About a third of the way through the 2008-09 and there has been six coaches fired and some big trades. GM's everywhere have become more impatient and unstable than the economy at the moment.
Some of the coaches deserved to go. P.J. Carlisemo was a poor signing to begin with last season. At 2-21, the Oklahoma City Thunder are on track to record the worst season in NBA history, currently held by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers at 9-73.
Thunder GM Sam Presti has some work to do. He traded away everything to go young and build around Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, but no matter how good any player is, they need a few (good) experienced players around them.
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Sam Mitchell had to go too. He lost his way in the last 12-months. There appeared to be a clear difference of idea on how the Raptors should be playing. GM Bryan Colangelo has been lauded for what he's done since arriving in Toronto but his biggest challenge is coming up. Can he convince Chris Bosh to stay ? The fate of not only the Raptors hinges on this decision, but more so Colangelo's reputation.
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Randy Wittman getting the boot in Minnesota was probably the best thing that happened to him. Kevin McHale has been - by far - the worst GM in the history of the NBA. He has continually wrecked this franchise with shocking decision making, yet, he somehow keeps his job and firing others for his incompetence.
The T'Wolves should go back to Dwayne Casey, in fact I'm surprised that Casey hasn't picked up another job since getting the boot almost two years ago.
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Eddie Jordan was unlucky in Washington. He'll definitely be coaching again before long. The Wizards have been without loudmouth point guard Gilbert Arenas for the best part of two years. The Wizards shouldn't have signed Agent-0 to that $111-million contract in the Summer. The only "0" really relates to "overpaid" or "overrated".
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It's funny how some players rate themselves. Look at Shawn Marion and Raja Bell for instance. Both thrived in Phoenix under Mike D'Antoni. Marion tried to bluff Steve Kerr and Kerr sent him to Miami. Now, Marion still has exactly the same skill set he always has, but without Steve Nash and not playing under the Suns' offense, Marion isn't anywhere near the All-Star he was.
Raja Bell is the same. He thought he was pretty hot stuff knocking down wide-open 3's every night under D'Antoni's high scoring offense. He was also a "great defender" for clobbering Kobe Bryant in the playoffs when in actual fact, he had to play dirty against Kobe, because the Black Mamba was murdering him.
Bell will struggle in Charlotte because apart from shooting three-pointers, Bell has ZERO moves. ZERO. His supposed defensive abilities won't be of much use to a team that gets pounded every night.
Sometimes guys just don't realize how good they've got it.
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