It’s the Front Office Stupid

[Lipoli390]

One of President Bill Clinton's campaign operatives, James Carville, was famous for the phrase, "it's the economy stupid." His point was that most political issues are distractions and the only issue that really matters in elections is the economy.

When it comes to the NBA, I'll paraphrase Carville and say "it's the front office stupid." First and foremost, it's up the the front office - PBO, GM and scouts - to acquire talent. Then secondarily, it's up to the front office to hire the right head coach. The Wolves sorry situation today is the sum total of two consecutive bad front office regimes. There's no sugar-coating the list of bad decisions by Flip and then by Thibodeau. The difference between the .500 lottery-bound Wolves today and what could have been a contending top 4 team in the West is a strong of bad front office player personnel decisions. Flip and Thibodeau didn't have to hit on all their many misses; they just needed to hit on a few. As we look back, they hit only one. Specifically, Flip hit on his pick of KAT - which was the NBA's consensus top pick and one that almost no front office could possibly miss on. Otherwise, here's a list of some of the worst misses:

1. Trading down rather than taking McCollum in 2013

2. Drafting Bazz instead of the Greek freak after trading down in 2013

3. Drafting Gorgui instead of Gobert and then selling another 1st round pick that could have been used on Gobert in 2013.

4. Drafting Dunn instead of Hield or Murray in 2016.

5. Drafting Patton instead of John Collins in 2017

6. Giving Gorgui a big long-term contract and then giving Taj a big free agent contract to play the same position as Gorgui

7. Giving Wiggins a max contract in spite of all the red flags surrounding his effort and skill set.

8. Not trading Butler before Butler's frustration boiled over into a public trade demand and series of antics that significantly diminished his trade value.

9. Signing Teague to a multi-year $19 million per year contract.

We've all seen up close how terrible Wiggins is. And we've all seen how well Collins, Murray, Hield, Gobert and Giannis have been playing. A bad or mediocre front office will ultimately produce a bad to mediocre team. It's that simple.

[Coolbreeze44]

It's the culture. And nothing is harder to change than bad culture. The Wolves have it, and the Vikings have it. No matter what the Vikings do, they are always going to play their worst football in the biggest games. And no matter what the Wolves do, they will make poor decisions and the players will not reach their potential. Something dramatic would have to happen to change any of this. Don't count on it.

[thedoper]

Taylor

[AbeVigodaLive]

Taylor

Yep.

Lip's list only begins at 2013. The Wolves were already on their way to being the worst franchise in the L by then.

Every team misses the mark here and there. I'm not generally too upset about any of the misses outside the lottery...

The team has mavericks, industry insiders, retreads and everything else in charge. Nothing has worked. The only thing that's remained the same is ownership. Is it the easy answer because we need to point the finger somewhere?


[Note: I'd say the Joe Smith signing and the ridiculousness (and fallout) of the Wiggins "will you try hard, pretty please" sitdown are enough to pin a heckuva lot of blame at Taylor's feet.]

[kekgeek]

Taylor

Yep.

Lip's list only begins at 2013. The Wolves were already on their way to being the worst franchise in the L by then.

Every team misses the mark here and there. I'm not generally too upset about any of the misses outside the lottery...

The team has mavericks, industry insiders, retreads and everything else in charge. Nothing has worked. The only thing that's remained the same is ownership. Is it the easy answer because we need to point the finger somewhere?


[Note: I'd say the Joe Smith signing and the ridiculousness (and fallout) of the Wiggins "will you try hard, pretty please" sitdown are enough to pin a heckuva lot of blame at Taylor's feet.]

I would also say that 3 of our top 4 players of all time not a fan of Taylor. In love, kg and butler

[AbeVigodaLive]

Taylor

Yep.

Lip's list only begins at 2013. The Wolves were already on their way to being the worst franchise in the L by then.

Every team misses the mark here and there. I'm not generally too upset about any of the misses outside the lottery...

