(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Next up was Avery Johnson. The former Dallas Mavericks coach with a very good, albeit short, resume. Johnson, a former NBA champion for the Spurs, took over the Mavs job from Don Nelson.
Johnson was handed the reins to a very talented roster that included Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, a young Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, and Josh Howard. I feel pretty confidant in saying that Johnson was in an enviable position.
His first full year was a resounding success, capturing second in their division with a 60-22 record and making it to the finals were they eventually lost the Miami heat 4-2. After that playoff wins became hard to come by.
His second year the Mavs lead the league with a 67-15 record, but as high as that achievement was his biggest low followed shortly after.
Going up against his former mentor, Nelson, in the first round Johnson could not make the correct adjustments to counter Nellie’s high octane offense. Johnson's almighty Mavericks were ousted in five games from the big show by an eighth seeded Warriors who barely made the playoffs.
That might have been a bad match up for Dallas and Nelson reportedly had a grudge against his former team based around payment issues, so maybe Don was pulling out all the stops in order to gain revenge.
It's more likely though that Avery was just in over his head against his former mentor.
The next year is even more telling, as the Mavs stumbled even farther finishing with a 51-31 record and a seventh seed playoff spot in the west. During this season Dallas made a blockbuster trade that sent Harris to New Jersey for all-star Jason Kidd.
Avery was always known as being controlling on the offensive side of the ball with Harris running point, but that could be forgivable since Devin was so young. The way he tried to control Kidd though baffles me. It's reported that Avery would try and call every play down the court.
I'm not a huge Kidd fan, but even I know that Jason absolutely doesn't need or want that kind of micromanaging stifling his game.
Needless to say, Dallas made an early exit in the playoffs by the Hornets in five games. There seems to be a trend there.
After their trouncing by Chris Paul and Co. owner Mark Cuban fired Avery saying he had no choice as there was a mutiny brewing that could only end with the release of Johnson.
Getting run out of town is not a good way to leave a team, especially if the primary reason was your personality not your record.
I do like Avery and at the right price he might have really helped Detroit. He was not looking for a fair price though. Not only did he want a hefty contract, which wasn't absurd, he wanted personnel control, which is absurd.
Dumars is a very involved GM and has a clear vision of how he wants to build a team. So giving that kind of control to any coach for him would be incredibly hard.
Besides, there are very few coaches who get the kind of roster editing powers that Johnson reportedly wanted, and those are the proven greats like Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich.
Although Mike Dunleavy Sr. is the GM and coach of the Clippers, but look were that got them last year, 19 wins. Even though that 19 win record got them Blake Griffin I doubt Pistons fans could endure that type of season considering half of our heads exploded after a 39-43 season.
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