http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/07/10/weekly.countdown/index.html?eref=T1 Even aside from the Blazers interest, it's an interesting piece about being an NBA GM, and negotiating in general.
Whitsitt was terrific at making multiple moves to get the player he wanted in trades, but he was a terrible negotiator of contracts. Thankfully for us, it seems Warkentien learned the wrong lessons from Trader Bob.
At least from the article, it seems like Warkentein designed a pretty smart contract for JR Smith. But yeah, Whitsitt's contract negotiation strategy seemed to be, "Are you sure you wouldn't enjoy even more money than you are asking for? Because I'm happy to give it to you." The Damon Stoudemire contract extension was the least talked about disaster of his many legacies. It was stupid big.
You have discovered my bedrock philosophy: Incentives matter. Unfortunately in the NBA, it's rare that you can have that kind of leverage over another player. It's good to see Warkentien was able to apply it with a nutjob like Smith. Mostly, that seminar was about tactics. Tactics are worthless without a clear strategy first. However, it seems Wark figured out a team building strategy when he was with UNLV.
Agreed. Though part of getting the players he wanted was part of that SPAM era, but you can't ignore the amount of talent he brought in and it always brought exciting summers and some holy shit moments.
Actually Whitsitt was very good at getting guys to sign. Brian Grant came to Portland when we had Rasheed Wallace. Jeff McInnis came when there was no starting role for him. Derek Anderson was convinced to stay. It cost an arm and a leg, of course, and not every move worked, but if we assume the team could lose as much as possible while remaining a top flight team, he did just fine in keeping the cupboards stocked with good players. Ed O.
It's striking to me how much we agree about Basketball and how little about politics. Great post would rep but need to spread it around more!
Whitsitt was a killer, no doubt, but I don't agree with the notion that it took "unconventional thinking" to be successful in the late part of last decade. It had more to do with the fact that PA had an open checkbook and allowed Trader Bob to acquire (and overpay) every disgruntled former all-star he could find.