The team has mavericks, industry insiders, retreads and everything else in charge. Nothing has worked. The only thing that's remained the same is ownership. Is it the easy answer because we need to point the finger somewhere?


[Note: I'd say the Joe Smith signing and the ridiculousness (and fallout) of the Wiggins "will you try hard, pretty please" sitdown are enough to pin a heckuva lot of blame at Taylor's feet.]

I would also say that 3 of our top 4 players of all time not a fan of Taylor. In love, kg and butler

Not sure about Butler... but you can't really blame KG and Love.

- Garnett was an MVP player... an annual 1st team All NBA player... known specifically for his effort and intensity... who watched as the Wolves had Mark Madsen hoist 7 three pointers in an OT game just to get one more ping pong ball just to move up one spot in the draft just so Glen Taylor could swap picks and pocket a couple more million...

... who was called out by Taylor for quitting on the team or some nonsense after he was traded to Boston.

- Kevin Love played on teams that lost 58, 67 and 65 games. Finally, the team was having some success with Kevin Love leading the way. He'd improved immensely in each of his first 3.5 seasons. And shockingly... he WANTED to play in Minnesota despite the miserable franchise's history.

Nope.

Glen Taylor refused to give him the max.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Taylor

Yep.

Lip's list only begins at 2013. The Wolves were already on their way to being the worst franchise in the L by then.

Every team misses the mark here and there. I'm not generally too upset about any of the misses outside the lottery...

The team has mavericks, industry insiders, retreads and everything else in charge. Nothing has worked. The only thing that's remained the same is ownership. Is it the easy answer because we need to point the finger somewhere?


[Note: I'd say the Joe Smith signing and the ridiculousness (and fallout) of the Wiggins "will you try hard, pretty please" sitdown are enough to pin a heckuva lot of blame at Taylor's feet.]

I would also say that 3 of our top 4 players of all time not a fan of Taylor. In love, kg and butler

Not sure about Butler... but you can't really blame KG and Love.

- Garnett was an MVP player... an annual 1st team All NBA player... known specifically for his effort and intensity... who watched as the Wolves had Mark Madsen hoist 7 three pointers in an OT game just to get one more ping pong ball just to move up one spot in the draft just so Glen Taylor could swap picks and pocket a couple more million...

... who was called out by Taylor for quitting on the team or some nonsense after he was traded to Boston.

- Kevin Love played on teams that lost 58, 67 and 65 games. Finally, the team was having some success with Kevin Love leading the way. He'd improved immensely in each of his first 3.5 seasons. And shockingly... he WANTED to play in Minnesota despite the miserable franchise's history.

Nope.

Glen Taylor refused to give him the max.

Nobody wants to play in mn, and that includes Kevin Love.

[Coolbreeze44]

If Taylor had given Love the max I suspect you would have had a problem with that too. Especially after his routine trips to the disabled list. Hindsight

[AbeVigodaLive]

If Taylor had given Love the max I suspect you would have had a problem with that too. Especially after his routine trips to the disabled list. Hindsight

Me?

No. When you're as crappy of a franchise as the Wolves were (are)... and a guy who is rapidly improving and productive WANTS to stay... sign him! I don't think that take ever changed.

Ironically, that Kevin Love mistake from Taylor might have actually led to the decision to max out Wiggins. Turns out the guy played it wrong both times trying two very different methods.

[Coolbreeze44]

If Taylor had given Love the max I suspect you would have had a problem with that too. Especially after his routine trips to the disabled list. Hindsight

Me?

No. When you're as crappy of a franchise as the Wolves were (are)... and a guy who is rapidly improving and productive WANTS to stay... sign him! I don't think that take ever changed.

Ironically, that Kevin Love mistake from Taylor might have actually led to the decision to max out Wiggins. Turns out the guy played it wrong both times trying two very different methods.

They did sign him. And you can certainly argue it turned out to be the right decision. It had nothing to do with maxing out Wiggins.