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Telling superstars no

It's really hard for GMs to keep control of their rosters. But the job isn't supposed to be easy.

Jul 11

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

The Elephant Celebes, Max Ernst, 1921

In retrospect, the Brooklyn Nets trading for James Harden was a mistake. All indications are that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving strongly supported the move, with Durant playing a particularly strong advocacy role to swing a deal for his old teammate. The timing was bizarre, looking back. The trade happened at the beginning of the first real season with Durant on the Nets. The 2019-20 season, with KD in street clothes and the campaign interrupted by the pandemic, was a bust. But 2020-21 had just begun when the Nets took center stage in the Harden sweepstakes. There was very little evidence as to whether Durant, Irving and a cast of role players was good enough in the East. Durant and Irving had decided it was when they hitched their stars to each other in 2019, but seemed not to keep that faith too long. If they indeed pressed Sean Marks and the Brooklyn front office to add Harden at the cost of Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, all roster flexibility and a near-decade of draft equity, it shows a remarkable lack of confidence in their own ability to win what then seemed like a wholly beatable conference.

The Nets front office can blame fate and bad luck; so can we all for what befalls us. The injuries that impacted Brooklyn’s 2020-21 title run were particularly unfortunate. And who could have ever imagined that a New York City employer-based vaccine mandate would have caused so much internal strife and short-circuited the second year for the Durant-Irving-Harden trio? Of course, in defense of Marks and Co. we can now point to those episodes and say, “Woe is them” if we’d like. We could also say that both misfortunes actually support the thesis that turning assets into an additional star player is wise. This particular swap just didn’t work out.

In any case, Kyrie’s refusal to take the vaccine and (one presumes) other assorted Kyrie traits apparently led Harden to ask out; the Nets ended up getting a fraction of what they initially gave up to get the Bearded One. Kyrie’s pure Kyrieness apparently led the Nets to decide against committing long-term money to Irving, which set his particular wheels in motion, which then turned Durant looking for new flower beds to trample.

The Nets front office, to some degree, didn’t say no to Durant or Irving, and look at where it’s gotten them.

In retrospect and in the eyes of many people at the time, the Los Angeles Lakers trading for Russell Westbrook was a mistake. All indications are that LeBron James and Anthony Davis strongly supported the move. It’s hard to ignore the fact that LeBron’s agency, Klutch Sports, has an outsized presence on the Lakers roster (currently, six players are Klutch clients). “GM LeBron” has long been an NBA internet trope; it has never been more real than with this current L.A. roster, with the possible exception of that one weird time that the Cavaliers added Dwyane Wade.

The Lakers gave up depth and flexibility in a desperate move to add Westbrook a year ago, this after Westbrook had been traded in two desperate moves for high-priced point guards who were seemingly “done” in consecutive offseasons. To be fair, Westbrook had helped grind an undermatched Wizards team to the playoffs in his sole season in D.C. And to be fair, backers of the move wrote a convincing case for the ways in which it could work. There was not really evidence that L.A. had to make a move like that, though. Yes, they were embarrassed in the first round of the playoffs by the Phoenix Suns. But they were beset by injuries and only a year removed from a championship. Making a desperation move for a high-priced ball-dominant player clearly losing the grip on his competitive career didn’t seem altogether necessary.

But typically, if LeBron wants you to make a move, you do it. Even if you’re the Lakers.

And so they did, and they have seemingly spent every minute regretting it and trying to make sure everyone knows it’s LeBron or Rich Paul’s fault, not theirs. The team’s famous franchisee, Jeanie Buss, has taken to using Kobe’s memory in subtweeting LeBron.

Jeanie Buss @JeanieBuss

I miss KB. He would understand and explain everything that I’m not allowed to. Honestly he was the greatest Laker ever. He understood team over self. Meaning your rewards would come if you valued team goals over your own then everything would fall into place. All can reply.

The Lakers didn’t say no to LeBron, and look at where it’s gotten them.

