point Sterling was removed as owner. That is no longer the case.

Coincidence?

GSW was fortunate of course to draft the right players. If the Wolves draft Curry and GSW drafts Flynn do they win a single Championship? Think about how one move changes NBA history for so many people and cities.

The Clippers team was turned around while Sterling was there so that kind of ruins your logic there. They made the playoffs the last 3 seasons while he was owner. So despite how bad an owner he was, it still worked. That kind of adds to my side of the debate.

[Wolvesfan21]

Also Steph was drafted in 2009 by the previous regime. Actually your argument makes all my points Abe. :D

[Leado01]

Uh. I try to defend pretty much every player/coach/associate of the Timberwolves ... but the answer to your question is so obvious that it makes this question a waste of free digital space.

One constant ... Taylor. It goes beyond incompetence. There has to be interference to be this bad for this long.

[Leado01]

Uh. I try to defend pretty much every player/coach/associate of the Timberwolves ... but the answer to your question is so obvious that it makes this question a waste of free digital space.

One constant ... Taylor. It goes beyond incompetence. There has to be interference to be this bad for this long.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Also Steph was drafted in 2009 by the previous regime. Actually your argument makes all my points Abe. :D

Not necessarily. It's not much different than claiming Taylor was successful because he drafted Garnett.

The Clippers have had three successful stints since 2013... with three very different types of teams... all with more success than during Sterling's years.

Golden State did draft Steph Curry. But that would be dismissing everything the new regime did.
- Remember, as funny as it is to think about now, GSW faced a Monta Ellis vs. Steph Curry dilemma.
- Like the Clippers, the organization had plenty of top promising draft picks. Ellis was a 22 - 26 ppg scorer. He was popular with the fans. Curry was pretty solid, but not great, and suffering from possibly chronic ankle issues.
- The team traded the popular, volume stats Ellis and the #6 pick in the previous draft to Milwaukee for defensive-minded Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson. On paper... the trade was ripped by fans. All that production!
- Meanwhile, the new regime drafted Klay Thompson. And then D. Green in the 2nd round.
- They improved. But after the first two playoff berths in seemingly forever... they fired the coach. WHAT? It wasn't good enough. So they brought in Steve Kerr, which was not a slam dunk with everybody.
- Then, the team traded for Andre Iguodala and kept filling in around the margins.
- The team benched volume stats darling David Lee for a defensive-oriented D. Green. (sort of Ellis redux moment)
- Even after a title, the team kept working to get better... and got lucky again with the timing of the Durant deal.

_________

Chalking all of that up to simply drafting Curry and acting like that was the end of it... is disingenuous... or simplistic... or at least a disservice to the savvy moves made by the ownership/executive team of the Warriors over the past decade.

[Wolvesfan21]

Also Steph was drafted in 2009 by the previous regime. Actually your argument makes all my points Abe. :D

Not necessarily. It's not much different than claiming Taylor was successful because he drafted Garnett.

The Clippers have had three successful stints since 2013... with three very different types of teams... all with more success than during Sterling's years.

Golden State did draft Steph Curry. But that would be dismissing everything the new regime did.
- Remember, as funny as it is to think about now, GSW faced a Monta Ellis vs. Steph Curry dilemma.
- Like the Clippers, the organization had plenty of top promising draft picks. Ellis was a 22 - 26 ppg scorer. He was popular with the fans. Curry was pretty solid, but not great, and suffering from possibly chronic ankle issues.
- The team traded the popular, volume stats Ellis and the #6 pick in the previous draft to Milwaukee for defensive-minded Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson. On paper... the trade was ripped by fans. All that production!
- Meanwhile, the new regime drafted Klay Thompson. And then D. Green in the 2nd round.
- They improved. But after the first two playoff berths in seemingly forever... they fired the coach. WHAT? It wasn't good enough. So they brought in Steve Kerr, which was not a slam dunk with everybody.
- Then, the team traded for Andre Iguodala and kept filling in around the margins.
- The team benched volume stats darling David Lee for a defensive-oriented D. Green. (sort of Ellis redux moment)
- Even after a title, the team kept working to get better... and got lucky again with the timing of the Durant deal.

_________

Chalking all of that up to simply drafting Curry and acting like that was the end of it... is disingenuous... or simplistic... or at least a disservice to the savvy moves made by the ownership/executive team of the Warriors over the past decade.

I'm simply pointing out they are not responsible for their own success with Curry, a bit of luck came into it but they also made nice moves after for sure when the new regime was on board.

Then of course Sterling already was in the playoffs perennially before being forced to sell the team. It was already turned around so to speak and they still haven't won a Championship. Would they be in the same boat now as then? Well who knows. Until the get to the NBA Championship they haven't done anymore then Sterling did and we can all agree he's probably a worse owner then Glen. lol

[thedoper]

The Warriors could have made many mistakes after drafting those players. There were Warrior fans who thought that Monta Ellis was the better option at the two, presumably they could have traded Kevin Love for Klay and refused the deal. All because they valued real basketball people (jerry west). New Ownership in GS had everything to do in hiring their basketball people and working with them to promote their success. McHale is the closest thing we've ever had to a real basketball mind in our organization and his performance was checkered at best. Thibs was probably a close 2nd. Taylor has always had an excuse not to go out and get the best, when clearly that would be the only hope for a franchise like ours to have any success.