8 Rebuilds That Are Destined to Fail
Rebuilding a pro sporting franchise isn't the easiest thing in the world.
Hopping into Madden or FIFA exaggerates how easy it is to take a team from the depths and raise it to a contender. Not every franchise can be a Golden State Warriors, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals or Boston Celtics.
It'd be pretty boring if every team could rebuild well. Arguably more interesting are the failures, the missed draft picks, the wrong coaches, the odd openings of checkbooks to free agents who won't provide the desired impact.
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There are countless rebuilds underway at various stages in every sport right now. Through simple projection and the early, iffy-at-best returns, here are eight rebuilds sure to face-plant before the organizations start over.
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres have almost misled fans with how odd the rebuild has been over the years.
The Padres haven't won more than 77 games in a season since 2011, and doesn't look pretty in 2016 with a mark of 55-75. Not much of a shock here—the team lost Justin Upton and Ian Kennedy in free agency and didn't seem to mind shipping away names such as Craig Kimbrel.
Maybe this was the plan all along for general manager A.J. Preller, acquiring veteran talent to tease at contention, then selling it all away to build a farm system. But said plan wasn't explained to fans in any way.
The farm system looks more promising than it has. Anderson Espinoza ranks 15th at Baseball America, but the next name after that (Manuel Margot) comes in at No. 39. The team selected pitcher Cal Quantrill at No. 8 in this year's draft, but he's coming off Tommy John surgery.
Long story short, the Padres have taken a high-risk approach to this rebuild. It might actually be the plan the organization sticks to this time, but that doesn't mean it'll work.
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers entered the 2016 NHL draft with one of the odder strategies around: In five of the prior six years, they took a forward in the first round.
The pick at No. 4 this year was winger Jesse Puljujarvi, but it's going to take more than that to make up for the strange approach. Sure, the front office shipped Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for defender Adam Larsson, but it's a small step.
In fact, selling away in hopes of building up the blue line isn't the most inspiring move when one takes into account how little faith everyone seems to have in the Oilers. Shane Sander of The Hockey Writers took the temperature:
Ouch. The Oilers have spent a decade in a perpetual rebuild, and this latest attempt to get away from shoddy drafting won't pan out. Edmonton needs new decision-makers and coaches to reinvent the rebuild.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills have been over .500 twice since 1999.
That one stings, though not as much as the whole "lose four Super Bowls in a row" thing. Alas, the latest rebuild has Rex Ryan at head coach and his brother Rob as assistant head coach.
Considering Rex has a career 58-60 record and Rob was last seen clashing with his fellow coaches in New Orleans and blowing it as defensive coordinator of a defense featuring talents such as Cameron Jordan, Kenny Vaccaro, Jairus Byrd and others, it shouldn't come as a shock the Bills went 8-8 last year.
How has the Ryan team held up before the 2016 season? Ryan's six-year, $100 million man Marcell Dareus will miss the first four games of the season due to a suspension, high-profile rookies Shaq Lawson and Reggie Ragland are out with injuries and the team had to give running back Karlos Williams the boot.
So it goes for the Bills. The team got swept by the New England Patriots last year on the way to a third-place finish in the AFC East. Based on the start to 2016, this season won't be much better.
New York Knicks
Under the guidance of President Phil Jackson, the New York Knicks look like...the Chicago Bulls?
Indeed, the Knicks went out and traded for Derrick Rose to man point guard for as long as he can stay on the court. The team then brought on free-agent center Joakim Noah to defend in the middle.
The problem? Rose has played in just 39, 10, 51 and 66 games over his past four seasons he's suited up at all. Noah was disgruntled on the Bulls last year because he couldn't get notable minutes, posting an average of 21.9 minutes on the floor alongside 4.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.
Folks can go on and on about how great Carmelo Anthony is (he's only getting older) and how promising Kristaps Porzingis looks (he's only a sophomore). They can even bring up an improved bench thanks to Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee.
But it's like an NBA coach told the Record's Steve Popper: "Jeff [Hornacek] is a good coach but he’s going to be teaching a system that isn’t his to a team of players who have never played together."
Bingo. The Knicks might be able to stay healthy but won't threaten in the Eastern Conference. Hopes of another big free agent coming to town after the season are just that—more hopes.
