mGrowOld

March 20th, 2018 at 3:19 PM ^

Not saying it was a bad decision on Billips part but man did he keep the Cavs dangling last summer while we waited for him to make his decision.  Pretty sure Gilbert made the offer shortly after Griffin's contract expired and then a month later we're still in "wait n see" mode while Chauncy genuflects over the offer.  And then at the end of it all he obviously passed.

The word around here was that while CB has no front office experence he is very smart and extremely well-regarded around the NBA so we were hoping to get him to be honest.  I think he'd be a better fit in Detroit given his history there and working for Tom Gores HAS to be easier than working for Dan Gilbert.

Kevin13

March 20th, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^

to see if he would give up his time with family here in Denver. I belong to a gym he's an owner of and my daughter has done some intern work at.  Have talked to him a few times and people who know him well say he's very happy right now doing what he's doing and being able to see his kids in sports/activities all the time.

But do know he would be interested in a front office job in the NBA, be interesting to see how it plays out.

From my interactions with him and what my daughter and other employees have said he is a great guy. Really down to earth and easy to talk to and cares about people. Wish him luck with whatever he does.

lilpenny1316

March 20th, 2018 at 10:48 PM ^

That sounds like a pretty sweet gig.  Gores is in town for a few games a year, and he spends those games completely blitzed on the sidelines.  

Gores > Gilbert solely because Gores doesn't care what happens as long as there are fans in the seats.  So Chauncey could construct the roster however he'd like with little owner interference.

BTB grad

March 21st, 2018 at 7:09 AM ^

I mean it makes sense... CB was trying to figure out if the Cavs were going to make big splashes in the offseason which in turn would increase the odds LeBron stays there. The Cavs aren't an organization that's a draw or has been run well like the Spurs or Celtics; they've only ever been good when LeBron has been there. If he leaves, that's a mess of a job to have esepcially with Gilbert, who seems borderline psycho/narcissitic at times.

TrueBlue2003

March 20th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^

It's clear that two things happened:

1) early Dumars got pretty lucky with flyers on Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups

2) other teams got a lot smarter while Dumars was still throwing darts blindfolded (and after a couple bulls-eye's he started missing the board with Iverson, Gordon, Villanueva, etc).

I don't have a ton of confidence in most former coaches and players as GMs these days given how easily and frequently the analytics guys run laps around the old school guys.

If they hire Chauncey, I hope he's into using all modern evaluation tools.

stephenrjking

March 20th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^

The Pistons title team (and that entire stretch--they made Game 7 of the Finals the next season) is so unique that it's still the go-to example when people discuss how far a team can go without a superstar or two on the roster. I don't think there's any way one can look at the way Dumars put it together as anything other than brilliant, whether he got lucky with some player development or not. 

Doesn't mean he didn't bomb out later, but those things happen. 

 

Tater

March 20th, 2018 at 11:54 PM ^

Dumars was so successful early that nobody in the league wanted to make him a bona fide trade offer in his later years.  They were all afraid of getting the short end of the trade.  I think the disaster with Darko was what made everything fall apart.  They would have won at least one more NBA Championship if they had drafted 'Melo instead.

I think Chauncey would be solid.  But while we're bringing people back, I vote for bringing Stevie Y home to the Wings.

stephenrjking

March 20th, 2018 at 11:59 PM ^

I don't believe they would have won the title in 04 or any other year with Melo. I think the roster wouldn't have worked in the same way, and there's no guarantee they get Sheed. Prince wasn't close to Melo in offensive repertoire, of course, but the defense made the team what it was and Prince was the perfect guy for that team.

Wade would have been a better pick. But honestly if I go back in time and Dumars asks me what to do I probably tell him to pick Darko, because you can't put a price on a title and you don't want to mess it up. The Cavs, Nuggets, Heat, and Raptors all drafted far better players than the Pistons in that top five. But only the Heat and the Pistons won titles with their draft picks on the roster before they moved. The Nuggets and Heat still haven't come close.

TrueBlue2003

March 21st, 2018 at 1:16 AM ^

but the difference between them being a mediocre team and a great team was, in retrospect, probably mostly luck.

Also, he drafted Darko, which I didn't even mention because a lot of other teams would have taken him there. But the fact remains that Dumars was gifted the number 2 pick (incredibly fortunate to win that pick if you recall) in the best draft this century and drafted basketball's Ryan Leaf while the three guys behind him were All-NBA and potential Hall of Famers. Woof.

Jack Harbaugh

March 20th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^

analytics. Kobe said in an interview, “Stats give you a good perspective of a players performance. But you still need to know why that player is putting up those stats. Is his kid sick? Did a family member pass away? Is there some sort of home life issue? Just knowing stats doesn’t tell you why a guy is or isn’t a good fit somewhere.”

FatGuyTouchdown

March 20th, 2018 at 5:39 PM ^

that the reason guys aren't putting up good stats is because Kobe never passed them the ball. Analytics are an incredible tool, and there's a reason the top teams use them and implement them more than anyone else. The Warriors, Spurs, Rockets and Celtics are at the forefront of the analytics movement and know how to mix old school scouting with new school analytics. The best teams mix them well.

TrueBlue2003

March 20th, 2018 at 6:10 PM ^

because no one looks at a single game or week of stats and decides how good a guy is (like, who would or wouldn't sign a guy because he was sick and had a bad stretch of games?). Over a period of time, if a guy isn't performing well, the "why" is simply "he's not a good enough basketball player."

And I agree that those things are important but those are health and psycological issues which basketball guys like Chauncey and Kobe aren't any more qualified to diagnose than a management professional. 

In fact, if you've ever been in a sports environment, you know that coaches and players tend to dismiss those kinds of things and deter a player from admitting them.  You're supposed to be "tough" and play through anything.  Look at how Kevin Love was treated by his teammates and coaches.

