Sports InFlux I

Welcome to the first edition of Sports InFlux, where we allow a guest columnist to present their view on a topic in sports. Today, we are welcoming Mr. James Lee of the Newark Star-Ledger. Mr. Lee is a Scorpio and he enjoys ice fishing, rooting for Kevin Garnett, making fun of Courtney Brown and praying the Cleveland Browns make the playoffs next year. Today’s topic is…

Is Kevin McHale a good General Manager?

James Lee Newark Star-Ledger

Despite the T-Wolves recent win streak, trade talks run rampant, inter-team squabbles make the news, KG is still a brick house but nobody other than KG and Wally get regular minutes. So, my question is, with everyone blaming all the players, and some even questioning Flip, when does McHale start to get some criticism?

Since drafting "Da Kid" in 95, who morphed into MVP "Big Ticket", andhiring Flip, what else can he attribute the T-Wolves success too? Lets take a look at McHale’s track record…

Drafted Ray Allen and traded him for ‘Suck’bury

Gave Joe “Former 1st overall pick” Smith an “under the table” contract and got caught resulting in 3 first round picks being taken away (not that it would have mattered with his track record)

Drafted the following players –

’97 - Paul Grant, Gordon Malone
’98 – Rasho Nesterovic, Andrae Patterson
’99 – Wally Szerbiak, William Avery, Louis Bullock
’00 - (start of no 1st rounders) Igor Rakocevic
’01 - Loren Woods
’02 - Marcus Taylor
’03 - (end of no first rounders) Ndudi Ebi, Rick Rickert
’04 - Blake Stepp

So we can give him Wally, a 1 time All-Star who is playing hard and well this year, and who is still married to a really hot former Miami girl. We'll give him Andrae Patterson cause everyone thoughthe'd at least be solid. Um, and the rest of McHale's wondrful drafting? Yeah. Sounds like a crappy CBA team.

We can't ignore McHale's fantastic free agent and trade choices. Again, the Joe Smith scandal comes to mind. And the always scary Candyman disguised as Kandi man (did you ever shut the bathroom door and look in the mirror and say Candyman....Kandiman....apparently McHale did), and of course there's the wonderful “finally got enough talent to get out of the first round but not enough money to feed his kids” Sprewell, and his buddy Cassell. How could two players fall so fast? “Hey, we'll trade for Spree, who previously choked a coach, so we can bring Wally “theformer all star who makes enough money to feed Spree's starvin’ kids” off the bench (granted he was hurt). And don't forget the Terrell Brandon saga. That was fun. And this doesn't even cover the minor signings and trades. Mark Madsen, Ervin (I'm not Magic) Johnson…the list goes on.

And let's not even begin to mention the players that have quickly come and gone, a la T Brandon, Chauncy, Bobby Jax, Shaq of the MAC, LaPhonso Ellis, Dennis Scott and well, you get the idea. (How can I not mention D. Scott and LaPhonso Ellis, and ya gotta have love for Oliver Miller).

Special mentions go to Sam Mitchell, a great teacher and pro, and a solemn moment of silence for Malik Sealy. If he doesn't die due to a retard driving on the wrong side of the road, the Wolves get out of the first round before last year.

The Wolves need to get a different GM. Sometimes you just need to go in a different direction. And that time is now.

Brent Nelson Biased Wolves Observer

I think your comparison is very biased and unfair. You need to compare it against the drafts of who you would consider to be the ideal GM. Many GM's have bad drafts. McHale did draft Wally and KG. Those were solid choices. You would have made the same Ray Allen trade that he did at the time and don't say you wouldn't. Everyone and their mother was jumping for joy when that one came down. Who knew “Star”bury was going to get mad that KG was the star? We’re not all Miss Cleo here. Teaming Marbury with his "friend" KG was the ideal thing. It, in theory, would have been a Magic Johnson-Kareem team. Plus, they had Googs as the number 3 (when he was good). Then, Googs won't sign with you, and Marbury demands to be traded. Neither of those are McHale’s fault. He needed to get some value for Marbury, so he got Brandon who had been solid and a good “team” guy. Then, his body gave out. Not McHale's fault. Eventually, he parlayed Brandon into Sprewell. That’s right, Brandon (who had not been on a court in two years) was traded for an All-Star. If you’re telling me that wasn’t a great trade, then you’re insane. When he trades Spree this year, it will be good again. Same thing with the Cassell trade. All he had to give up were AP and Joe Smith? Really? Are you kidding me? Anytime someone asks you if you want to trade two Chevy Corrollas for a Escalade and a Ranger, you take that deal every time. Those are solid trades.

I want to look at the draft for the same period for the man many consider to be the best GM in basketball, The Logo, Jerry West.

’97 – DuJuan Wheat, Paul Rogers
’98 – Sam Jacobson, Ruben Patterson, Toby Bailey
’99 – Devean George, John Celestrand
’00 – Mark Madsen, Corey Hightower
’01 – (no picks)
’02 – Drew Gooden, Robert Archibald, Matt Barnes
’03 – Marcus Banks, Kendrick Perkins
’04 – Sergei Lishouk

Well, it looks like the Logo has some decent picks. There is1 solid starter, no all-stars and some role players. If you took away the first round picks in the same years the Wolves lost theirs, we’re talking about losing a starter and a reserve. There is no comparison on trades though. I could have made the trade for Kobe and the signing of Shaq. When they’ll only go one place, and that’s the place you are, it’s pretty tough to mess it up. I’m sure Isiah Thomas would have found a way to botch it…but that’s like saying the sky is blue. It’s just a fact.

The Joe Smith scandal was stupid, but I think that had more to do with Glen Taylor than McHale. Kandi signing was awful, but he had looked good in theory. I was happy at the time. I think most people were. Which is pretty scary in and of itself. You also have to remember his signings of Hoiberg and Hassell. McHale took both of them off the Bulls scrap heap. Bulls scrap heap!! That's like being thrown out by Burger King because you weren’t good enough and then later being served at Ruth Chris as an entree. Are you kidding me? Huge signings!

He's going to put together another package soon. Kandi, Spree, and/or Cassell will be gone. No doubt. It will be a good trade. He's done fine as a GM. Maybe he should get rid of his friend Flip and get a coach who can play a set rotation. That might be the start of something...


There you go folks, arguments from each side. Sports InFlux wants to thank http://www.basketballreference.com for help in providing the draft info. Sports InFlux also wants to thank God for the chance to, uh, thank God.