The Hornets

I expected the Hornets to be in the play-offs this year, but I had no idea they would be this good (partially because they are never on television).

As I watched the game tonight, I realized that nobody mentions Jeff Bower among those who deserve the Executive of the Year Award. Instead, Danny Ainge and Mitch Kupchak's names are mentioned.

I see this as a problem with professional sports. We glamourize the big deal, but do not reward the true art of building a team.

Bower did not make any big moves in the off-season, though drafting Julian Wright at #13 appears to be a steal now. During the season, he did not make a blockbuster move, choosing instead to add Bonzi Wells in a swap of former Sacramento Kings for Bobby Jackson.

However, last year, his big deals went unnoticed because the Hornets suffered so many injuries that knocked them out of the play-offs.

Trading for KG and Gasol were no-brainers. No GMs would have messed up those deals. I'm not sure acquiring KG or Gasol illustrate a GM's acumen. Sure, they changed the face of their franchises, but they were no-brainer deals. I actually thought Ainge's most savvy move was signing James Posey and Kupchak's best move has been to resist Kobe's pleas and not trade Andrew Bynum, as well as a series of unheralded draft picks like Sasha Vujicic and Jordan Farmar who now contribute.

Similarly, Bower did not make any one astounding move. Paul fell in his lap, which shows as much about Atlanta and Milwaukee as it does about his skill as a GM. However, look at the Tyson Chandler deal. J.R. Smith and P.J. Brown for Chandler. When the deal was completed, which led to Chicago signing Ben Wallace, everyone annointed Chicago the front runners in the Eastern Conference. Nobody said that the Hornets got the better end of the deal. Chicago is in ruins, having dealt Wallace and Smith and watching Brown walk as a free agent, and Chandler is defending Tim Duncan better than anyone in the league while running the pick-and-roll alley-oop with Paul like Nash-to-Stoudamire circa 2006. In retrospect, that deal looks almost as lop-sided as the Gasol for Kwame Brown trade, but nobody thought that at the time. That's the type of deal that makes a GM.

The Chandler trade was not the only move. Acquiring Peja Stojakovic was not a huge move and many people were skeptical, feeling Peja had peaked as a player and did not have much to offer. Morris Peterson lost playing time and fell out of favor in Toronto. Jannero Pargo. Melvin Ely. Bobby Jackson.

No big piece, beyond the drafting of David West (a steal) and Chris Paul (ditto). But, he fit the perfect complementary pieces around West and Paul through a series of trades and signings. He built a championship contender the old fashioned way, like the Spurs.

The Spurs had a bit of luck (Duncan) and used some great evaluation skills to find two hifdden gems in the draft (Ginobili and Parker). Then, Buford and Popvich fit pieces around the stars: Oberto, Barry, Finley, Bowen, Vaughn, etc. No big pieces, just pieces that fit and help the Spurs win. Joe Dumars built Detroit in a similar fashion, acquiring players when their value has dipped (Billups, Hamilton, Wallace) and allowing them to leave when their price is too high (Okur, Ben Wallace) and drafting very well for their draft position (Prince, Stuckey, Maxiell).

Bower never did anything noteworthy enough to win an award. However, he built a franchise which has a chance to compete for the NBA championship for the next five years, as Paul and Wright have yet to reach their prime, West and Chandler have just hit theirs and Peja is still at the end of his. If he continues to make savvy moves and stays true to his method, the Hornets are poised to be one of the top organizations into the next decade.

Bower's job in New Orleans reminds me of Geoff Petrie making Sacramento relevant. He drafted Peja and left in Europe. Then, he drafted Jason Williams and Hedo Turkuglo. He trade Mitch Richmond, possibly the most popular Sacramento King, for Chris Webber and then signed Vlade Divac, away from the Hornets, no less. In a couple moves, Petrie built one of the best teams in the NBA for a 5-6 year stretch. New Orleans drafted West, then Paul and Wright; traded Brown, one of the most popular Hornets for Chandler, and signed Peja and now the Hornets should be one of the top teams for the next 5-6 years.

