Will Vlade Divac ever become a great GM?
Behind every great player (e.g. Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant), there are even two more important personnel positions on an NBA franchise.
There is the General Manager (Danny Ainge with the Celtics, Bob Myers with the Dubs, and Pat Riley at Miami) and the team’s Head Coach. Gregg Popovich in this era is arguably the best–and the angriest and most unrelenting commander of excellence. In the past, it was Red Auerbach, Pat Riley (see above), Phil Jackson, and Doc Rivers.
This established, what is going on with the Kings’ GM?
Letting players like Quincy Acy (voted the best teammate and shot 38.8% last year from the arc) and Seth Curry (shot 45% from the arc, best on the team) walk? Maybe it was new coach Dave Joerger whose input made them go bye-bye?
Joerger last season with the Grizzlies saw Curry play once where he recorded 3 minutes and scored 4 points (11/3/15). He saw Acy play twice (1/30/16 and 3/2/16) scoring 6 points in 11 minutes and then 11 points again as a starter. Letting them go just doesn’t make sense from the point of view of a fan who is emotionally invested in the players—especially those who do well.
Vlade, you took Georgios Papagiannis at #13 in the draft and left everyone in the NBA openmouthed. Okay, you were somehow high on his future, but through last year his stats were less than stellar: 6.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 11.5 minutes. You also needed a two-guard to replace Ben McLemore, and Denzel Valentine from Michigan State (shot 44% from the arc last year) was still available.
Worse yet, after letting Curry and Acy get picked up by the Dallas Mavericks, you paid Garrett Temple $8,000,000 for next year (33% career from the arc, 30 years old) and signed Lamar Patterson as a shooting guard (24.5% career shooter from the arc). Acy and Curry signed with Dallas for a total of around $4,000,000 for this next season.
must read: Should The Kings Sign Jordan Farmar
Mr. Divac, you were a great center on a great team. But as a GM, I’m scratching my head. Are you just another lousy signing by Vivek who seems incapable of team building?