General Mystery?
Buried amongst the increasing raft of draft hysteria coming out of the Miami Heat press office this week was some interesting news. Rookie GM Hollis Baxter was quietly extended for the 2011-12 season, a simple, clean 1 year deal with no option in favour of either side. This deal is interesting on a few levels, but the primary question one finds themselves asking is what exactly has Baxter done to ‘earn’ this extension, besides leading the Heat to their 2nd worst regular season record in franchise history? Granted Baxter took the team over in a tough spot, and has managed to scramble for Tiago Splitter, who has been heralded as the piece Miami can build around. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that Michael Beasley, the guy whose departure set in place the chain of deals that led to the acquisition of Splitter, averaged just 2 fewer points per game last season and is still 4 years younger than the Brazilian. His record in free agency is an unmitigated disaster, the bonanza of summer 2010 yielded nobody better than Quentin Richardson and Steve Blake for the Heat, while in what is one of the most crucial drafts in franchise history we’re handing the reigns to a man who was directly involved in drafting Avery Bradley, and look how that turned out. So just why is the franchise backing a man who, on the surface, looks to have very little goodwill to fall back on when explaining the myriad of miscalculations that led to last season? Why Baxter?
An answer is hard to find, Miami’s GM is something of a mysterious figure. Naturally interviews were thin on the ground last season as the NBA took the stand point of pointing and laughing rather than reporting on matters on the South Beach, even reporters from the Miami Herald were fobbed off with assistants and lackeys when requesting face time with the new GM. His history shines no real light on any special skills that have bought him time either. Born and raised in the United Kingdom and an Edinburgh University graduate with a background in statistics, he joined the Heat as an intern just 5 years ago, a remarkably short rise from that post to GM. Nobody within the organisation has had much to say about Baxter during his relatively short reign, aside from owner Micky Arison’s assurances that Pat Riley had been grooming the Brit for the post personally. The wry smile and ‘no comment’ from Riley when asked about this by a local reporter cast doubt over the claims, but he’s obviously won the faith of somebody with power within the Heat hierarchy.
It was with interest then that reporters listened to Baxter’s first major press conference as GM this past week, to announce to firing of young coach Erik Spoelstra. Coach Spoelstra was never given anything like a championship calibre team to work with in Miami, and the cast of misfits thrust him upon this year left him with a thankless task. On some level Baxter’s talk of the departed not being a good enough developer of talent has merit. As do his assertions that the outgoing coach placed too much emphasis one experienced heads in a time of transition and where faith in youth is a necessity. But when you get the heart of the matter it’s a sacking that smacks of opportunism, Baxter offering up a sacrificial lamb on which to defer blame and shamefully it appears to have worked.
So what are we to take from the short meeting with the press? Baxter talked of increased emphasis on defence and a faster offense. His enthusiastic descriptions of a pure point guard surely lead us to conclude that Kyrie Irving is the favourite to go #1 in June, but his preference for big men who live in the post doesn’t bode well for Jonas Valanciunas’ chances of going 5th. There were a few intriguing sound bites, some enlightenment but more questions than answers still remain.
Arison has spoken enthusiastically of a .500 or better team for next season, apparently convinced that 3 lottery picks and a better stab at free agency can quicken the rebuild sufficiently to, at the very least, challenge for a return to the post-season shake-up. Should he draft badly or fail to build a winning team then the mystery surrounding GM Hollis Baxter might remain forever, because he won’t be around to answer any more questions.
I kind of like the man of mystery tag. They’re bang on about the Spoelstra sacking though, entirely to try and save my own bacon.
So I clung on to my job by my fingertips. The other thing the article had right was that I had no special skillset that saved me, essentially what kept me in a GM position was the owners assertions that he was too tight to spring for an experienced GM given the mess of the current team. So in a roundabout way I was saved by my own ineptitude, kind of neat. Well that and the fact I’d kept us well under the cap, in Arison’s mind I might be bad at my job but at least I’m frugal whilst doing it. Isiah Thomas would kill for that sort of epitaph.
My second meeting with Mr Arison didn’t go so well. He didn’t like it when I told him we’d miss the playoffs again next season, not one bit. In fact he so much as told me that it’s play offs next season or I’m out of a job, which puts a whole new spin on how we approach the off-season. I hadn’t intended on spending big in free agency but if it keeps me in employment then I’ll throw dollars at anybody willing to listen.
Spoelstra’s replacement arrived after a fairly swift interview process. Jeff Van Gundy ticked all the requisite boxes, playoff experience, good developer of talent, more emphasis on defense and a proponent of quickening our offensive pace. Intrigued by the prospect of building something great from such a clean slate, and more so by the rather large salary we offered him, Van Gundy signed on for 3 years with TR Dunn, Chip Engelland and Donte Tillente as his assistants. Just in time to have an input in our draft selections.
Mock Draft - Lottery Preview
#1 Kyrie Irving
#2 Derrick Williams
#3 Donatas Motiejunas
#4 Enes Kanter
#5 Alec Burks
#6 Jonas Valanciunas
#7 Bismack Biyombo
#8 Roey Naveh
#9 Jan Vesely
#10 Brandon Knight
#11 Tristian Thompson
#12 Jordan Hamilton
#13 Kenneth Faried
#14 Tobias Harris
According to the mocks we're down to take Kyrie Irving, Alec Burks and Tobias Harris, and all three are nice players. Irving is a consideration at #1 but it's far from a lock, Burks I see as a reach as high as #5 but if he falls within range of our 3rd pick he's definitely on the radar. Harris a nice player, especially as late at #14 but he'd be a bad fit for our team. Given Splitter lives in the post and we're shopping for a centre who does likewise we need spacing from our small forward and Harris, and for that matter predicted top 5 pick Derrick Williams, just can't offer that. With that in mind neither Harris nor Williams are in the 15 man group invited along to workout prior to the draft, with Irving, Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas and Brandon Knight particularly wowing our staff. I'd hoped Jan Vesley would have had more of an impact, given that a 6'11 skilled small forward would be most GMs dream but his skillset isn't quite as good as billed. He's still a talented kid though.