Billy King and GMs Under the Most Pressure This Offseason
The Minnesota Timberwolves won the NBA Draft lottery Tuesday night, getting the first choice on any player in this year's class. The draft-order spectacle signals the beginning of the offseason, which is the regular season for general managers.
As teams ramp up for the draft and free agency, some general managers find their seats getting hotter and hotter.
A few general managers such as San Antonio’s R.C. Buford and Golden State's Robert Myers, can rest calmly behind the roster they assembled with smart signings, trades or draft selections.
On the other end, there are executives like Billy King for the Brooklyn Nets who constructed expensive rosters that consistently underperform.
Let’s take a look at the general managers who will be facing the most pressure this NBA offseason. Some of these executives find themselves in trouble after their teams were among the worst in the league, while others come under scrutiny as their rosters fail to improve.
Billy King
1 of 5
Team: Brooklyn Nets
Regular-Season Record: 38-44
The Nets barely scraped into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference with a losing record. Brooklyn then exited the NBA playoffs following a first-round defeat to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Nets appointed Billy King as the general manager following the 2010 season. Since then, Brooklyn used the deep pockets of Russian billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov to establish one of the largest team payrolls in the league.
Brooklyn’s total payroll for the 2014-2015 season reached over $93 million, according to ShamSports.com.
This astronomical figure exploded during King’s tenure with the acquisitions of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. The Nets traded for Williams during King’s first season at the helm and then signed him to a new five-year, $98 million contract in 2012.
Brooklyn also pulled the trigger on a trade for Johnson in the summer of 2012. The guard came from the Atlanta Hawks with four years and $90 million remaining on his contract at the time.
The Nets' only winning season under King came in the 2013-2014 campaign, when they suffered another first-round playoff exit.
With an expensive aging roster that fails to perform in the playoffs, King will face considerable pressure this summer.
Doc Rivers
2 of 5
Team: Los Angeles Clippers
Regular-Season Record: 56-26
The Los Angeles Clippers crashed out of the playoffs after falling to the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of the second-round series.
The coaching may come into question after Los Angeles surrendered a two-game lead in the series, but Doc Rivers’ role as a general manager will mainly raise concerns this offseason.
He is still an elite coach, but he failed to fill the Clippers bench with enough depth to withstand back-to-back series that went the full seven games.
“In talking to Clipper players after this one, one word keeps coming up—'exhaustion.' Lack of depth played a bigger role than they let on,” ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne said in a tweet.
In Game 7 against the Rockets, Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford played 15 minutes and 26 minutes, respectively, to combine for a total of 19 points. However, the rest of the bench only supplied an additional eight minutes in the game.
As general manager, Rivers made a risky decision to trade Chris Douglas-Roberts, Reggie Bullock and a 2017 second-round pick to acquire his son from New Orleans. The 22-year-old point guard was up-and-down in the postseason, scoring 25 points in Game 3 but then only contributing two points in the series finale.
Los Angeles may also face a battle to re-sign its starting center, DeAndre Jordan. The offseason will most likely focus on retaining Jordan and adding depth to the rotation.
If the roster does not improve, owner Steve Ballmer may not strip the coach of his general manager title, or the owner could bring in an adviser to assist Rivers with his front-office responsibilities.
Sam Hinkie
3 of 5
Team: Philadelphia 76ers
Regular-Season Record: 18-64
The Philadelphia 76ers finished with the third-worst record in the NBA last season, and they received the third overall pick in Tuesday night's draft lottery.
The 76ers are bad and do not look like they will get better anytime soon. They acquired key pieces in Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid in the past two years but still need more support.
Noel was selected for the NBA All-Rookie team this year, but that does not mean he is definitely in Philadelphia’s future plans.
General manager Sam Hinkie’s vision of building through young prospects came into question when he decided to trade second-year point guard Michael Carter-Williams to the Milwaukee Bucks before this season’s trade deadline. Carter-Williams showed potential after winning the Rookie of the Year award in his first season.
Philadelphia’s brass may not be pressed to win early, but fans will begin to get restless if the team does not show any improvement and if Hinkie continues to give up on young talent.
Tim Connelly
4 of 5
Team: Denver Nuggets
Regular-Season Record: 30-52
Denver finished the season with more wins than only three other teams in the Western Conference and received the seventh pick in the NBA draft as consolation.
The Nuggets’ front-office decisions come down to Tim Connelly. Denver appointed the first-time general manager to the position in the summer of 2013. The team snatched him from his assistant general manager position with New Orleans.
Connelly decided to fire veteran head coach Brian Shaw this past March when the team had only 20 wins at the time. Denver named Melvin Hunt as the interim coach and has not named a new head coach for next season yet.
The pressure will be on this summer as the coaching search continues. The team’s candidates include Alvin Gentry and Mike D’Antoni, according to Sports Illustrated.
The Nuggets will also have the ability to add impact talent to their roster with the seventh pick in the draft. Currently, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix projects Justise Winslow to land in Denver in his latest mock draft.
However, if Connelly misses the target on both the next coaching hire and this year’s draft, the inexperienced general manager could find himself on the way out of Denver.
Steve Mills
5 of 5
Team: New York Knicks
Regular-Season Record: 17-65
The Knicks finished with the second-worst record in the NBA this past season, and under the bright spotlight of New York nobody is safe.
Tuesday’s NBA lottery also proved to be unlucky for New York as the team received the fourth pick in the draft this year.
General manager Steve Mills will now likely miss out on drafting one of the star freshman centers in Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor. Both players are supposed to be off the board by the third pick in the draft, according to Bleacher Report’s NBA Lead Writer Jonathan Wasserman.
Mills will need to choose wisely in this draft to infuse some young talent into the roster by choosing the right option among D’Angelo Russell, Emmanuel Mudiay, Justise Winslow and other projected lottery picks.
The Knicks successfully re-signed their superstar Carmelo Anthony last season to a five-year contract worth $124 million. However, the 30-year-old small forward’s body suffered more abuse this season due to lingering issues with his knee that required surgery; he played in only 40 games.
The pressure will be on this offseason for Mills to add some youth to the squad and show hope of capitalizing on Anthony’s stint in New York.