I think it is unfortunate that these moves, which really show a GMs true skill go unnoticed and overlooked in favor of the splashy moves or the superstar deals. Hopefully some voters will appreciate the craftsmanship Bower showed in building the Hornets into a contender, even if it did not happen overnight.

2006-07 NBA Season in Review (first of several? many?)

I am a sometime fan of the Chicago Bulls. I like any NBA team who plays three 6'2 guys at the same time as part of its regular rotation. I also like the strategy of drafting successful college players from winning programs, such a novel idea in today's NBA.

However, I disliked the Bewn Wallace signing and Tyson Chandler trade (I disliked it even more when the JR Smith trade happened, since, all along, Bulls' followers said the team needed a bigger wing as well as an interior scorer).

In December, people were jumping off the Bulls bandwagon and championing the KG trade. I did not panic. As I wrote:

Between the positive point differential, which suggests Chicago is playing better than its record illustrates, and the lack of home games thus far, Chicago is positioned nicely to contend, just as everyone believed they would.

In July, in response to the Wallace signing and the hoopla which surrounded it, I wrote:

As for the Bulls, they played the Heat as well as anyone in the Eastern Conference, so I am not sure how now they are contenders. With normal improvement from the young nucleus, one would have considered them as much a contender as anyone else in the East, even without Wallace. In addition to giving the Heat problems, they also added the #2 pick in the draft.

However, the Bulls entered the off-season with three needs: (1) interior offense; (2) veteran leadership; (3) length/size on the wing. So far, the Bulls have acquired three players (Wallace, Thomas and PJ Brown) which address only the leadership. Possibly Thabo Sefolosha or JR Smith [Oops] could be the missing piece on the wing, but neither is a sure thing. And, neither Wallace, Thomas nor Brown is going to provide interior scoring.

The experts sound as if the Bulls were one shot blocker away from a championship. Defense was not their problem. And, Tyson Chandler was an effective defensive player, rebounder and shot blocker. Chandler's problem was his inability to score. Now, the Bulls have a shorter, yet stronger Chandler who is 10 years older and even more expensive, and still have nobody to play PF who is a legit interior presence on the offensive end.

I followed up in December:

Is it shocking (1) that the Bulls are struggling to score inside and consistently or (2) that Tyson Chandler is outperforming Ben Wallace? No and no. The Bulls did nothing to strengthen its weaknesses and have basically the same team as last season, where they overachieved to win as many games as they did. Chandler is just reaching his peak (he's what, 24) while Wallace is already well past his prime and playing on his last, fat contract.

I also believed, since they signed Ben Wallace, they should have gone for it and acquired Pau Gasol. Is Ben Gordon going to get the Bulls to the NBA Finals?

I don't understand the Bulls. I am a Ben Gordon fan. I enjoy watching him play. However, in a year when the East is sooo mediocre, one deal could put the Bulls in the driver's seat. And, the Bulls appear reluctant to make the deal because of Gordon.

If the Bulls had a re-do, imagine if the Bulls kept Tyson Chandler, drafted Brandon Roy, not Tyrus Thomas; traded Gordon, Nocioni, and a 1st rd pick to Memphis for Gasol. Hinrich, Roy, Deng, Gasol, Chandler with Duhon, Sefolosha and Sweetney off the bench. That's a versatile, athletic team that's a little thin up front, but could spend a lot of time playing with Hinrich, Roy, Sefolosha, Deng and Chandler, which is a team that can defend with length, push the tempo and pass the ball. They'd be as exciting as any team in the NBA, except maybe the Suns, and would be better equiped to defeat the Pistons because they'd have a longer defender on Hamilton at all times (Roy/Sefolosha) and an interior scorer (Gasol). Oh well. As Bill Simmons wrote, regarding the Chandler/Wallace swap:

Just for the hell of it, and only because I'm so rarely right ...

• Tyson Chandler: 9.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 0.5 steals per game; 62.4 FG% and 52.7 FT%; $9.5 million cap figure; 24 years old.

• Ben Wallace: 6.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.5 steals per game; 45.3 FG% and 41.0 FT%; $16 million cap figure; 32 years old.