Sacramento Kings
It sounded good on paper—acquire Rajon Rondo to run a pick-and-roll with DeMarcus Cousins and have Rudy Gay on the roster to provide his own scoring.
Such was the line of thinking for the Sacramento Kings going into the latest rebuild attempt last year. The result was a 33-49 dud, not much of a shocker for a team that hasn't been above .500 since 2005.
Now Rondo is gone and Rudy Gay is unhappy and was reportedly on the trade block back in July, according to ESPN's Marc Stein.
The Kings now expect Darren Collison to replace Rondo while backed by Ty Lawson. The 30-year-old Arron Afflalo will play shooting guard. The 36-year-old Matt Barnes figures to get some run.
And while Cousins is great, the Kings decided to add a center in back-to-back first rounds, taking Willie Cauley-Stein in 2015 and Georgios Papagiannis this year. An odd approach, and it seems a matter of time before Cousins gets away from the team.
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns haven't figured out how to rebuild either, having last been to the playoffs in 2009.
The Suns have gone from Goran Dragic, Channing Frye, Gerald Green and P.J. Tucker, not to mention the Morris twins, to this new iteration.
Said new iteration is just as guard-happy as the last. Eric Bledsoe is still around and has played 43 games or fewer in two of his last three seasons. He'll have to try to figure it out with Brandon Knight again, because the team awkwardly went with shooting guard Devin Booker in the first round of the 2015 draft.
Phoenix tried to massage this over in the 2016 draft with forwards Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss with the fourth and eighth picks, respectively. But the former is an unproven international talent and the latter a one-year collegiate player who averaged 13.7 points.
Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan might be gone and unable to terrorize the Suns any longer, but the Western Conference has again passed the team by, looking better than ever.
Cleveland Browns
What, surprised?
The Cleveland Browns have won more than seven games in a season twice since 1994. New head coach Hue Jackson is an offensive guru who has made the most of his opportunities in the past, but this is a new animal entirely.
Just look at how the team has drafted. Remember Trent Richardson, the No. 3 pick in 2012? How about 2013 No. 6 pick Barkevious Mingo, who the team just traded to New England. Or 2014 No. 8 pick Justin Gilbert, who has been a colossal bust. Just 14 picks later the team selected Johnny Manziel.
The jury is still out from there, but the Browns are hoping a revitalized Robert Griffin III can lead the offense. He last made an appearance in 2014, playing in nine games with Washington and throwing four touchdowns to six interceptions while fumbling the ball five times. He'll throw to a rookie (Corey Coleman) and a 2011 supplemental draft pick converted from quarterback (Terrelle Pryor) until Josh Gordon returns.
Look, the Browns have even gone outside of football for help, in January hiring New York Mets executive Paul DePodesta to act as chief strategy officer.
The Browns are a long, long way from competing in the AFC and with the impatience of the NFL, one has to think a new regime will fire up a new rebuild soon enough.
Los Angeles Rams
New place, same results.
The last time the Los Angeles Rams, formerly in St. Louis, won more than eight games in a season was 2004. It's clear the front office believes in head coach Jeff Fisher, though, because he's been in the position since 2012 despite records of 7-8-1, 7-9, 6-10 and 7-9.
In fact, it almost seems like Fisher and the Rams only want to take steps back, if anything. The team got rid of mainstay defenders such as Chris Long and James Laurinaitis. It also just gave Tavon Austin a four-year extension at a base of $42 million, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, despite not seemingly knowing how to use him.
Folks will point to running back Todd Gurley as the bright spot. He is after rushing for 1,106 yards and 10 scores over 13 games as a rookie. But that's about it. It looks like Case Keenum under center, a guy who has thrown all of 15 touchdowns to nine interceptions. That, or rookie Jared Goff.
Rotoworld's Evan Silva hit the proverbial nail on the head here:
"If I were the #Rams, I think I'd be a little alarmed that not only has Jared Goff not beaten out Case Keenum, Goff hasn't even come close.
— Evan Silva (@evansilva) August 28, 2016"
The Rams will lean on Gurley to carry the team. It's a scary scenario given the brutality of the position and how just a few years of such a reliance can shorten the career of a back. The best teams that find success with such an approach (like Seattle) have a superb supporting cast.
Los Angeles doesn't. Gurley and defensive tackle Aaron Donald are outstanding young building blocks, but only for so long.
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