When Durant suggests that he wants you to trade for James Harden, it’s probably really hard to say no. When LeBron (who has recently delivered a title to cap an otherwise embarrassing decade) suggests that he wants you to trade for Russell Westbrook, it’s probably really hard to say no. Sometimes, you have to do the hard things. Sometimes, your job as a general manager is to do things your own way, even if it means uncomfortable moments or a long-term unwinding of the status quo.

If you’re Sean Marks and you tell Durant no, what’s the worst that could happen? He could ask for a trade? Hmm.

If you’re Rob Pelinka and you tell LeBron no, what’s the worst that could happen? He leaves at the end of his contract and you miss the playoffs (like you did this season with Westbrook, LeBron and AD)? Hmm.

Have some conviction or take the hit. Durant, Irving and LeBron have some level of culpability here for these moves that backfired. But these GMs and franchise owners have the ultimate responsibility to the team and the fans. And while there are legitimate pieces of the whole ordeal out of their control, in the end, it’s on them. The failure is on them.

All-Stars

The WNBA All-Star Game was Sunday.

Sylvia Fowles, who is retiring at the end of the season, dunked. Hell yeah.

WNBA @WNBA

🔨 SYLVIA FOWLES 🔨 The steal and the SLAM in her final #WNBAAllStar Game!

Arike Ogunbowale sent Kelsey Plum to the upside down.

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

ARIKE PUT HER ON SKATES 🤯 @HighlightHER Took her ankles (via @DallasWings)

But Plumdog tied the record for most points in an All-Star Game …

Las Vegas Aces @LVAces

MVP! MVP! MVP! 🗣 30 PTS // 66% FG // 5 3-PM Not too shabby for her first WNBA All-Star appearance 👌 @Kelseyplum10 // #WNBAAllStar

… and won a very, uh, understated MVP trophy.

espnW @espnW

Kelsey Plum is your #WNBAAllStar Game MVP 🏆

How considerate for the WNBA to procure an All-Star MVP trophy that easily fits in a carry-on on the economy flight that the league insists the players take to get around.

It was really cool for all 24 players to wear Brittney Griner’s No. 42 for the second half. Here are the full game highlights.

High Stakes in the Desert

The Sacramento Kings nor the Orlando Magic have had many high stakes games in recent years, what with the teams being pretty terrible and all. So it was nice of the Summer League versions of the squads to get their fans’ hearts racing a little over the weekend.

The Summer Magic led the Summer Kings by 18 with five minutes. The Kings got it down to single-digits, but still trailed by six with seven seconds left and the ball.

And then this happened.

That’s a lot to process. Cheers to Paolo Banchero. Cheers to Keegan Murray. Cheers to the players in this game who won’t play a second of NBA ball. They’ll always have this game.

Links

Damian Lillard signed a two-year, $122 million extension with the Blazers. He seems sober about what this could be mean for his NBA legacy, for better or worse. If taking $122 million can ever be considered “noble” this is it.

Rest in peace, Hugh Evans.

For ESPN Insider, Tim MacMahon and Brian Windhorst reported out a piece on why the Magic were so secretive about who they were taking No. 1 in the draft: it’s because they didn’t decide until the last minute. ($)

This Cam Thomas eyeroll clip is getting a lot of attention. I don’t buy that Cam is rolling his eyes at Nash specifically. I get the sense that Cam is annoyed about the narrative that he needs to pass more. Inasmuch as Nash (one of the least selfish, most pass-happy players ever) is propagating that narrative internally, it may reflect on some tension there.

Jeri Tsai @JeriTsaiNets

Reporter: "I was talking to your coach Steve Nash & he's encouraging you to look for your shot & your teammates" Cam Thomas rolls eyes "It is what it is" Seems even sophomore Cam Thomas is tired of Steve Nash "coaching" #NetsWorld

We love an honest facial reactor, though! This is an A+ eyeroll.

Martenzie Johnson with a great take on the player empowerment movement in the NBA really only benefitting the top players.

This is how the Warriors started Sunday’s Summer League game: a Jonathan Kuminga pick-and-roll lob to James Wiseman. The reigning NBA champs, everyone!