Since Bryan Colangelo's first full season at the helm of YOUR TORONTO RAPTORS things have regressed drastically leaving many like myself (perhaps you too?!) to hope that BC does not get extended by MLSE...His current contract expires end of summer 2011...The Raps have won a horrid 45% of the games they have played in the BC era...Question is what direction do you turn? I only believe in making a change if you believe someone better for the job exists (which is not what BC did when he fired Sam Mitchell only to replace him with a non-NBA Head Coach like Jay Triano)...Problem for BC and his #2 Maurizio Gherardini (and Triano) is that the list of candidates that would be better than them is growing every day as their own stock continues to plummet...
Does MLSE really want to re-up with BC at (or around) the $4 mill per season he makes now (HIGH $$$ for a GM)...Let's take a look at some possible replacements...new era's...
The first name we will look at will be loved by some, hated by others...Kevin Pritchard...The ex-Trail Blazers GM has a fantastic W-L and player-personnel record/history...He drafted marvelously for Portland (except of course taking Greg Oden instead of Kevin Durant in 2007 which has not worked out, but a lot of other good draft picks for KP)...His Draft Day dealings, and other trades as Portland GM ended up being very 1-sided (in KP's favor) and led to the media referring to other GM's as having been "Pritch-slapped"...KP has had a hand in great picks like Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Alrdridge, plus sound/astute value picks like Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum, and Dante Cunningham...Now KP certainly has his detractors too as he has seemingly burned a lot a bridges over his years...He "Pritch-slapped" GM's to the point where they may be wary of dealing with him again, and his behaviour re Darius Miles was roundly criticised (remember he tried to block/stop other teams from signing Miles as a FA in late 2008 as that would be bad for the Blazers Salary Cap...He was described as "arrogant" by numerous team officials throughout the Association)
I personally would surely interview KP and see if he has matured as far as the way he is going to interact with fellow GM's...I love what he did at Portland...He brought a ton of young, high-upside talent into the organization
Also for me I would be looking to interview R.C. Buford, Greg Popovich, Danny Ferry, or Dennis Lindsey...In short, anyone associated with the San Antonio Spurs front office...The Spurs have a very multi-cultural roster like the Raps, but the Spurs actually draft/trade for/sign talent and depth...Anyone out of SA's front office knows and understands how to build and foster a culture of winning...
How about looking at a guy like Jeff Van Gundy...Will Stan Van Gundy last much longer in Orlando?!?! Perhaps the brothers could unite in the T-Dot...The Raps have offered zero consequences in the paint and at the rim for the entire BC era, that would not be an issue for a Van Gundy-led organization...Van Gundy would bring intensity and physicality to the organization...Surely worth an interview...Jeff may even consider bringing in ex-Raptor Mark Jackson to coach the team...The 2 have a marvelous rapport working together to call NBA games currently...Van Gundy would have a good enough relationship with several former NBA players that may be the next up-and-coming NBA coaches like the Raps tried before with Mitchell...Utah is trying that with Ty Corbin...Perhaps Van Gundy can attract a higher caliber potential than Corbin, like a Jackson or a Reggie Miller...
How about considering Earvin Magic Johnson...Magic has decades of experience working in a world-class organization and he would bring a ton to the table...Plus, Magic would really be a guy that could bring in next-level coaches...perhaps even NCAA studs (Brad Stevens, Jim Calhoun, Tom Izzo etc...likely not Coach K as he will likely remain at Duke) may be willing to make the jump to Coach in the NBA if it meant heading to a 1st class city like Toronto to work for a 1st class guy like Magic...
Is it possible that guys like Rick Adleman, Scott Skiles, or Rick Carlisle would leave their current NBA Head Coach jobs if you gave them GM duties as well?!?! Or at least significant say in player-personnel moves to come and Coach in the T-Dot...
I would look at Chip Engelland as a possible GM or Coach...Engelland spent 4 years at Duke playing and learning from Coach K...He has player-personnel experience in the Association...The last 6+ years he has served as Assistant Coach in San Antonio on Gregg Popovich's bench...How about learning from Coach K and Pop?!?! Wow...
If you are looking for a new GM that does have some experience in the Association as a player, and as a Exec then guys like Steve Kerr and Kevin McHale
That mostly looks at GM's (with a few Coach/GM options too)...Let's look at specific Head Coach candidates...
Will ex-Raps like Charles Oakley or Damon Stoudamire get NBA Head Coaching jobs at some point? Who is out there to replace Triano?
I would look at my #1 choice to be to go back to summer of 2010 and try to get Tom Thibodeau to come to Canada...Assuming that is not an option let's look at other possibilities...
I would have a look at Lawrence Frank who is currently on Boston's bench as an Assistant to Doc Rivers...Frank was once the Head Coach for the New Jersey Nets, and he will surely be an NBA Head Coach again soon
There are several candidates on the Lakers bench that have served (and learned from) Phil Jackson...Jim Cleamons has been there for years, and has NBA Head Coach experience with the Mavs...Brian Shaw has been there for years too and could follow Kurt Rambis' lead which is to take the Triangle O and the Lakers way (Phil Jackson's way really) to a new organization (Rambis however is currently experiencing growing pains trying to implement the Triangle in Minny...That may have to do with a poor roster though)
Could an in-house hire like P. J. Carlesimo do the job?!?!
In the D-League guys like Dee Brown (yes that Dee Brown), Jay Larranaga, Randy Livingston, Austin Ainge (son of ex-Jays player and current C's GM Danny Ainge), Darvin Ham (remember him?!), Eric Musselman (TON of coaching experience), and Chris Finch (Great Britain National Coach) are all getting the on-the-job experience/exposure needed to get an NBA promotion
We see a lot of potential here...Of course there is other potential too...As mentioned earlier the list of people who could do a better job than BC/Gherardini/Triano is growing every day...The latest word is that MLSE may be considering not doing a re-up with BC when it looked for a looong time like they would so perhaps we have a chance for improvement around here...Re-up with BC and you keep getting the same type of soft player that does not provide consequences in the paint and thus continue to lose more games than you win...
Go Raps Go
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