Few terms in the NBA lexicon draw more guffaws of pity than "Los Angeles Clippers." One term which certainly has a case would be "Isiah Thomas." In fact, in a tournament of Most Hilariously Bad Things About the NBA, the Clips and Isiah would assuredly be one seeds (along with Darko Milicic and the microfiber ball).It may pique your interest then, that according to ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan, Isiah recently discussed a potential role in the Clippers front office with team owner Donald Sterling. Stock up on beans and barricade the doors, my friends.
Sheridan reports no job has been offered, but that in February Thomas and Sterling had substantive talks in a meeting arranged by Mike Dunleavy. Following on the Jerry West rejection, it's believed Sterling wants a new GM or assistant GM to help Dunleavy out. Dunleavy remains the coach, and will apparently remain the coach for the foreseeable future.
If Thomas is not considered the worst GM of this era, it's only because of Pete Babcock's reigns of terror in Atlanta and Toronto. Thomas' record in the draft is touted highly, having nabbed David Lee, Nate Robinson, Wilson Chandler and Renaldo Balkman with lower picks. But Dunleavy has done well in the draft, too: Eric Gordon was a fantastic selection this season, and getting DeAndre Jordan and Mike Taylor in the second round was a stroke of brillance. Some argue Dunleavy has done good work as a GM, with the acquisitions of Marcus Camby, Baron Davis and Zach Randolph. (I'd argue these moves don't shimmer nearly as much as the neon names would have you believe.)
Is Thomas going to join the Clippers as a draft specialist? Or is there something else under this ... the potential for Thomas to take over coaching duties? Sheridan reports that Grizzlies management discussed hiring Thomas to replace Marc Iavaroni, who was fired in January. (Lionel Hollins instead came back to Memphis to take the job.)
Isiah isn't a great coach (his Pacers teams immediately improved when he was fired, his Knicks teams were among the most discombobulated in recent memory), but he's a worse executive. There seems to be no way the Clippers (or Clippers fans, the real victims) can win here. But if there's a preferable result, Thomas replacing Dunleavy on the bench might be it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-26-2009 @ 3:33PM
Puck said...
It this is to help him from doing harm to his self, fine; but from a basketball stand point Armageddon is an apt word. Been a fan since you hit that shot from the corner in the Dance, but the article tells it like it is...good luck Zeke.
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3-26-2009 @ 4:00PM
seville said...
Nobody can argue Thomas' record as President/GM of the Knicks. But saying that he is the worst of the era is bit of a stretch. I would look to include Elgin Baylor, Kevin MCHale and Larry Bird. Focusing on Bird, I point out that he traded players to Golden State that helped the Warriors end a 13-year playoff drought as they pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA history beating the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. Bird also traded defensive player of the year, Ron Artest, for Peja Stoakovic who subsequently signed with another team and the end of the season. Bird's 1st hire was Rick Carlyle who took the Pacers to the playoffs with players Isiah Thomas brought to Indiana. From 1987-2006, the Pacers only missed the playoffs one year. However, the Pacers failed to make the playoffs in 2007, 2008, and is lanquishing in last place in the central division with a certain lottery pick in 2009. Coach Rick Carlise was fired and replaced with perennial rehire Jim O'Brien.... Addressing the comment about Dunleavy doing good work as a GM, with the acquisitions...[Zach Randolph], I would remind the writer that Isiah Thomas also brought Zach Randolph to New York. Isiah knows talent and although he coached the Indiana Pacers consistently to the playoffs, his coaching and cap management ability leaves plenty room for legitimate criticism. But, Bird, Baylor, and Mchale are also deserving of criticism too.....
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3-26-2009 @ 4:30PM
nickstoli said...
What's the thinking here -- "let's see, what can we do to suck even more?"
In some weird, sad, pathetic way, I bet the more the Clippers lose, the more Donald Sterling makes.
Stern should force the sale of this team already!
Hiring Thomas would be like an NFL team hiring Millen. But at least Millen wasn't found guilty of sexual harrassment.
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3-26-2009 @ 10:10PM
Giles said...
I think, as does the writer, Thomas might do better trying to coach, then trying to move back up to GM. But I think Mike Fratello as head coach,mainly for defense, which is mainly what the Clippers lack ON court, and Paul Westhead as assistant coach,mainly for offense, which is what Fratello teams mainly lack on court, with maybe FreeMan Williams,and Danny Manning, among the associate coaches, might be a better fit than Isaiah, who maybe needs a MUCH quieter market to mature in after his sexy harrassment trial.
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