http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3174881 <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Kiki Vandeweghe is heading to the New Jersey Nets in a management role to assist team president and general manager Rod Thorn, a source told ESPN on Monday.</div>
Kiki is only good at one aspect of GMing - clearing cap space As a leader of the "blow it up thron" movement, I'm glad to see this
Was hoping he would sign w/ another club. Maybe Thorn could had traded a bunch of scrubs for more 1st round picks! -Petey
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Petey @ Dec 31 2007, 01:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Was hoping he would sign w/ another club. Maybe Thorn could had traded a bunch of scrubs for more 1st round picks! -Petey</div> Gabriel is worse IMO. Really it was a case of pick your poison.
I thought we were going to go way younger so the time Thorns gone, we have an expirinced middle aged GM.
Here are a couple of Kiki clips on ESPN before he got the GM role http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/...88&n8pe6c=3 If he pulls off a trade most likey its going to be RJ http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/...88&n8pe6c=2
Or Kidd to Dallas for the Devin Harris package. Nice find on those clips to get his opinions prior to taking his position with the Nets. I wonder how much influence he'll have at this point though.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (d-blockrep2 @ Dec 31 2007, 07:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Here are a couple of Kiki clips on ESPN before he got the GM role http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/...88&n8pe6c=3 If he pulls off a trade most likey its going to be RJ http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/...88&n8pe6c=2</div> I like what he said about Gasol. IMO, if you rebuild - rebuild.
Kiki is preaching maximize trade value of your expensive players and that is something Thorn has demonstrated no willingness to do.
He might have almost crippled Denver with the K-Mart trade, but I like some of his ideas. I like his willingness and his balls to make these kinds of moves.
A partial list of Kiki's mistakes 1) Drafting Skita #5 and Nene #7 in 2002 1) Not agreeing to let Arenas run the point. Arenas wanted to sign in Denver, but Kiki only wanted him as a 2 because he was going after Andre Miller 2) Trading his 2004 first round pick to Orlando instead of taking a SG like Kevin Martin or Delonte West 3) Blinking in his game of poker against Thorn in agreeing to the sign and trade 4) Not using the 15 days he got from the S&T to make another deal to improve the Nuggets at the SG position 5) Not firing Bzdelik before the 2004-2005 season 6) Wasting a first round draft pick on Julius Hodge 7) Talking too much with a couple of reporters 8) Spending too much of his time focused on things like in game entertainment and the dance squad. He was likely the only GM in the NBA to attend Dance Team auditions and be involved in the selection of dancers. I'll stop now
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Dec 31 2007, 08:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>A partial list of Kiki's mistakes 1) Drafting Skita #5 and Nene #7 in 2002 1) Not agreeing to let Arenas run the point. Arenas wanted to sign in Denver, but Kiki only wanted him as a 2 because he was going after Andre Miller 2) Trading his 2004 first round pick to Orlando instead of taking a SG like Kevin Martin or Delonte West 3) Blinking in his game of poker against Thorn in agreeing to the sign and trade 4) Not using the 15 days he got from the S&T to make another deal to improve the Nuggets at the SG position 5) Not firing Bzdelik before the 2004-2005 season 6) Wasting a first round draft pick on Julius Hodge 7) Talking too much with a couple of reporters 8) Spending too much of his time focused on things like in game entertainment and the dance squad. He was likely the only GM in the NBA to attend Dance Team auditions and be involved in the selection of dancers. I'll stop now</div> I guess your not a fan of Kiki? On the bright side, Thorn will look at Kiki draft choices and go the other way
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Dec 31 2007, 08:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>A partial list of Kiki's mistakes 1) Drafting Skita #5 and Nene #7 in 2002 1) Not agreeing to let Arenas run the point. Arenas wanted to sign in Denver, but Kiki only wanted him as a 2 because he was going after Andre Miller 2) Trading his 2004 first round pick to Orlando instead of taking a SG like Kevin Martin or Delonte West 3) Blinking in his game of poker against Thorn in agreeing to the sign and trade 4) Not using the 15 days he got from the S&T to make another deal to improve the Nuggets at the SG position 5) Not firing Bzdelik before the 2004-2005 season 6) Wasting a first round draft pick on Julius Hodge 7) Talking too much with a couple of reporters 8) Spending too much of his time focused on things like in game entertainment and the dance squad. He was likely the only GM in the NBA to attend Dance Team auditions and be involved in the selection of dancers. I'll stop now</div> where's overpaying for your favorite player?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (d-blockrep2 @ Dec 31 2007, 08:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I guess your not a fan of Kiki? On the bright side, Thorn will look at Kiki draft choices and go the other way</div> I'm a fan of his ability to blow up a team and clear cap room. I'm not a fan of Thorn
Kiki's not the GM, he's a "Special Assistant" to Thorn. Thorn is old and doesn't want to do the drudge work. My guess is that Kiki is smarter than Stefanski, so I'm sure he can fill this role. Thorn still has the finall say on what happens, and that means they won't be trading Jason Kidd since they can't get value for him. Maybe Kiki can get in his ear about RJ and possibly Sean Williams, though. Those are the Nets' two biggest assets if they think they can pull of a major deal.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jan 1 2008, 10:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The Nets are mediocre and Kiki has one specialty, blowing teams up.</div> Ha. Maybe Thorn just couldn't bring himself to do it.
