Current:Home > FinanceThink your job is hard? Try managing an NBA team to win a championship -GrowthProspect
Think your job is hard? Try managing an NBA team to win a championship
View
Date:2025-04-19 00:08:13
Whatever stress-free summer NBA general managers and basketball operations execs had, it’s over.
Time to win games and compete for titles. Time to develop players. Time for short- and long-term plans to take more shape.
Even championship seasons are in the rear-view mirror, and Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth turned from holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy to figuring out how to replace key players from a title team and win a second consecutive championship − not an easy task in an ultra-competitive Western Conference.
Let’s take a look at NBA front-office execs who are under pressure as the season opens:
Daryl Morey: Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations
Daryl Morey starts the season with a problem. James Harden wants a trade and Morey tried to accommodate the request but did not find a deal beneficial to the Sixers and their championship goal. Harden is unhappy, called Morey a liar and said he would never play for Morey, leading to a $100,000 fine for Harden from the NBA. Morey fired Doc Rivers as coach, hired Nick Nurse, who Milwaukee fired, and the Sixers are trying to win a title with 2022-23 MVP Joel Embiid in his prime. Morey has one unhappy player, and if the Sixers can’t make progress in the playoffs (nothing better than a second-round exit since 2001), Embiid could be the next player who wants out of Philadelphia.
Tim Connelly: Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations
Tim Connelly went to Minnesota with great fanfare: a five-year, $40 million contract that included ownership equity. Plus great expectations. And in his first major player personnel move, he acquired Rudy Gobert from Utah for five first-round picks, including 2022 first-rounder Walker Kessler. The move didn’t work the way Connelly had planned. Gobert didn’t provide the necessary lift, and the Timberwolves lost four more games last season than they did in 2021-22 and had another first-round playoff exit. Let’s see what a healthy lineup of Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards can do along with offseason moves that appeared to improve the roster.
MAKING WAVES:Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday and the ripple effect that will shape the 2023-24 NBA season
Jon Horst: Milwaukee Bucks general manager
Two seasons removed from a title, the Bucks still have championship aspirations with Giannis Antetokounmpo, but they enter the season with a warning from him. In essence, he said if the Bucks aren’t contending for a title, he won’t sign an extension and will look elsewhere to play. That means Horst needs to deliver an atmosphere and roster that convinces Antetokounmpo. Horst is off to a good start by acquiring Damian Lillard from Portland. Horst and his staff are methodic with roster moves, and the Bucks' ability to compete for a title is a significant story line this season.
David Griffin: New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations
Let’s be clear: Griffin has put together a roster centered on Zion Williamson, and it’s not Griffin’s fault Williamson has spent so much time off the court with injuries. When Williamson plays, the Pelicans have one of the West’s best teams. That just hasn’t been often enough. Sometimes, the exec takes the fall.
Arturas Karnisovas: Chicago Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations
This comes with a caveat. Bulls ownership is patient, and like the Pelicans, the Bulls have had injuries (namely Lonzo Ball’s debilitating knee problems) that are out of Karnisovas’ control. The organization is budget conscious and does not like to pay more than one person for the job even if the attempt at a rapid rebuild has yielded just one playoff appearance (first-round loss) in Karnisovas’ three seasons.
Joe Cronin: Portland Trail Blazers general manager
Cronin was on this list in the summer and as recently as late September. But just before training camps opened, Cronin traded his star player, Damian Lillard, who had asked for a trade in July. It took Cronin the entire summer and a few days into fall to find the deal he liked for the franchise moving forward. It's a rebuild focused on a youth movement, and trading Lillard is just another step. Cronin then traded Jrue Holiday, who the Blazers acquired from Milwaukee in the Lillard deal, to Boston. In the trades, Portland acquired Deandre Ayton, Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, Toumani Camara, three first-round draft picks and the right to swap draft picks with Milwaukee in 2028 and 2030. Cronin has been entrusted to make this rebuild work.
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on X @JeffZillgitt
veryGood! (62)
Related
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- Another US MQ-9 Reaper drone goes down in Yemen, images purportedly show
- Alito tells congressional Democrats he won't recuse over flags
- Is 'color analysis' real? I put the viral TikTok phenomenon to the test − and was shocked.
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- TikTokers are helping each other go viral to pay off their debts. It says a lot about us.
- Singapore Airlines jet endured huge swings in gravitational force during turbulence, report says
- Selling Sunset Gets New Spinoff in New York: Selling the City
- Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
- Not-so-happy meal: As fast food prices surge, many Americans say it's become a luxury
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- IRS makes free tax return program permanent and is asking all states to join in 2025
- Is 'color analysis' real? I put the viral TikTok phenomenon to the test − and was shocked.
- Trial postponed in financial dispute over Ohio ancient earthworks deemed World Heritage site
- Tarte Shape Tape Concealer Sells Once Every 4 Seconds: Get 50% Off Before It's Gone
- France’s Macron urges a green light for Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with Western weapons
- Chinese national charged with operating 'world’s largest botnet' linked to billions in cybercrimes
- Medline recalls 1.5 million adult bed rails following 2 reports of entrapment deaths
Recommendation
Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
Gabby Douglas withdraws from national championships, ending bid for Paris Olympics
Americans are running away from church. But they don't have to run from each other.
Iran says Saudi Arabia has expelled 6 state media journalists ahead of the Hajj after detaining them
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
Audra McDonald to make Broadway return as lead in 'Gypsy': 'It scares me to death'
Dangerous weather continues to threaten Texas; forecast puts more states on alert
Pope Francis apologizes after being quoted using homophobic slur