There was an interesting article a few years ago about how the Mavs actually used stats to alert the team of an unusual dip in performance of players and employ sports psycologists that would then try to figure out the problem.  I'm not saying stats are better than employing empathetic humans as managers, but there's also no reason to think a player would be more empathetic to the factors of performance than an experienced management professional (and there are reasons to think they'd be less so).

I also think you need a mix, which is why I said that I hope Chauncey is not only open to using any tools that can help, but that he's intimately familiar with those tools.

AVPBCI

March 20th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^

making it sound like it was chauncey's faulty when the cavs lowballed Billups and were gonna pay him like half of what the lowest paid GM in the league was already making.

 

SVG needs to be gone, and until the pistons can get some guards ( every guard on this team is trash) the pistons will continue to be trash.

 

Bring Billups in, see what he can do cuz this team will never be decent with SVG.

ldevon1

March 20th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^

think that? He has never shown anything in his coaching career. He seems to coach old school, by yelling and screaming, and throwing his players under the bus. Today's players don't seem to respond to that style.

mGrowOld

March 20th, 2018 at 3:34 PM ^

Which is why I added the disclaimer "not saying it was a bad decision".  Gilbert is widely known for not paying his GMs squat or even valuing the position much so I dont really blame Chauncy for turning down the offer.  I just wish he had turned it down sooner so the Koby Altman era could get started!

ThereWillBeNoHugs

March 20th, 2018 at 3:54 PM ^

It was rumored he was going to move Billups into a front office position alongside him after Billups' final season in Detroit. I thought at the time, it would have been a good move. I have been impressed with listening to Billups on TV the last few years. He's got a very high basketball IQ off the floor. I think his strength is identifying weaknesses of a team and knowing what a team needs to do to address it. I hope it happens.

stephenrjking

March 20th, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^

A lot of guys who play have a high basketball IQ. Doesn't surprise me at all if Billups does as well. Even guys who don't seem all that plugged in work hard at the game, study film, and learn. 

I mean, the colossal disaster of a GM Isiah Thomas produces wisdom so profound that it is a pivotal anecdote in Bill Simmons' basketball book. 

And therein lies the problem: having a solid knowledge base in a sport does not necessarily make one a good GM. Or coach, for that matter. Some guys have made it work, some haven't, and it's not because one is smart and one is not. There are different gifts involved.

Might as well give Billups a chance to find out if he has those gifts.

LSAClassOf2000

March 20th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^

I had thought it was already laid out that Van Gundy would lose the title of GM at the end of season, so if that's the case, then this news doesn't come to me as much of a shock. Honestly, at this point, there's something kind of appealling about having Billups teams up with Arn Tellem, but then as a Pistons fan, I am looking for anything that has a shot in hell of working at this juncture. 

Pepto Bismol

March 20th, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^

Everybody is denying this rumor including Billups. Rod Beard has a source saying it's crap.

I need SVG gone for me to care again. I don't know if Billups is the wheelin'-dealin' GM needed to wiggle out of this nonsense roster, but anything is better than the current course.

TrueBlue2003

March 20th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^

almost certainly doomed this franchise for five years. Horrible, horrible move to generate excitement for a week.

Will take some serious wheelin and dealin to get out of the current situation and some lottery luck, probably, just to sniff the playoffs any time in the next five years.

Adrian

March 20th, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^

Totally agree. Instead of looking forward to drafting a good pg(sexton, trae) and maybe getting another first round pick for trading tobias or bradley or both. Were stuck with 2 guys we wont be able to unload for a couple years and no pick in the 1st round

Pepto Bismol

March 20th, 2018 at 4:46 PM ^

"I will never push for a job with any NBA franchise that is not open". Doesn't mean they didn't contact him. On that, Rod Beard asked a source if there's anything to the report. 

Source: "None whatsoever"

Twitter reply: "Isn't that what every source is gonna say...SVG is still in charge as of today."

Rod Beard: "No."

 

Whatever that's worth. I think we all know SVG is a dead man walking. 

NateVolk

March 20th, 2018 at 5:45 PM ^

Whomever can land a superstar who is top 5 to 7 in the league at worst is your GM hire. That's the only path to a title in today's NBA. 

Yes the 04 Pistons are an example of a team. But also an example of a team which won before the defense rules changed outlawing hands to the body while playing perimeter defense. The game opened up for the elite stars after that change. If that rule had been in place at that time, that Pistons' team was the equivalent of the current Celtics or Raptors.

A bunch of well coached B level players who would have fallen short. 

SwasteMa

March 20th, 2018 at 8:13 PM ^

SVG is definitely gonna lose the President role (technically Jeff Bower is the GM) this summer and Arn Tellem is supposed to become the President. Tellem is already in the organization and oversaw the Auburn Hills to Detroit move as well as being one of the better known former agents.

 

No idea if SVG is back as coach, but if he is I hope they look at Jerry Stackhouse for coach. 

It obviously wouldn't be surprising if Billups came to be a GM under Tellem. 

Motel Putingrad

March 20th, 2018 at 8:48 PM ^

Best case scenario: Bower and SVG are let go, Chauncey becomes GM, they get lucky in the lottery and keep their first round pick, Laimbeer becomes head coach. More likely scenario: no front office changes, no first round pick, Blake gets injured in off-season workouts and misses the first 30 games next year.

DMack

March 21st, 2018 at 9:28 AM ^

SVG is a great talent evaluator. He's spot on in that department, however he cant coach the talent once he gets it. He has a reputation of constantly turning over talented player after talented player but never settling on a roster that actually wins. He's been associated with many of the games greatest players but very few won much with him at the helm. It's been time for him to go (as the head coach).